Beginners guide to making small medium sized lanterns to use outside. You will find many different beginners’ guides on making willow lanterns and this is my one. You will need the following Structure Buff willow withies, 6ft rods for medium sized structures, 6-10 rods will do although you can use more for a more detailed shape. Good masking tape (not low tack), wire to make your hanging loop – gaffa tape or insulation tape to further secure the hanging loop is also useful. Optional 2- 3 self adhesive Velcro tabs. A torch or battery operated Christmas lights Secateurs and wire cutters. If you are planning to parade with your lantern you will need a 5 - 6ft Cane or thick hazel rod, to secure this to the lantern use a wire loop or metal hook which has been attached with a strong plastic tape e.g. Gaffa tape or insulation tape. Strong cable ties or a carabina. Coverings. Wet strength tissue, standard craft tissue is not strong enough. Pva Glue mix ration 50/50 with water or my preferred mix which is to add scola cell cellulose paste glue to the water to make it go on better , ratio pva 30/70 scolacell. Plastic pot, sponge/ brush and paper scissors, Plastic table coverings.
Hints and tips Things to consider before you start
Decide on the shape that you want to make, you will need it to be strong enough to not drop or stretch out of shape when you carry it. If you have a limited amount of paper and willow. It is always worth making a plan first especially if you want to design a lantern beyond the basic shape. Consider what type of light you are planning to use? And how you going to fasten it? You might want to make an internal platform?
Building the frame.
Safety considerations -Be careful with the withies they can spring back and whack you in the face. Don’t force the willow into shape , ease it gently into using your fingers to ease it into shape. Keep the thicker ends for the structural parts that need strength, the thinner ends for the details. If you are making a shape that needs the willow to bend and it is snapping because it is to dry then soak the willow before using it, your willow supplier will provide advise on how to do this, don’t let the damp willow dry out whilst you are using it, wrap it in a damp towel. Less is more – avoid the tape being too bulky, in small areas split the tape in half, length ways. You might find it helpful to use some wire ties or pegs to fasten the pieces together first before you tape them to check that the shapes is in the right place.
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Joining the willow pieces together – Figure 1 Crossing sections , wind the tape in a figure of 8 enclosing each section.
Figure 2- Joining angles , bend one end and overlap it with the new section if the ends are thick trim them a little to give a neater join and wrap the tape arround them.
Figure 3- joining two pieces together to form a long length. Trim each end into a wedge as shown, overlap them and tightly wind the tape around the sections.
Basic base shapes that you might want to start with
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Covering the lantern- Hints and tips
Protect your work surface as wet tissue could stain surfaces Mix the glue in a pot 50/50 pva glue and water or 40/ 60 pva and scola cell glue paste (scola cell is like wallpaper paste but without any fungicide so safe to use with children). Use a small sponge or glue brush to cover each piece lightly make sure that you cover the whole piece with glue as you go as this will help to protect it and it will tighten slightly when dry. Be gentle with the tissue or it may tear. Cut large enough pieces to cover the sections but not to big. When covering large areas, cover the area in sections. Keep the wet pasting area to the side of your covering area, keeping the remaining tissue dry until you need it. Start at the frame edge and work your way in. overlap the edges of each section of tissue by 1-2 cm as you go. It is best to decide where you need your door section to go before you start
How to make a door flap to allow easy access to the light 1. When the paper lantern is dry cut a square doorway in the most convenient area, large enough to put your hand through to attach and switch on the light. 2. Make a door flap larger than the doorway layering 3 pieces of tissue together, allowing for an additional border 2-3 cm border wide + room at the top to form a hinge. 3. Once the flap is dry glue one edge of the flap to the lantern above the hole leaving space for the other to overlap the edge of the hole slightly, if the flap Is likely to hang loose you can fasten some velcro tabs to secure the bottom in place so that you can close it neatly and still open it.
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Attaching a wire handle on the lantern to hook to your carrying stick Cut a piece of wire approximately 6o cm long, wind each end of the wire to a strong part of the top of the lantern frame so that it is fixed securely, Lanterns can get very heavy when you’ve been carrying them for a while so if you are planning to make a large lantern its always worth thinking about making more than one fastening point. Making up a carrying stick. Using a 5- 6ft cane attach a loop of wire to one end securely with duct tape. Finally you will need a couple of strong cable ties or a carabina to attach the two sections together.
Willow lantern suppliers Willow- http://www.englishwillowbaskets.co.uk/ http://www.musgrovewillows.co.uk/ sell buff willow ( no bark on) and you can already purchase ready to make lantern kit packs Wet strength tissue- Local florist and craft shops may sell it and it can be bought on line from http://www.carnivalpapers.com/ http://www.economyofbrighton.co.uk/ If you live in the south of Hampshire . Southampton Scrapstore sells wet strength tissue , pva glue and scola cell glue at a very reasonable price. You will be able to purchase this from their shop without being a member. http://www.southamptonscrapstore.org.uk/ Winchester Creative Crafts also sell wet strength tissue and pva glue. http://www.creativecrafts.co.uk/ 4 Š JaxsArts and Designs 2014
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