How To Make a Complicated Chinese Lantern

A good way to add beauty and charm to a room is to use Chinese Lanterns. These whimsical lanterns can be any color and look great just about anywhere. By following these instructions, you can make a beautiful Chinese lantern yourself.

Gather your materials: rice paper in a color of your choosing, one half inch wide bamboo strips, tassels, craft paint, a paint brush, a candle, string, scissors and glue. Once you have all of the necessary materials together, you are ready to begin.

First, measure and cut eight of the bamboo strips so that they are one foot in length. Measure and cut two more bamboo strips so that they are two feet in length. Hold each strip over a candle flame in order to warm it up, making it more flexible. Be sure not to place the strips directly into the flame or get them too close to it. Your goal is only to warm the strips, not to burn or char them.

Form a circle with two of the foot-long strips and fasten with glue and a piece of string. Repeat this process with both of the two-foot-long strips. Then, secure one end of the remaining strips inside one of the small circles using glue and string.

Place the other small circle on the bottom, with the opposite ends of the strips secured inside that one. Now, loop one of the larger circles over the frame, approximately three quarters of the way down from the top. Carefully pull each of the bamboo strips outwards against the big circle and secure into place. Loop the other large circle over the frame and place it approximately one quarter of the way up from the bottom. Again, pull the bamboo strips outward to this circle and fasten into place. This forms the framework for your lantern. Set aside for half an hour to allow the glue to dry.

Next, cut out six oval strips from the rice paper. These strips should be one foot long by three inches across. Decorate one of the rice paper strips by painting in the Chinese symbol for the sky in the center of it. This symbol consist of two horizontal, parallel lines with an upside down Y-shape placed in the center, with the stem between the lines, and the forked part below the lines.  Glue the paper strips to the bamboo frame. Hang a tassel from the bottom to complete the look.