How to build a lantern

Materials needed:

Balloons
White glue
Paint brush
Lots of tissue paper in light colors cut into squares, strips, stars
Other paper materials: confetti, paper cutouts etc
box of paperclips
hole punch
ribbon or string
garden sticks

1. Dilute glue until watery and no longer pastey.

2. Blow up a balloon until it is a small round orb, not too small, not too big.

2. Paint on glue, and add first layer of tissue paper.

3. Wet balloon again with glue, and add more layers.

4. Continue to repeat #3 until you have 4-5 layers of tissue paper. Get creative with different pattrens, colors etc.

5. Hang on a clothes line with paper clip to dry, preferably overnight.

6. Pop balloon, pull gently away from lantern, punch holes and hang with string or ribbon. Small cutouts can be made with a shrap exacto knife to enhance appearance.

7. Attach to garden stick, put a little tea light inside and there you go.

Tips..

This is messy business. Wear appropriate clothes.
Drying lanterns drip glue sometimes, please hang them outside if its warm and sunny or inside and lay down newspaper.
Try and leave a large enough opening to be able to easily place a tea light inside.
Lighter colors of tissue paper allow the light to move through better making for a brighter lantern. Avoid dark colors unless sparsley.
Confetti is a fun last layer than can have great 'color bleeding' affects. Make sure its paper confetti
Anything less than 4 layers of tissue paper and glue and your lantern will have trouble keeping its form.

Illuminares Lantern Procession:

Public Dreams Society celebrates the light of the summer season with its 18th annual Illuminares Lantern Procession on Saturday, July 29, 2006. The event lights up Trout Lake Park from 7 - 11pm with magnificent lanterns, artistry, music, and magic. This year, Illuminares has a theme: “What grows in your garden? Real or Imagined”. Donations are gratefully accepted for this free of charge event. For more information on Illuminares, contact Creative Director, Mercedes Baines, at 604 879 8611 Ext. 111.

http://www.publicdreams.org/index.html