Home Craft: CNY Decoration

I like to make things with my hands. :) Be it from cooking, baking, needlework, art ‘n’ craft or gardening, I derive much pleasure and satisfaction.

It has been ages since I last make any craft items. I had a sudden desire to decorate our house for this Chinese New Year and this got me surfing the Internet for ideas and inspiration.

I’ll call it Project CNY Paper Lantern.

Materials

glossy (optional), coloured papers (A4)

artificial flowers (bought 2 packs of $2 each from Cold Storage)

double-sided tape

long scissors

ruler

pencil

thin ribbon

Method

1) Fold an A4 sized glossy, coloured paper into half (lengthwise) and press the crease line well.

2) Make one-inch makings along the crease line with a pencil.

3) Cut away the smallest strip (lesser than one-inch) – this will serve as the handle of the lantern later.

4) Cut the paper (still folded) breath-wise at every one-inch marking. Leave about an inch at the opposite edge. Do not cut all the way!

5) Unfold the paper with the crease line pointing upwards.

6) Arrange flowers & leaves (optional) throughout the strips except for one at the end (leftmost or rightmost strip). Paste a few pieces of double-sided tape along this blank strip.

7) Use double sided tape to secure the flowers and leaves to the strips.

8) Carefully lift the paper and turn it into a cylinder by pressing the double-sided tape on the blank strip behind the strip on the other extreme end.

9) Use double-sided tape to secure the handle strip (cut out initially) to the top of the paper lantern. Voila, your very own DIY paper lantern! :D

I made three paper lanterns and two ‘ang bao’ fish and hung them all on a rod which used to hold a curtain. :)

I hope that Hannah and I would enjoy doing art ‘n’ craft together in the near future. :P