What a paper lantern is
A paper lantern is a tube of paper with slits whose ribs bow outwards when it is pressed together. With a yellow liner inside it seems to glow even without a light. Hang it on the Christmas tree or in the window, stand a few on the table, or make it with children on a December afternoon – the little ones color, the older ones cut.
How to make the paper lantern
- Print the pages at 100% scale on 120–200 gsm paper – thin paper does not hold the ribs up.
- Cut out the shell, the liner and the handle along the solid outline, the tabs included.
- Fold the shell in half along the dashed line, pattern outwards, and cut through both layers from the fold along each red line – no further than its end. Children use scissors; the bands at the top and the bottom stay whole.
- Unfold the shell and roll it into a tube, pattern outwards. Glue the grey parts of its tab under the other end – only at the top and at the bottom.
- Roll the liner into a tube, yellow outwards, and glue its tab under the other end a millimetre past the edge, so that it slides into the shell.
- Slide the liner into the shell and push the shell down until its top and bottom bands cover the grey bands of the liner. Glue them there – the ribs bend outwards.
- Glue the ends of the handle inside the top edge, opposite each other.
- For light, put only an LED tea light or a battery fairy light inside – never a real candle or any flame: paper burns.
Score the fold with a blunt knife or an empty pen along a ruler before folding – the ribs then bend evenly. Several small lanterns on a string make a garland.
Also useful
- Free Christmas printables: coloring pages, cards, ornaments and games
- 3D paper star template printable – a big star to fold and glue
- Christmas countdown paper chain printable – a task for every day
- Paper snowflake templates: how to make paper snowflakes
- Christmas pop up card template – a 3D card to print and make
Drawing names for gifts too? Secret Santa on santa.haus.