Steps for creating a Chinese New Year lantern

Chinese New Year lanterns are the perfect D.I.Y. decoration, as they are inexpensive and easy to construct. Make your lantern with these few steps.

• To make Chinese lanterns, you will need a few basic household supplies: a pencil, a ruler, tape, glue, scissors, a stapler, and two pieces of A4 or letter size paper, each a different colour.
• The paper should be red and gold, as these are the primary Chinese New Year colours. Red is regarded as the luckiest colour and thus best suited for the New Year celebration.

• First, lay one paper long-ways and use your pencil to draw vertical lines across the entire page. Use your ruler to ensure they are straight and evenly spaced, with about two centimetres between each line. Then, cut along the pencilled lines using scissors, making sure to leave about 1.3 centimetres intact at the end. This means the strips should not be cut entirely off of the paper.
• Once this is complete, lay the paper flat and place a line of tape across the edge that was just cut. Basically, you want each edge to be intact, but with the centre of the paper still in strips. Next, fold about 1.3 centimetres along the entirety of the top and bottom edge (the taped and uncut edges) so that the entire edge curls upward.

• Now for the base of the lantern: Take the other sheet of paper and lay it long-ways on the table. Apply glue to the left or right edge and roll it into a medium cylinder, about five centimetres in diameter. Use the glue to hold it in place. Then take the first stripped paper and roll it around your new cylinder, attaching only one horizontal end with a stapler. The other end of your stripped paper should still be loose.
• Last, simply manoeuvre the unattached edge of the stripped paper so that the strips pop open in a curved lantern shape. Having a photo of a traditional Chinese New Year lantern will help with this step. Holding the paper in place, apply staples to the bottom of the unsecured edge.
• That is it! Now that the lantern is complete, there are several ways to display it. Consider gluing a paper handle to the top and hanging several lanterns along rope or a red ribbon. The lantern can also sit upright on a table or counter-top as a simple decoration.