Celebrate the Chinese New Year with this super fun and easy giant paper lantern DIY tutorial
These fun Paper Lantern DIY decorations are all kinds of fun and great for decoration during the Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is coming up in a few weeks. Creating crafts for the holiday is one of my favorite activities to do with the kids.
Paper lanterns are a prominent decoration throughout Chinese New Year celebrations.
Why are Chinese lanterns important?
Chinese people originally used paper lanterns to provide light and use them in their Buddhist worship. Today they are really only used for decoration, celebrations, and some worship.
The best part is if you are wanting to light up our giant paper lanterns, you simply purchase a glow stick and place it inside the balloon before hanging them for your celebration.
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What do paper lanterns symbolize?
Paper lanterns symbolize a bright and happy future. The red symbolizes happiness and the gold symbolizes wealth.
Chinese lanterns were originally made with red gauze. They are now made of paper. Lanterns were originally believed to ward away evil spirits and so they were hung on the front door. They are now hung as part of celebrations and ceremonies.
How to Celebrate Chinese New Year
In China, there are many large celebrations across the country. In the US, I know that most major cities have celebrations of their own. There are lots of paper lanterns, dragons dancing, and celebrations.
We celebrate in the children's classrooms by making Chinese New Year crafts. As a family, we like to go out to a Chinese dinner too.
Check out these other Chinese New Year Crafts!
Items you need to make a giant lantern diy project
We are taking a Made with a HAPPY spin on a traditional paper lantern with this giant paper lantern DIY.
- Giant Round Red Balloons
- Piece of yellow cardstock
- Yellow Crepe Paper
- Tape
- Scissors
- Ruler or Paper Cutter
How do you make this Chinese lantern?
Start by cutting the piece of yellow card stock into three strips of paper. The paper should be cut (vertical) along the smaller side. Each strip should be 11 inches long.
The first strip should be one inch in width. The second should be two inches, and the third strip should be three and a half inches in width.
Making the handle of the lantern
We are starting with the middle strip, the 2-inch strip. Wrap the end together and make a ring.
Using the tape, tape the end to the ring to secure it in place.
Next, take the one-inch strip of paper and tape one end to the inside of the ring. You are taping this perpendicular to the two-inch ring.
Tape the other end of the one-inch strip to the opposite side on the inside of the ring. This should look like a handle.
Making the bottom of the giant lantern
Grab the third strip of paper, the three and a half strip.
Create a ring with that strip the same way you did it for the two-inch strip.
Putting the lantern together
Next, you are going to create a DIY Tassel Garland with your crepe paper. This portion of the craft will only take five to ten minutes.
Blow up your balloon.
We are going to first add the paper handle to the top of the balloon to cover the tail.
Tape the handle to the balloon on the inside.
You are going to tape the loop of the tassel to the bottom of the balloon. Carefully thread the tassel through the three-and-a-half-width paper ring.
Tape that ring to the balloon the same way you taped the handle.
You have yourself a giant paper lantern!
Other Uses for The Paper Lantern
These super but giant lanterns are great for Chinese New Year, but there are also lots of different uses for the lanterns.
If you use white paper and white balloons, you can have white paper lanterns that are great for wedding decorations. These lanterns look absolutely fabulous and are really inexpensive to make.
Lanterns are also great in different colors for party decorations. They are only a few party supplies needed to create these sweet lanterns. They are dramatic and look so great in whatever color you create them in.
You can hang them as you would any other paper lantern. They are really light and could be hung with tape if needed.
DIY Chinese Lanterns FAQs
Here are a few questions you might have now that you have started your Paper Lantern DIY.
For more traditional Chinese lanterns, they are made of rice paper. For these lanterns, you can use any colored paper including construction paper, cardstock, or origami paper.
We made these from supplies from the dollar store. It truly doesn't get much cheaper than that. The only other cost savings would be if you used paper scraps and then you are simply paying for the balloon.
There are always a lot of questions about making them waterproof. One way to do that is to dip your paper portion of the project in melted beeswax. This waterproofs the paper.
We highlighted this Chinese New Year Craft along with some other fun kid's crafts in our January Crafts for Kids along with our 101+ Easy Craft Ideas for kids.
You also do not want to miss our 101+ Free Kids Printables full of Crafts & Coloring Pages.
Other Chinese New Year Activities You Might Enjoy
- Chinese New Year Printables
- Chinese New Year Activities For Kids
- Year of the Tiger Coloring Pages
- Chinese New Year Bingo
- Dragon Coloring Pages
Check out our Kids Crafts from Around the World series
Kids Crafts from Around the World
Kids Crafts From Around the World
Introduction to a fun series during the month of March, national craft month, where is showcases some craft projects from other countries. This post rounds up the entire series showcasing every post.
Kids Crafts from Around the World - Week 1
Week 1 of our Kids Crafts from Around the World showcases crafts from Saudi Arabia, China, India, and Brazil.
Kids Crafts from Around the World - Week 2
Week 2 of our Kids Crafts from Around the World showcases crafts from Ireland, The Netherlands, China, India, and Peru.
Kids Crafts from Around the World - Week 3
Week 3 of our Kids Crafts from Around the World showcases crafts from Indonesia, New Zealand, and Afganistan.
Kids Crafts from Around the World - Week 4
Week 4 of our Kids Crafts from Around the World showcases crafts from Mexico, England, and Uruguay.
Kids Crafts From Around the World - Week 5
Week 5 of our Kids Crafts from Around the World showcases crafts from Latin America/Brazil, Native American, Japan and France
Giant Paper Lantern DIY Tutorial
Materials
Tools
- Tape
Instructions
Cutting the Paper used for this project
- Start by cutting the piece of yellow card stock into three strips of paper. The paper should be cut (vertical) along the smaller side. Each strip should be 11 inches long.
The first strip should be one inch in width. The second should be two inches, and the third strip should be three and a half inches width.
Making the handle of the lantern
- We are starting with the middle strip, the 2 inch strip. Wrap the end together and make a ring.
- Using the tape, tape the end to the ring to secure it in place.
- Next, take the one inch strip of paper and tape one end to the inside of the ring. You are taping this perpendicular to the two inch ring.
- Tape the other end of the one inch strip to the opposite side on the inside of the ring. This should look like a handle.
Making the bottom of the lantern
- Grab the third strip of paper, the three and a half strip.
- Create a ring with that strip the same way you did it for the two inch strip.
Putting the lantern together
- Next you are going to create a DIY Tassel Garland with your crepe paper. This portion of the craft will only take five to ten minutes.
Blow up your balloon.- We are going to first add the paper handle to the top of the balloon to cover the tail.
- Tape the handle to the balloon on the inside.
- You are going to tape the loop of the tassel to the bottom of the balloon. Carefully thread the tassel through the three and a half width paper ring. Tape that ring to the balloon the same way you taped the handle.
Viola, you have a giant paper lantern to hang.
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Giant Paper Lantern DIY
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