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Celebrate Chinese New Year with your own lantern creation!
Published 01.22.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (16)
By Brenda Ponnay
While I was researching Chinese New Year celebrations I was particularly taken with the Lantern Festival that officially ends the Chinese New Year. Not only because it is for children, but also because it involves glowing lights at night. Who doesn't love that?
Traditionally, children carried simple paper lanterns to the temple at night. Over the years this has evolved into parades with thousands of lanterns lighting up the night sky. You can buy all sorts of elaborate animal-shaped paper lanterns with blinking lights and even battery-operated music at your local Asian market. Or if you don't happen to live in a city that has a big Chinese community, you can make your own to celebrate this happy holiday.
I decided to re-interpret the classic tissue paper candle jar into a Chinese lantern. This has probably been done before but I think it's worth repeating here. It's a simple, easy craft that I think children of all ages will enjoy.
First we rounded up some empty glass jars. Pickle jars, olive jars, peanut jars...I knew I was saving all those for a reason! Then I made a simple solution of white glue and water, using equal parts of each. I cut up a bowl full of one-inch squares of red tissue paper (the size isn't that important, some people even prefer to tear their tissue pieces for a more organic feel) and set them aside.
After I had all the supplies ready, I handed my three-year-old daughter a wide paintbrush and let her go to town painting the sides of the jar with the glue solution. Then together we carefully (and not-so-carefully) pasted one layer of red tissue onto the jar. We covered the tissue with another coat of glue and set the jars aside to dry. In our dry climate this only took a few hours but if you live in a damp climate you might want to let them dry overnight. Whatever you do, don't handle the jars while they are drying because the wet paper tears easily. Of course if anything gets too terribly messy it's not a big deal since the tissue and glue can be soaked off in a jiffy.
The fun part of this project was the decorating. Gold is often used in Chinese culture to symbolize prosperity in the New Year so we layered on gold ribbons and chenille stems. I also created a funny little ox head for my daughter to make her small lantern into an ox lantern since it is the Year of the Ox.
If you can write in Chinese (or you can copy characters well, like my friend Bethany) you could even write "Happy New Year" in gold pen on top of the dry tissue or paint a fancy fish like the photo below. The fish is a common Chinese symbol of wealth and prosperity.
After we were done decorating, I created a handle for the lanterns using 20-gauge beading wire and wire cutters. This wire is pretty easy to bend and still sturdy enough to carry the weight of a glass jar. By creating a loop around the lip of the jar and then attaching a longer length to that loop, I was able to create a pretty sturdy handle. Make sure the wire is tight around the top though, because it will be a bummer if the jar slips out of the wire later and crashes to the ground taking the lit candle with it. Not that anything like that happened to us.
Cover your wire with ribbon if you like, add some tealight candles, and you're ready for your very own Lantern Festival parade!
Since this is the year of the ox, I thought I'd make a fun little paper ox for you to print out and assemble at home. You can even just use the head portion to decorate an ox lamp like I did.
You can download a free pdf here.
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About this column
This is a year-round Holiday column. Kids love Holidays. As parents we have come to appreciate how Holidays seem to help structure our lives. Plus, any excuse to have fun sounds good to us!
We'll admit it, now that we're parents, we secretly look for Holidays to celebrate and between National, Secular, Unofficial and Bizarre Holidays, we think there are enough days out there to keep us inspired every week.
This column will be a place where you can get inspiration for how to enjoy time with your kids. Crafting projects and ideas will be posted on Thursdays by our brilliant contributors (see below). Other fun ideas will be posted here throughout the week as the inspiration hits us!
About our Craft Contributors
Ellen Luckett Baker is the author of the long thread, a blog about handmade goods. She has always enjoyed making things, but the flexibility of staying at home with her two daughters along with the creative inspiration they provide has led her to craft on a daily basis. Combining her love of graphic design and sewing, she has created an Etsy shop selling machine embroidery designs and sewing patterns.
Ellen lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young daughters. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a Master's of Public Administration with a focus in Non-Profit Management.
Cindy Hopper was fortunate to be raised in a family who appreciated the arts. This background led to a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. With a keen eye for design and color, Cindy has continued her love of art and is now passing her creative skills on to her three children. Cindy's family and friends are the beneficiaries of her passion for fun and meaningful creative projects. Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.
Brenda Ponnay is a stealthy secret agent who juggles parenthood to her adorable daughter by day and freelance graphic design by night. Whether it's painting, baking, drawing, making castles out of card board boxes or just doing the laundry with flair, Brenda Ponnay has finally discovered (at the ripe old age of thirty-six) that what really makes her happy is being creative every single day.
Brenda lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, three cats and thirty-seven pet birds. You can read about all her crazy adventures on her personal blog: Secret Agent Josephine.
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This column is only for entertainment purposes. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.
Comments (16):
Gayle said:
This is a great idea, Brenda! The finished lanterns are so beautiful!
Posted on January 22, 2009 10:52
Kandace - One Crazy Chick said:
Oh! Pretty! You are so stinkin creative.
The kids are going to love this one!
Posted on January 22, 2009 11:24
La Petite Chic said:
The lanterns turned out great and the girls look so precious!
Posted on January 22, 2009 12:36
andrea from the fishbowl said:
Amazing! Great photos too. :)
Posted on January 22, 2009 16:06
Melissa said:
Love the lanterns, the girls are adorable and the ox is so stinking cute that I may have to make a few!
Posted on January 22, 2009 18:08
onerobinroad said:
I found you through thelongthread. My son is going love making the OX.
Thanks!
Posted on January 22, 2009 19:20
Shawn S. said:
What beautiful lanterns. I can't wait to try to make them myself. Great pics too!
Posted on January 22, 2009 19:39
BeachMama said:
Very creative Brenda, love the kids dressed in Chinese dresses. If you don't want to use real candles (small kids) you can get those battery operated tea lights. They work well and are safe for my little kids.
Posted on January 22, 2009 19:46
Ashley said:
Those are so cute...thanks for the lesson. And the girls as per usual are adorable!
Posted on January 23, 2009 12:14
Brittany said:
I don't have a kid, but this is a great decoration for a party. I have a million glass jars taking up space in my cabinets, so now I just have to get tissue paper.
Great idea!
Posted on January 23, 2009 12:58
citystreams said:
You're so insanely creative! I am just amazed at all of these fabulous ideas that fall out of your brain. Love it!
Posted on January 23, 2009 17:35
Neil said:
I love that you dressed them in the traditional Chinese clothes. Did you buy an Asian outfit for yourself too?
Wonderful creative idea, Brenda.
Posted on January 23, 2009 21:13
Angella said:
You are seriously the most creative person I know (Well, tied with Bethany). Love these!
Posted on January 25, 2009 07:00
wasim said:
so nice and creative
Posted on February 2, 2009 08:05
amy said:
Gorgeous girls and great project! You have to be one of the most creative mom's around. Your daughter is so lucky :)
Posted on February 3, 2009 21:07
Matthyew Fritch said:
Thank you for this idea.
We are excited this year to create with our kids.
Thank you
Posted on September 13, 2009 23:09