Year of the Rabbit - how to make a Chinese Lantern

Ruby has been learning all about Chinese New Year at nursery, so I thought it would be nice to do a craft activity at home to celebrate. This year Chinese New Year officially falls on 3rd February, but it is a 15 day long celebration, so plenty of time to get crafty!

Inspired by my favourite craft blogger, the wonderful Maggy at Red Ted Art and her lampshade lanterns we set to.

You will need:

• A paper lampshade (you can pick up the globe shaped ones cheaply, mine was from Wilkinson for 97p, but Ikea do larger ones for about £2)

• A battery operated 'tealight' or push light (mine were £1 for a pack of 2 from Poundland, and were what I used in our Halloween pumpkins)

• A long pole/dowel/cane with a cup hook screwed in one end

• Black paper

• Scissors & glue

• Tissue paper

• Any decorative bits and pieces you want to use i.e ribbon; sequins; stickers etc etc

1. Make up your lampshade following the instructions. Just a simple case of opening up the concertina and inserting the metal holder inside.

2. Depending on the style of shade and the light you are using, you may need a little engineering to give you a base at the bottom of the shade to attach your light to.  We used a lolly stick and some tape, but as we're covering the shade it doesn't need to be too neat.

3. Tear or cut up your tissue paper and glue all over the shade.  Layers give a better effect. Don't make the pieces too small or it will take forever!  Ruby got a bit fed up after a while and wandered off, but she's only very little, so I guess older kids will persevere until it's finished. Alternatively, you don't need to use tissue paper at all.  the 'au naturel' effect with just silhouettes looks great too as you can see on the Red Ted Art link.

4. Cut out some simple silhouette templates in black paper.  We chose rabbits as it is the Chinese year of the rabbit. A word of warning though, a Google search for rabbit pictures may bring up some unexpected results!!

5. Arrange and glue on your silhouette shapes.  Decorate as required.  We went for full on red and gold bling and added a little gold tassel on the bottom!

6. Once dry, switch on your light and attach your pole.  Suspend from the hook with a bit of ribbon for a more 'swingy' effect!

Happy new year! The year of the rabbit promises to be a much calmer and more placid year than the previous year of the tiger.  Here's hoping.  xx