Day 15: Winter Berry Lantern

TO CREATE YOULL NEED:

- 3 pack of Paper lanterns

- 5 sheets Text weight Curious Metallics – Jupiter

- 2.5” Uchida Circle Paper Punch

- Hot Glue Gun

1. Punch about 40 circles.

2. Expand your lantern and begin gluing one side of the cut outs around the bottom opening (make sure the side of the circle your gluing is towards the topside creating a hanging effect). Once completed there should be a single row all the way around the bottom opening of the lantern.

3. Move to the next row; glue the row of circles about a third of the way over the previous row, still creating the ‘hanging effect’. Repeat until you reach the top of the lantern. You are finished!

Have fun!

- Seattle Paper Zone

Day 12: Paper Lanterns

Materials you'll need:
8x8 sheet of cardstock
1x8 strip of cardstock
double sided tape
scissors
pencil
ruler
rhinestones
children

These lanterns have been a popular craft for a long time with children and I was reintroduced to them when I read a great book called Christmas Crafting with Kids (available at the Paper Zone). So I gathered up some supplies, my beautiful niece Dyanna, and my wonderful nephew Cody to make some!

Step 1:
Cut from any cardstock that you want one 8x8 inch square (for the base) and a 1x8 inch strip (for the handle). Set the strip off to the side.

Step 2:
Fold the square in half.

Step 3:
Using a ruler, mark every one inch on the folded edge that you just made. Draw lines going straight up from where you marked to roughly 1 1/2 inches from the top.

Step 4:
Cut the lines, being sure not to cut all the way through to the top.

Step 5:
Using double sided tape, glue one of the newly formed slats on top of another, turning it into a tube.

Step 6:
Gently push on the top of the tube to push out the slats. This was Cody's favorite part as they are quite springy!

Step 7:
Tape the handle inside the top of the tube.

Step 8:
Decorate using a strip of rhinestones (or you can use something like ribbon, sequins, etc.)

These easy, kid-friendly decorations are beautiful and versatile. Try hanging them as a garland, put a tall hurricane vase with a candle inside, or they can just stand alone as is!

Have lots of fun with this craft and have a wonderful holiday season!

- Ally and the Salem Paper Zone family

Pumpkin Lanterns

I am happy to share with you a project brought to you by our talented staff in Seattle. They have created the most amazing Halloween decoration including today's project: Pumpkin Lanterns! Below are instructions on how to make your own
What you’ll need:
-Paper Lantern
-Pipe Cleaners
-One sheet of green paper
-Glimmer Mist - Tiger Lily and/or Sun Flower
-Color Box Chalk Ink Pad – Tangerine
-Green Floral Tape

1: Spray your lantern with Glimmer Mist, and let dry for ten minutes.

2: Rub your ColorBox Chalk ink pad from top to bottom all the way around. Let dry for ten minutes.

3: Fold your 8.5x11 in half. Draw a half heart shape facing the fold. In the middle of the half heart draw the tail end of a crescent moon and begin to cut your leaf.

4: For curly tendrils, spiral two brown pipe cleaners around a marker, then slide off.

5: For leaf and stem; Attach leaf and tendrils to the paper lantern by winding the ends of the pipe cleaners around the wire frame. For stem, roll a few sheets of newspaper into a tapered shape; cut off wider end, then wrap other end with green floral tape. Wrap another brown pipe cleaner around base of stem; secure ends to wire frame.

6:Hang lanterns with fishing line.

Thanks, Seattle Team, for sharing your creative ideas with us!

Christina

P.S. Stay tuned: Next up will be instructions on how to make the cute fan faces as seen in the first photo!

5 More "Love Inspired" Ideas

There have been so many gems of inspiration coming from the stores that I picked 5 more easy ideas that can help you create a lasting memory this Valentines Day.

1. Paper Lanterns. Planning a romantic dinner? How about you light the room with candles and paper lanterns? This lantern is truly so easy! Instructions on how to make it are here. Put your candles in glass votives so that you don't have firemen joining your dinner.

2: Pails in Comparison: These cute little pails almost look like a wedding cake! Clear pails can be lined with any design of paper and embellishments to personalize your gift. Fill them with homemade cookies, candies or love notes. A past post featuring a cookie recipe is a great inspiration for a unique, heartfelt gift.

3. Fimo! We love what Christina has done with Fimo. So versatile you can make Valentine ornaments (why not?!?) or this gorgeous card. Click the links for instructions. And how brilliantly easy is it to use pieces of decorative tape as a background?? love it! P.S. Be sure to sign up for our email list if you want to hear about a free upcoming Fimo demo in our Seattle store!

4. Buckle up your love. Easy as using a paper punch and some ribbon and you have a wonderful little embellishment to add some love to your wrapped gifts.

5. Message in a Bottle: Give your sweety a vial filled with sand from where you got married; dirt from a hike that made your day; a note telling them all the qualities you love about them; or something whimsical like fairy dust (glitter). The possibilities are endless.

Create something special in your life! --Kim

Paper Lantern

Hi Everybody!

Well today is my baby girl's first Birthday! And this mommy has a party to get ready for this weekend... I wanted to share with you one of the many crafting projects I've been working on for the party: Paper Lanterns!

I can not believe how easy they were! All you need is paper, scissors a border punch and a little adhesive!

First you'll want to take your paper (any text weight paper will work, I used Stardream) and fold it in half hot dog style.

Next cut on the folded edge about 3 inches into the paper every quarter inch, or so. (Note: If you want to make this go faster you can use the Martha Fringe Scissors!)
Unfold the paper and punch the edges:

Finally glue the two raw edges together to form the lantern:
You can customize these to fit any occasion by using a different border punch along with any color paper.
What party can you make these for?

Christina

Lantern Mobile

Here's a completed mobile using the lanterns created above. Spooky!