Chinese New Year Ang Pow Fish Lantern

Wishing you all an abundant and surplus-filled year after year (年年有余 Nian Nian You Yu)! This is a commonly used expression we use to greet each other during the Chinese New year. 年 in Chinese means year and 余 (surplus) shares the same pronunciation with 鱼 (fish). Hence this ang pow fish lantern will surely bring wealth into your home! Come and try it out!

This ang pow fish is not very complicated, but it can be very fiddly to staple. Also, I usually avoid using glue for my ang pow crafts as it can get quite messy and I don’t like the use of double-sided tape either. I have tried to use staples to join the tail to the body, but it didn’t look very neat. So I decided to use glue on this occasion. It did get a bit messy, you can hide it by tying a ribbon over the joint.

This is a medium size fish lantern, which measures approximately 23cm by 21 cm by 5cm, not including the length of the Chinese knot tassel and string. The rating of difficulty is 3 out of 5. It might look easy, but there are many steps involved.

If possible, get ang pows in between soft and medium thickness to make this craft. You need the ang pows to be flexible to be able to bend. I love this ang pow’s vibrant red colour that I am using in this post. It has a very striking design too. You do not need any designs/prints at the back of the ang pows, especially when I cut the corners for the fins, you don’t see much on the back of the ang pows underneath it.

In my step-by-step instructions, I will be showing you a set of sides of the fish (which I have labelled as Side A and Side B) in the same photo on the individual part of the fish (face, upper fin, bottom fin, body and tails). You need 8 ang pows for the whole body, 2 ang pows for the tails and 1 ang pow to cut for the fins.

You will require these materials:

• 11 rectangle ang pows / red envelopes (approx. 8 cm by 11.5 cm)
• A pair of Googly eyes
• Stapler & staples
• Ruler
• Clip
• Clear strong glue
• Scissors
• 50 – 60 cm red string
• 1 Chinese knot ornament secured with paper/cardboard
• BBQ stick (optional)

These are the step-by-step instructions for folding the ang pows:

1. To make the face of the fish, find the midpoint of the ang pow by folding the ang pow into half vertically and half horizontally, 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.

2. Now fold all four corners using the ruler, but leave a 1cm gap on ONE side. This will be the mouth of the fish. Repeat the same with the other ang pow, but in opposite direction. (A1 & B1) – it looks almost like a diamond shape.

   

3. To make the upper fin of the fish, find the midpoint of the ang pow by folding the ang pow into half vertically and half horizontally, 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.

4. Now fold the two corners of the bottom of the ang pow: the left midpoint to the bottom midpoint and the bottom midpoint to the right midpoint. It should look like the bottom of a diamond shape.

   

5. Now fold from midpoint to corner as shown. This will be the top shape of the fin. Repeat the same with the other ang pow, but in the opposite direction. (A2 & B2)

   

6. To make the bottom fin of the fish, find the midpoint of the ang pow by folding the ang pow into half vertically and half horizontally, 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.

7. Now fold the two corners of the top of the ang pow: the left midpoint to the top midpoint and the top midpoint to the right midpoint. It should look like the top of a diamond shape.

   

8. Now fold from midpoint to corner as shown. This will be the bottom shape of the fin. Repeat the same with the other ang pow, but in the opposite direction. (A3 & B3)

   

9. To make the body of the fish, find the midpoint of the ang pow by folding the ang pow into half vertically and half horizontally, 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.

10. Now fold two corners of ONE side of the ang pow: the middle midpoint to the top midpoint and the middle midpoint to the bottom midpoint. Look like half of a diamond shape.

    

11. Now fold two corners of the opposite side of the ang pow. It will have a big gap (approximately 3.3cm) for inserting part of the tails into it. Repeat the same with the other ang pow, but in opposite direction. (A4 & B4)

    

12. To make the tails of the fish, find the midpoint of the ang pow by folding the ang pow into half vertically and half horizontally, 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.

13. Now fold all the sides of the two 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 design on the ang pow inwards to the back of the ang pow.

    

14. Now open the top corners of the ang pows. Fold half of the bottom sides of the ang pows. It will look like a narrow arrow pointy shape.

    

15. Fold back the top corners of the ang pows and place them together without stapling them. Slot the top corners of both ang pows neatly together and staple them. Or you can glue it together and use a clip to secure while drying.

    
    
    

16. Cut two corners off an ang pow for the side fins.

    

These are the step-by-step instructions for joining the individual ang pows together:

1. Place all the side A parts together as shown and staple them. Before stapling A3 to A1 & A4, place the side fin in between A1 & A4. This is quite fiddling. Be patience.

   

2. Place all the side B parts together as shown and staple them. Before stapling B3 to B1 & B4, place the side fin in between B1 & B4.

   

3. Staple the complete side A with complete side B starting from the mouth area/face first.

   
   
   

4. Staple the side A and side B top fins together. Staple as close as possible to the joint while inserting the red string.  If you have forgotten this step, please see below.

   

5. Now staple the side A and side B bottom fins together, while inserting the Chinese knot tassel.

   

6. Staple both corners of side A and side B body together.

   

7. Place some glue onto the top tip of the tails.

   

8. Insert the tail into the opening of the body.

   
   

9. Once the tail part is dry, use the BBQ stick to push in the red string in between the top fins if you previously forget to do so.

10. Use the BBQ stick to push the Chinese knot tassel in between the bottom fins if you previously forget to do so.

11. Glue the googly eyes on each side of the fish’s face.

12. If you wish, you can decorate the joint between the tail and body with a ribbon to mask the glue stains.

What do you think about this striking fish? Hope you like it. If you prefer a simpler craft, you can try this fish craft or if you’re after a slightly more challenging craft, try this 3D fish lantern. Let me know in the comments below.

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