Chinese New Year Ang Pow Lantern

This is a very simple and straightforward Chinese Lantern. The rating of difficulty is 1 out of 5. This is a very small lantern, which measures approximately 13 cm, not including the length of the Chinese knot tassel and string. It is an such easy craft for children to do and won’t take more than 15 minutes to do. It will make a great Chinese New Year theme craft for younger children. You can also make more than one lantern and join them all in a vertical roll or horizontally as a banner.

You will required these materials:

• 5 long rectangle ang pows / red envelope (approx. 9.5 cm by 17 cm)
• stapler & staples
• ruler
• 50 – 60 cm red string
• 1 Chinese knot tassel

Step 1 – Find the mid point of the ang pow:

Find the midpoint of the ang pow by folding the ang pow into half vertically but don’t press the fold all the way down. Instead, just press the two corners of the joint down. This is a marker for later use.

Next, open the ang pow out again. Then fold the ang pow into half horizontally and again only press the two corners of the joint down. Repeat for the rest of the four ang pow. These are markers for later use.

Step 2 – Fold each side of the five ang pow:

Now to fold each side of the five ang pows – from the midpoint that we found on the ang pow make a fold from the top midpoint to the left midpoint, the left midpoint to the bottom midpoint, the bottom midpoint to the right midpoint and from the right midpoint to the top midpoint. The end result should be four diagonal folds (diamond shape). I use a ruler to help me to fold the corners neatly.

Step 3 – Join the red packets and insert the red string and Chinese knot tassel:

Place two ang pows together back-to-back along the folds along the top as shown. Try to staple it close to the joint, please see photo. I placed one near the middle and two on the top of the ang pow.

Repeat with the third and fourth ang pow.

Before you staple the fifth ang pow to the first ang pow, tie the red string with the Chinese knot tassel and knot it (to stop it from sliding off). Now insert it in between the first and fifth ang pow.

Now we are going to staple the bottom part of the ang pow lantern. Gently bend the ang pow in the middle such that the middle part is sticking outward.

Make sure all ang pows are bent in the middle before stapling them together. Staple all the corners together, before the last corner and place the Chinese knot tassel out. Try to staple it close to the joint, please see photo.

Step 4 – Join the corners:

Now we are going to bend the corners on the top of the lantern together and staple the two corners to create a curved top.  Please see photo and do the same for the rest.

Next we are going to bend the corners on the bottom of the lantern together and staple the two corners to create a curved top.  Please see photo and do the same for the rest.

Step 5 – Hanging the lantern:

Now you have finished product. Hang anywhere you wish! Want to make something more fanciful, why not try out this candy ang pow lantern.