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Chinese Lantern Crafts

These Chinese lantern crafts are a great decoration, but will not light up the room like a real lantern. 

These easy paper lantern crafts use very few materials and can be made in a variety of colors, sizes and paper types. 

easy paper lantern crafts

 

All you need for these chinese lanterns is paper, scissors and a little bit of glue. Yep! That’s it!

You can make yours unique by changing up the sizes of paper, color, as well as the type of paper.

Make big ones, small ones, sparkly ones, foam ones, etc.

The possibilities are nearly endless.

Another idea to add some pizazz is to use different scissors – like the ones that make jagged edges or wave edges, etc.

You can find out how to make a chinese lantern below

Chinese Paper Lanterns

Paper lanterns like these are common in China and Japan and are usually associated with festivals. They would very nicely as decorations.

Craft Supplies:

  • Paper
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Glue

Step #1:

Using your ruler, measure 1 inch from the edge of the paper. Mark this off with the pencil. It will make a square border around your paper. 

Step #2:

Using your ruler and pencil draw lines inside the border, about an inch apart.

Step #3:

Fold the paper in half, in the opposite direction as your lines.

Step #4:

Cut each of the lines out that you had drawn earlier.

Step #5:

Fold your paper in the opposite direction now. This will hid the pencil lines you had made. Make sure to crease the paper in this direction as well.

Step #6

Unfold your paper. Roll it in a tube shape, in the same direction as the slits you just made.

Glue it in place.

Keep on repeating these steps with different paper, and in different sizes. 

 

You can also add a handle to the top of these and hang them in a line like garland or streamers. These paper lantern crafts are simple to make, but very nice decorations.

Halloween? How about a Jack-o-Lantern Version?

If you are looking for more paper lantern craft ideas how about this Halloween one?!

This craft will use the same instructions but turn it into a Halloween themed lantern

Supplies:

  • Paper
  • Marker
  • Scissors
  • Glue

Let Us Teach You: Halloween Crafts for Kids

More Like Our Paper Lantern Crafts:

Fortune TellersPaper FansSummer WindmillPaper Bag Princess

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