Lanterns (Pack 1)

Lanterns are associated with many of the Festivals that happen during the long Winter months such as Diwali, Martinmas, The Winter Solstice, Christmas and Chinese New Year.

However you decide to spend the Winter and whatever festivals you choose to celebrate, beautiful lanterns lighting the dark nights bring hope and joy in the depths of Winter.

Our Winter Care Packages will contain all the materials needed to create beautiful lanterns to light your home. If you are receiving a pack you will need to save a glass jar as this won’t be included. If you are not receiving a pack, and would like to make a lantern, you will need a glass jar, PVA glue and tissue paper. You might have other decorative items you could use, such as sequins or you might choose to forage leaves.

Before we made our Lanterns we went for a walk around the country lanes. We collected a few leaves, but also took in the colours nature was offering at this time of year. As it was November we were presented with a lot of oranges, yellows and browns and these were the colours we chose to use for our lanterns. A walk in December might have led us to use more greens and reds. We could have chosen whites and blues to represent the coldest months of January and February.

Back home in the warm we chose the tissue paper we wanted to use and snipped it into small pieces.

We also sorted out our leaves and used the bigger ones to make ‘leaf confetti’ using decorative hole punches.

When all the materials are prepared it is time to get the PVA glue out and start sticking everything to the jar. You should paint glue onto the jam jar, add layers of tissue paper and leaves if you are using them, and then add more glue on top. This decoupage technique will result in a strong and beautiful lantern to light your way through the Winter.