Recycled paper lanterns - a tutorial

Yay! It looks like the FTP upload has been fixed. Nice one, Blogger.

Anyway, here's a fun little thing you can make for Christmas - and at other times if you want, of course. I used to make loads of similar ones when I was little. Paper lanterns, made from recycled privacy envelopes.

What you will need: old envelopes (you know the kind you get bills and bank statements in, they usually have some kind of lovely print inside) or other paper, scissors (fancy ones if you have them, I used pinking sheers) and a glue stick.

First 'clean' your envelope, you don't want the window bit, so you end up with a rectangle. Fold it 2-3 times on the long side. Make sure that each section is the same width so you don't cut into the wrong bit by accident.

Now cut along the folds. You can for example make triangular cuts, which will turn into diamond shapes or just make straight cuts close together (they will open up when you glue the lantern together).

Now you should have something kinda like this. If you made triangular cuts, that is. Make sure that all the folds are straight so they will stay bendy.

If you want you can cut along the top and bottom edges. Glue the short edges together and that is your lantern! Squash it down a bit so the folds 'stick out' a bit. Do it better than what I've done in the picture here. ;-)

Now get some tea-lights - please use a glass votive or something similar, you really shouldn't put the lantern over the light as it is (even if I've done that in the picture below!), fire and paper don't go together, m'kay?

Depending on the colour of your paper, it might be nice to use a votive in coloured glass, to add an extra bit of colour. Right, that's it. I hope you enjoyed this wee tutorial. :-)