Hello there!
I hope this Thursday finds you well and in a creative mood. Shellie of
Craft Smashup here and I've got a fun little project for you today. This idea has been around since I was a kid. I remember making these all of the time. Same with its cousin, the woven construction paper place mat.
The little lanterns are made with Stampin Up's All Abloom paper stack. The stack has some of the colors from each of the In-color families as well as the core line of colors. It's amix of geometrics and flowers, whimsical designs and classical designs. If you are like me and like both modern and somewhat vintage then this is the perfect little paper stack to get.
I don't know about you but I love decorating my deck and in our new house we have a multi-level deck. Perfect for hanging decorative lanterns all over the place. The deck is also where we entertain the most so having little accents of color will be a nice touch.
How about a little tutorial?
Here is what a single lantern looks like. It is just over 2" tall:
TUTORIAL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tools Needed:
6 x 4 1/2" dsp stack
piercing tool or 1/16'-1/8" hole punch
scoring board/tool
sharp craft knife
liquid adhesive
string or ribbon
STEP 1:
Cut your sheets of 6 x 4 1/2" dsp at 2 1/4" longways
STEP 2:
Score on the long edges at 1/4", 1 1/8" and 2"
 |
| Marker lines are to make the lines easier to see for tutorial purposes. I did not use lines on my projects. |
Turn the DSP so that the long edge is at the top of your scoring board. Starting at the 1/4" score-line score down to the lower 1/4" score-line every 1/2". DO NOT score all the way from edge to edge, your little lanterns will not maintain a nice round shape if you make that mistake.
STEP 3:
On a self-healing mat or stack or several layers of newspaper/scrap paper use the craft knife to cut the
1/2" score-lines between the top and bottom 1/4" score-lines.
Once your cuts are all made fold each of the score lines so that your paper looks like this
STEP 4:
Run your fingers or a bone folder along the long edges of the lantern (sort of like you would if you were curling ribbon).
Don't do it too hard though or this might happen :(
If you run your fingers along the scored edges your finished lanterns will look more like the one on the right. If you don't it will look like the one on the left
STEP 5:
Use adhesive (I like the liquid Tombow Multi- it allows for wiggle room) to adhere one end of the strip to the other, making sure your score-lines are lined up.
Once the adhesive has dried use a piercing tool or hole punch to poke holes on either side of the lantern. There should be 5 segments between each place that your pierce the hole.
String your lanterns on to your choice of string or ribbon. Tie loops in the end of the string or ribbon with an overhand knot. And hang wherever you like. You can adjust the spacing of the lanterns once you have them hung.
Sorry the pic is blurry! I used the panorama mode on my phone and there is a slight breeze today...
If you like the option of using a string of lights use a hole punch to punch a 7/8" -1" circle and a 1/4" x 2" strip of card stock. Attach the circle to the strip of card stock making sure it's centered. Once the adhesive has dried use a craft knife to cut a cross in the circle section. Make sure you go all the way through both layers.
Push the lightbulb of a set of miniature Christmas lights through the cross-cut and now you have some pretty lanterns to light up your night.
AND if you want to make a larger coordinating lantern you can do that too
I used a full sheet from the All Abloom paper stack and embellished it with candy dots. I'm going to try one of those battery operated candles in this one to see what it looks like. I think this would look nice on my patio table.
Have a great day everyone! See you again soon!
Oh Goody!
