This Chinese New Year Candy ang pow lantern is more fanciful and beautiful than a simple plain Chinese lantern. It is like an upgrade to a more complicated looking lantern and it does not require any more materials than a simple lantern, except a pair of scissors. It also looks like a candy wrapper.
Before we make any ang pow/red envelope lantern, selecting the right design ang pow is very important. First, look at the design! Does the ang pow have a very pretty front, like spring flowers, birds or fish? The more impressive striking design will make this lantern more impressive.
Secondly, does the ang pow have any designs/prints at the back? Some do and some don’t. Most of the time, they either have the company logo or nothing. It is not very easy to find ang pow with designs on both sides. But do try to find ang pow with prints on both sides if you can for this craft. The ang pow that I am using in this post, has designs on both sides and when I cut the corners, you can see the beautiful print on the side.
Thirdly, choose the right thickness of the ang pow. The material of this ang pow that I am using is quite thick. Hence I am not adding plain cards into the ang pow. If your ang pow’s material is quite thin and soft, strengthen it by inserting thick plain cards. The plain cards should fill the ang pow and be approximately 10 cm by 6 cm.
This is a very small lantern, which measures approximately 17 cm, not including the length of the Chinese knot tassel and string. The rating of difficulty is 1 out of 5. It is an easy craft for children to do. You can also make more than one lantern and join them all in a vertical roll or horizontally as a banner.
You will require these materials:
- 5 long rectangle ang pows / red envelope (approx. 9.5 cm by 17 cm)
- stapler & staples
- scissors
- ruler
- 50 – 60 cm red string
- 1 Chinese knot tassel
These are the step-by-step instructions:
- 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.
- 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. Make sure that you fold the back of the ang pow onward to the front of the ang pow.
- 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 above. I placed one near the middle and two on the end of the ang pow.
- Now we are going to make the cutting for the top part of the lantern. Cut from the middle towards the top (diagonally), just above the middle staple and before hitting the staples on the top. Cut a 6 cm slit. Do the same for the rest.
- Take both cut flaps of the same ang pow, cross them over like how you might cross arms and staple them together. Please see photo and do the same for the rest.
- It will be the same cutting for the bottom part of the lantern. Cut from the middle towards the bottom (diagonally), just above the middle staple and before hitting the staples on the bottom. Again, cut a 6 cm slit. Do the same for the rest.
- Take both cut flaps of the same ang pow, cross them over like how you might cross arms and staple them together. Please see photo and do the same for the rest.
What do you think about this candy ang pow lantern? Does it look cute? Let me know in the comments below.
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