Paper Lantern

A classic lantern from a single rectangle: you cut the slits on the folded sheet, roll the sheet into a tube and squish it — the strips bow outward. A strip handle on top, and red scalloped borders along the edges.

• Easy
• 1 Letter sheet
• 2 pieces
• 7 slits

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 5246

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• Letter sheet — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• Scissors — small
• Glue stick — or PVA glue
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Lantern: outline. Trace the rectangle with a solid line — you’ll cut along it.
2. Lantern: slits. Seven lines across are the slits. They don’t reach the edges: ¾ in is left at the top and at the bottom.
3. Lantern: fold. The dashed line down the middle, along the long side, is the fold: fold the lantern along it so you can cut the slits.
4. Lantern: drawing. Trace the scalloped borders at the top and bottom and the dots on the dashed line. The line near the right edge sets off the tab — that’s where the glue goes.
5. Handle: outline. Trace the strip — it’s the lantern’s handle. It’s the same width as the border.

Color

6. Yellow. The paper is white, but these parts should be this color: color them in completely, up to the outline. Move the marker in one direction.
7. Lantern: coloring. Borders and dots — red. You can skip coloring the tab to the right of the line: it goes inside.

Cut

8. Cut out: lantern. Cut out the rectangle along the outline. Leave the slits for now: they’re cut on the folded sheet.
9. Cut out: handle. Cut with scissors along the solid line. Turn the sheet, not the scissors — the cut will come out neater.
10. Fold in half. Turn the lantern drawing side down and fold it in half along the dashed line, long edge to long edge: the drawing ends up on the outside. Crease the fold with your fingernail.
11. Snip the slits. Cut from the fold along each line, through both layers, and stop where the line ends. Don’t cut the last ¾ in before the edge.
12. Unfold. Unfold the sheet and lay it drawing side up. Don’t flatten the fold: the strips will bow outward along it later.

Assemble

13. Roll it into a tube. Apply glue to the tab at the right edge — on the drawing side, up to the line. Roll the sheet into a tube with the drawing outside and lay the left edge over the tab. Hold for half a minute.
14. Squish the lantern. Stand the tube on the table and press gently from the top with your palm: the strips bow outward along the fold, and the lantern gets about ⅜ in shorter.
15. Glue on the handle. Apply glue to ⅜ in at each end of the handle and glue the ends inside the top border, left and right — opposite each other.

Done. The lantern is done. Make a few more from paper in other colors and hang them by their handles on string lights or a thread above your desk.

Make it with your phone camera

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