Paper lanterns come in several sizes and shapes and have become the most widespread DIY decor idea of late. They are utilized to light up homes, apartments, as well as exclusively used as wedding decorations. One can use rice paper, plain copier paper, paper doilies, or any other glassy decorative paper of their preference.
These lanterns are most popular in Japan, China, and other southeast Asian countries, where they are used during the Lantern Festival and in traditional places.
In Japan, the traditional lighting kit consists of:
- Bonbori Lantern: This sort of Japanese lantern was made with paper stretched over a frame and was therefore similar to others but was portable, smaller, and has a six-sided cross-section.
- Andon: This is a lamp made by stretching paper over a metal, bamboo, or wooden frame. Inside this was a ceramic or stone holder with a cotton wick, lit to light the lamp and glow the show.
- Chochin: This type of lantern comprised a split bamboo frame wrapped in spiral form. As an alternative for paper, silk was also utilized to cover the structure and shield the flame from the wind. This was mostly utilized as a hanging lantern and could be nicely collapsed to flatten it.
- Toro: These are lanterns, which decorated the gardens of Shinto Shrines, Buddhist temples, Japanese Gardens, and other religious places. These lanterns did not use silk or paper but instead were made of bronze, stone, wood, or iron.
In today’s Do it yourself (DIY) challenge, you can create your round paper lanterns. Let’s start.
DIY Round Paper Lanterns:
Let’s explore the round, traditional rice paper lanterns, which are very common today. Undoubtedly, you can purchase these at local craft stores and color them at home, but the instructions below will allow you to make the entire lantern from scratch. I’ve utilized these instructions to make numerous round paper lanterns for my garden, and so you can carbon copy them to make yours.
Ingredients:
- Rice Paper
- Bamboo Strips
- Glue Stick
- Tape
- Light Bulb
- Socket.
Procedure:
- Start by designing your rice paper lantern as a primary step. You will need to settle on the number and size of your bamboo rungs. Spend time looking at different patterns of rice paper lanterns for inspiration.
- Get your bamboo strips according to your design. Cut them to the chosen length of your lantern’s border.
- Bend each piece of wood into a rough circle, attaching each end with masking tape. To weaken the wood for bending, heat it over a flame. Once bent and taped to your content, place the bamboo rings in cold water so that the new shape is enacted firm.
- Attach your bamboo circles using either string or tape according to your design. The smaller loops are almost always put on top and bottom.
- Attach a bulb and socket to the top rung using tape, with the socket hanging upside down. You can both run a line from the top of the lantern or pick a battery-powered socket.
- Attach your tassel to the tiny bottom rung of your lamp.
- Cut out a rice paper piece about an inch wider than the lantern’s border and lightly longer than the length of our lantern’s height. Wrap it throughout the lantern and stick both ends of the paper with glue on the backside. Fold the rest over the top and bottom of the lantern frame and stick to the top and bottom rings with glue.
- Harden the rice paper over the frame by lightly spraying some water onto the paper’s surface. Keep it aside for drying.
How to finish your rice paper lantern?
Attach a cord from the top bamboo rod. You can paint your paper lanterns with tissue paper polka dots. You can also cut out other patterns or shapes for your lantern using this idea.
