Want to send some love to your loved ones? Then come and make this ang pow heart lantern this Chinese New Year to show your appreciation! They can also be used for decorations for weddings! Just use wedding-themed ang pows instead.
I tried to make this heart-shaped lantern using the big rectangular ang pows but it didn’t work very well. It looks out of proportion. This is best to use the smaller rectangular ang pows. This ang pow heart lantern measures approximately 24 cm by 20 cm by 15 cm, not including the length of the Chinese knot tassel at the bottom or the red string on top. The rating of difficulty is 3 out of 5, which should take roughly 45 minutes to complete. Check out my Chinese New Year Pinterest board for more inspiration.
When picking ang pows for this craft, a softer or medium thickness will work better than those thick ang pows.
To make this, you will require:
- 12 long rectangle ang pows / red envelopes (approx. 8.5 cm by 11.5 cm)
- Stapler & staples
- Ruler
- Scissors
- 50 – 60 cm red string
- 1 Chinese knot ornament secured with paper/cardboard
Step-by-step instructions:
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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 bottom corner of the joint down. This is a marker for later use.
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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 ang pows. These are markers for later use.
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Now to fold each side of the 20 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 towards the front of the ang pow.
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Now we are going to make the front of the heart lantern by using 10 ang pows. Place them exactly as shown.
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Staple three sets of three ang pows (numbers 1, 2 and 3) together along the folds as shown. Try to staple it close to the joint, please see photo.
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Join the three sets of three ang pows together. I like to staple as close to the fold as possible as it will make sure the lantern won’t have any gaps or holes.
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Rotate number 10 ang pow horizontally and staple it as shown.
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Now repeat steps 4 to 7 to create the back of the heart lantern.
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Join the front and back of the lantern as shown.
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Staple from the top of the heart lantern as shown. Before sealing the top of the heart lantern, place the red string with big knots in between the ang pows.
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Staple both the left and right sides of the heart lantern.
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Staple the bottom of the heart lantern. Before sealing the tip of the heart lantern, place the Chinese knot ornament secured with paper in between the ang pows.
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Insert your hand in between the front and back ang pows and use your hand to puff out the ang pows.
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Seal both number 10 ang pows on both sides.
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To smooth the lantern, take the corners of the same ang pow and staple them together. Don’t pull the corners too close or too far, just down in the middle.
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If you like, you can decorate the lantern with flower petals or pearls.
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Once everything is stuck down, the ang pow heart lantern is ready to hang!
So what do you think of this heart-shaped ang pow lantern? Doesn’t it look cute? I hope you like it.
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