Chinese New Year Ang Bao Mini Lantern

In the past, lanterns were used to provide light. They are also used for decoration, especially in the form of celebration and worship. This new year, I have made a lot of ang bao lanterns – do check out my Chinese New Year Pinterest board inspiration.

Today, I am going to show you the step-by-step instructions to make these cute ang bao mini lanterns! You can use it as an ornament for your plants or thread the mini lanterns in a roll to make a banner. There are many ways to make use of mini lanterns.

For this craft, you can use either one long rectangle ang bao to make one mini lantern or two small rectangle ang baos to make one mini lantern.

Using one long rectangle ang bao, the mini lantern display measures approximately 6.2 cm by 9.5 cm, not including the red string on top and the length of the Chinese knot tassel at the bottom. Using two small rectangle ang baos, the mini lantern display measures approximately 6.2 cm by 10 cm, not including the red string on top and the length of the Chinese knot tassel at the bottom.

The rating of difficulty is 1.5 out of 5, which should take roughly 15 minutes to complete one mini lantern. If you are doing this craft with younger children, instead of using a pen knife, you can use scissors to cut. I will explain more in the instructions below.

To make these hanging mini lanterns, you will require:

• 4 long rectangle ang baos / red envelopes (approx. 9.5 cm by 17 cm)
• Ruler
• Double-sided tape
• Pen knife or scissors
• Cutting mat if using the pen knife
• Pin/needle
• 1 metre red string
• 1 Chinese knot ornamen

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Cut open the sides of the ang bao and trim away the flap as shown.

   
   

2. The front of the cut ang bao will be used as the outer rim of the lantern. Fold 0.8 cm along the top and bottom of the long side of the ang bao.

   

3. Cut slits with the pen knife along the side of the ang bao using the ruler to guide you. Keep each slit to approx 0.5 cm apart. If you are making this with younger children, you can fold the long ang pow in half (along the length) and press it down. Cut slits with scissors.

   

4. Turn the ang bao over (plain side) and stick the double-sided tape on the top and bottom of the uncut side of the ang bao. Set it aside.

5. The back of the cut ang bao will be used as the inner tube of the lantern. Trim away approximately 2.5 cm. Keep the strip of ang bao as it will be used for the structure/handle of the lantern. The strip will help to keep the shape of the lantern and keep the string in the middle of the lantern.

   

6. Stick the front of the cut ang bao onto the back of the cut ang bao. See how I stuck it on the image. I left a space of 3 cm and overlapped it. Now it will form a perfectly round shape.

   
   
   

7. Cut the strip of ang bao into two. Use the inner tube of the lantern as a measure. Bend both sides of the strip and stick the double-sided tape on both ends. I poked a hole in the middle of the strip of paper for the string to pass through. I prefer to poke a hole now rather than later when it is stuck on the lantern as it won’t be so easy to poke through.

   

8. Stick the strip onto the top of the lantern.

   

9. Pass through the red string and tie a knot. Tip: taping the end of the red string with clear tape makes it easier to pass through the hole in the strip of red paper.

   
   

10. Stick the strip onto the bottom of the lantern and pass through the red string.

11. Once you have finished threading the red string, finish the last lantern with a Chinese knot tassel.

Now they are ready for hanging. So what do you think of these mini lanterns? I hope you like it. If you prefer a much easier mini lantern, try this one I created in 2013.

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