Lunar New Year Paper Lantern DIY

The Lunar Year is upon us! Also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, this magical celebration takes place between January 21st and February 20th every year. This year in particular happens to be the year of the Ox.

To celebrate, we are crafting up some beautiful paper lanterns not only because they’re a big part of the Lunar New Year celebration, but because we think we all can use a little more light in our life, even if it is the kind we craft! These lanterns are super simple and we’re going to show you just how to create them. 

Learn how to create a paper lantern to celebrate the Lunar New Year by following the directions below! 

 

Materials

• Cardstock Paper
• Various Supplies from the Arts and Craft Supply Library
• Washi Tape

Directions

Step 1

The simplest way to make your paper lantern is to get a sheet of colored construction paper or cardstock and with your paper facing “hamburger-style”, fold it in half. We're going to make a red lantern. Red is a traditional color for Chinese lanterns, and especially for New Year's lanterns. It represents happiness, beauty, success and good fortune. Neat, huh?

Step 2

Starting from the folded edge, cut strips in your paper, but be sure you only cut to within ½ inch of the edge of your paper.  By doing this, you're making sure your paper will still be attached on the top and bottom. 

Step 3

If you want to decorate your lantern with sequins or perhaps draw some designs- this is the time to do it. We're sticking them on with glue dots, but good ol’ fashioned glue would work just fine. Just be sure to let it dry before the next step. We chose a mixture of gold and red sequins for my lantern but feel free to think outside the box! 

Step 4

Next, open up the paper and fasten your edges together with your glue, glue dots or even a stapler. You will have made a circle on the top and bottom, and the middle will fold out into a magical lantern shape. 

Step 5

For our handle, we decided to use a fuzzy stick with a few of our favorite beads from the Arts and Crafts Supply Library, but again, feel free to get creative with this. You can use a paper strip, fancy ribbon or string. Just be sure to punch a hole on each side of your lantern to adhere your handle. 

Step 6

After this, you’re done! You can certainly add some flair on the bottom like we did. To do this, take a strip of paper or felt, snip from left to right about ¾ to the top of your strip and stick inside with your glue/glue dots. Ta-da! 

Happy Lunar New Year!