The paper lantern is one of the first crafts a child learns: one sheet, one fold, a row of cuts, and a tube that bows out into a lantern. This page draws the cuts for you, at the right spacing for your paper, with a pattern for the festival on the bands and the child’s name on the front.
Five lanterns
| For | The pattern | The inner tube |
|---|---|---|
| Lunar New Year | gold coins on red | gold |
| Ramadan and Eid | gold crescents and stars on deep blue | gold |
| Diwali | flowers of dots on saffron | yellow |
| Christmas | gold stars on green | cream |
| To color in | the coins as outlines on white | white |
Making it, step by step
- Print at 100 %, landscape, on paper or thin card.
- Fold along the dashed line, the pattern outside.
- Cut each slit from the fold to the band. Do not cut into the bands.
- Unfold, roll into a tube and glue the tab. Slide it over the inner tube if you printed one.
- Glue the handles inside the top on opposite sides.
What it costs
Nothing. No account, no watermark, no email. For Lunar New Year, the red envelope template prints the envelopes for the gift money; for Eid, the Eid money envelope does the same.
Questions
How do you make a paper lantern?
Fold the lantern sheet in half along the dashed line, the pattern outside. Cut every slit from the fold toward the edges, stopping at the bands; never cut through a band. Unfold, roll the sheet into a tube and glue the tab under the other end. Push the top and bottom gently together and the slats bow out. Glue the handle inside the top.
What is the inner tube for?
It sits inside the lantern and shows through the slits in a second color, gold behind red for Lunar New Year, like light through the slats. Roll it up and glue it first, then slide the lantern over it. It is on the second sheet with the two handle strips; untick it for a plain lantern.
How big is the lantern?
On a whole landscape sheet of US Letter, the wall is 247 mm round and 186 mm tall with 15 slits about 15 mm apart; it stands a little shorter once the slats bow out. The small size is about two thirds of that, easier for little hands to cut. The page shows the numbers for your paper.
When is Lunar New Year 2027?
Saturday 6 February 2027, the start of the Year of the Goat. Red lanterns hang for the whole festival, through the Lantern Festival on its fifteenth day.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The lantern is drawn in your browser. Closing the tab erases the name.