DIY Christmas Decoration: Star Lantern

Last Christmas was full of many firsts. The first time we hosted our own Christmas party. First time our tiny tot celebrated Christmas with his extended family, the first time he met Santa at a children's Christmas party at the club (he refused to partake the fire truck he got from him!), the first time I made handmade decor at home (my first wreath!), The first time we made eggnog & sangria at home. This flurry of activity is a far cry from previous two years which had been spent walking around extra-extravagant mall decor in Jakarta (which btw I still miss from the bottom of my little broken heart, sniff sniff)  

So here's a DIY tutorial to make a simple star lantern.

Step one: I used 4 equal sized cardboard sheets (from milk cartons, I realized later that you could just buy some from the stationary store) and cut out a star in each of them with a paper cutter & scale. 

Step 2: Then pasted red kite paper on each of them individually (so the red paper covers the star cut out and the light shines through it when it's finally ready). I kept extra length at the bottom and snipped that part into frills.

Step 3: punch small holes on the vertical edges of each cardboard sheet (I stabbed em with a pair of scissors cuz the cardboard was too thick for my teeny tiny punch. Bought a bigger punch later!)




   

Step 4: tie the two cardboard sheets together with a silver ribbon in a shoe lace pattern leaving plenty extra ribbon on top. Eventually tie all 4 cardboard sheets together to resemble a box. Tie the extra length of ribbon together on top which can be hung over a nail. Add some more jazz such as a few more ribbons that fall freely from the lantern.

Step 5: for the light part, get the following from the electrical shop: a plug, long wire (choose color and length as per your balcony), an adapter for bulb, a bulb. Or a Flexible Wire Link such as the one in the picture. This can be tied to the lantern.

   
     

Different type of material can be used following this method, e.g. for the other lanterns, I used wrapping paper, cut out rectangles instead of stars and even used woolen threads to tie them up.

I made these last year all by myself as my son was very small, but I'll bet many preschoolers could make 'em by themselves!

P.S. Sorry for the quality of these pictures, these were taken from my humble phone! 

Related Pinterest Board:

Follow ThePracticalMom's board Christmas crafts for kids on Pinterest.