How to make a paper lantern for Eid
Here is a simple to make Eid lantern tutorial which everyone can get involved in.
Home made paper lantern for Eid celebration
You will need:
A4 paper
A printer, if you have one
Scissors
Glue
Gold, white and blue paint
Gold sequins, ideally sequin ribbon
Step 1 - print or draw your templates
Click the button below to download PDFs templates to print out. Or you can open them on screen and try to copy the patterns if you don't have a printer. You will need two sheets per lantern printed out - as you can see in the picture below.
Step 2 - Cut out the templates, and paint
Once you have printed out your templates, first cut out the 5 flat lantern sides. Don't cut them into individual pieces! You will have one cut out with 3 lantern sides and one cut out with two lantern sides. You will need to also cut out the central design within each piece.
With your lantern sides, first paint them blue and then dab on some gold and white paint to give a nice tarnished effect. Also paint the base part in this same way. Finally, using the same colours, paint a circle shape on a spare piece of the paper.
When you have done those, next get the left over print out you have with the star and moon shapes. Paint these gold, and when dry, cut them out.
Step 3 - glue your lantern together
To fix your lantern shape together first take your 3 sided piece and fold at the edge of each lantern shape. Also fold the tabs at the bottom and the ones at each side of the 3-side piece.
Next glue the flaps at the bottom to your painted base piece. Repeat the folding with your two side piece, and glue this - using the flaps - to both your base and also the 3 sided piece to form a 3-D lantern shape.
Fold over the tabs at the top, like in the picture below.
Next cut out your painted circle shape, and glue your top tabs to it. This forms the finished lantern shape.
Step 4 - decorate your lantern
Now it is time to decorate your lantern with the stars and moon shapes you have painted. You can stick them anywhere on your lantern to decorate it in the way you want.
If you have gold sequins on a ribbon we recommend sticking them to the edge of each side to make your lantern really stand out. If you have individual sequins you can still do this but it might take a bit longer! Alternatively you can stick random sequins around the lantern to make it sparkle.
There is your finished lantern! You can use an electric tea light to shine through in the evening when it is dark.
Happy Eid!
