Vietnamese Paper Lanterns

Paper lanterns are a beautiful part of Vietnam’s annual Moon Festival, Tết Trung Thu, that takes place in the fall. Both children and adults enjoy making and displaying these colorful decorations. Made mostly from materials you can find lying around the house, you can make dozens of lanterns to celebrate Vietnam’s Autumn Festival

Step 1:

Find and mark the CENTER of the paper

Step 2:

USE GLUE on the CENTER dot and FOLD four corners to the CENTER

Step 3:

FOLD the four corners to the CENTER again (DO NOT GLUE)

Step 4:

REPEAT Steps 1-3, four more times (You will have a total of 5 folded squares)

Step 5:

CUT 8 pieces of TAPE the same size as the length of the folded paper

Step 6:

Connect 3 of the folded squares together with the pieces of TAPE

Step 7:

CONNECT the remaining two folded squares to the MIDDLE folded square

Step 8:

Use tape to connect all of the sides together to form a BOX

Step 8a:

More pictures to help visualize the BOX

Step 9:

Use GLUE on the side of the box, along the FOLDED line. (Preparing to form the flower petals)

Step 10:

Fold the corners to the middle, then PUFF up the inside of the corners to form the petals of the flowers (there will be four petals on each side)

Step 11:

Fold the petals on 5 sides of the box. (Bottom will be the last one to finish)

Use the clothespins to hold the glue for 1 minute. This will make sure the petals stick together!

Step 11a:

More pictures to help with the visualization.

Step 12:

Use a toothpick to make 2 holes on the opposite sides of the box. This will allow for the use of a string to hold or hang the lantern! (TIP: tie a knot at the end of the string to secure it to the lantern)