Extend an Asian design theme with a handmade paper lantern fashioned from rice paper and bamboo. DIY Decorating & Design host Nancy Golden demonstrates the steps involved in creating a simple shade designed to fit over an existing candle light fixture. Materials:
Candle light fixture
Rice paper
Scissors
Adhesive-backed styrene -- available at a lamp store
Ruler
Craft knife
Bamboo garden stakes
Tin snips
- The new shade is a tube that fits over an existing candle light fixture. Determine the size of the new shade, and cut a rectangle of rice paper accordingly.
- Add a piece of adhesive-backed styrene to the back of the rice paper. Remove the paper backing from the styrene, and roll it onto the rice paper, starting in the middle and rolling outward (figure A).
- Mark slits where the bamboo stakes will be woven through the shade, and cut the slits with a craft knife.
- Use tin snips to cut the bamboo stakes about 2" longer than the height of the finished shade (figure B).
- Weave the bamboo stakes through the slits in the shade. Roll the shade into a tube, and use the last bamboo stake to connect the front and back of the shade (figure C).
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