Method of making lanterns

The first step is to make the skeleton. The simple shape of a paper lantern is a cube or cylinder. It is best to make a frame with flexible bamboo branches or bamboo skins, and tie the joints tightly with thin lines. If it is difficult to find, you can also use slender cardboard and bamboo sticks for barbecue. The firmness and elasticity will be lacking, but it is also a good decoration indoors.

Step 2, make the lamp body. Buy some white and red ordinary rice paper or golden rice paper in Four Treasures of the Study, cut it into the length and width of the lantern skeleton, and you can design your own patterns. Calligraphy, painting and paper-cutting can all be displayed on small lanterns. After pasting, you can also use narrow silk-like paper to wrap the edges up and down, which looks more elegant, much like ancient palace lanterns. If you are not good at painting and calligraphy, there is a simple method for reference. Use a thin paper to trace the desired words on the copybook, then overlap this thin paper with crimson rice paper and dig out the words with a single-edged blade. Remove the paper towel, and hollow handwriting will appear on the red rice paper. White rice paper is used as the lamp body, and red rice paper is pasted inside, which reflects candlelight or light from the hollowed-out place, and the effect is quite beautiful.

The third step is to be a light source. If you put it indoors, you just need to light an ordinary candle in the lantern; If you want to realize it, you'd better make a simple circuit with light bulbs and batteries.