Halloween Lantern

Another way to use the Halloween full page design is to create a lantern for decorating. These could be used for party decorations or just to brighten a corner for a bit of fun.

After cutting the design, turn it over and apply the adhesive - I used Creative Memories Precision Point adhesive pen. I dotted it all over the design and let the adhesive dry to clear.



To line the lantern I used orange glassine. I actually had this in my house from a long ago purchase when I lived in Germany where it is used to make intricate folded stars for the windows (among other things). Below is a photo of the label from the glassine I used. (It is at least 13 years old so the price will probably be higher!).



I applied a piece of orange glassine cut a bit larger than 12 x 12 to the back of the design - being careful to lay it down evenly and smooth out any bubbles.



Colored glassine should be available at a large craft store or online. You could also use cellophane or vellum - a translucent material is best for light diffusion but cellophane would be a bit more "sparkly" (even though you could be able to see through it to the light source).

After applying the glassine you could hang the design in front of a light source or in a window



I trimmed the glassine even with the cut design on one side and the bottom and left a small amount of a border above the top row of cats. For the final side I left an edge that was about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wider than the cut design. Here is a photo which shows this border for the overlap more clearly.


I applied sticky tape to this border so it could be used to join the design in a cylinder for the lantern.



I rolled this glassine lined design in a cylinder shape to "train" it to curve nicely



Once I had the shape started I used some soup cans to help hold the seam steady as I adhered the frame to the narrow border where the sticky tape was applied. The Progresso cans were about the right diameter!



I pulled back a bit of the paper liner on the tape at a time and carefully aligned the edges and smoothed the seam with the support of the can surface below.



Some options for lighting the lantern include candles, electric candles and LED lights.



If you use an electric candle you should also use a shade holder to help keep the paper lantern away from the bulb which will get hot.



If you use a tea light or votive candle, a tall glass cylinder vase will help to protect the paper lantern from the flame. They are readily available at craft stores for a few dollars - just be sure that the circumference is about 11 inches so you will not have trouble sliding the lantern over the vase.



An LED light will provide a bright blue white light and will not get hot at all, so this is probably the safest choice and the choice that could be used if the lantern would not be attended constantly. I got this light for use in a closet - it is battery operated and turns on by pushing the dome top. The first photo is the light turned off and the second is the light is turned on.

So - how do these look when they are lit with these varying sources of light?

Here are photos of the lantern lit by different light sources - first, the electric candle.



Next, with the tea light candle (photo on the left) and the votive candle (photo on the right).




















The LED light is a bluer light and, with this particular light, the lowest holes for the eyes in the pumpkins do not get lit due to the thickness of the base - the light starts to show the design about one or two inches from the bottom of the cylinder.

For this photo I place the lantern on top of a plastic dome (from a store salad bowl) to raise the lantern above the light and show the details at the base. If I used this light source for more designs I would be sure to plan for the thickness of the side of the base and not place any intricate cuts in the first inch or so of the design.

The LED light is definitely the safest since it does not get hot and there is no open flame but the candle gives more of a "glowing" effect and could be used as long as you were in the room to monitor the burning.



I have many more of these designs for various holidays and occasions - I'll be posting them as I get them test cut. In the meanwhile you can try your own versions tailored to your family celebrations - I'd love to see what you create! The .cut file for this design can be downloaded from the post immediately before this one.