Tissue Paper Lanterns!

 These lanterns are so fun to make and cast a beautiful light!

Captain and I had a great time making these simple paper mache style lanterns.  We still have ours sitting on our counter with a tea light ready to glow upon our dinner.

Method:

Choose as many colors of tissue paper as you like, or have around, and cut them into strips.  The strips do not have to be the same size, in fact, we think different widths make a nicer texture.

Lay down newspaper and blow up your balloon.  For younger kids, keeping it at a smaller size is beneficial as it does take time to apply the layers of paper.  Mix equal parts water and white school glue in a bowl.

Cover the balloon with petroleum jelly (to prevent sticking) and start dipping strips of tissue paper into the glue mixture and apply, smoothing them down as you go.  They don’t have to be perfect!  Continue to add strips, crossing over and over to make at least 3 layers deep for sturdiness.  Do not cover the top of the balloon, where it ties, as this will be the opening at the top.  Captain did a lot of the work, but toward the end it got hard for her to hang onto the balloon so mom finished it for her. When it is all ready, hang to dry and then pop the balloon and remove it carefully.  We trimmed the opening of the candle to make it look nice and finished.

Voila!  Put a metal lid inside your lantern (to hold the candle) and add a tea candle.  Next step is to admire it as a family 🙂  This is also a great time to explain about candles and fire danger too.  We have a rule in our house, no candles except at the dinner table.

We would love to see your paper lantern pics if you make these!

Cheers!  Karen

                  

                                          

DIY Sand Candles!

Ahh, I must be dreaming of warm days on the beach again!  Captain and I made these fabulous candles when we were on vacation with Grandma and Grandpa in New Hampshire during Hurricane Irene.  They are extremely simple and fun!  If you use a lot of candles, you can melt down your leftover ends for a beautiful lesson in recycled crafts.  We didn’t have any candle stubs but fell madly in love with the peachy-orange color of wax flakes that I found at Michael’s Craft Store (I also got the short votive wicks there).  We lugged home a bucket of sand from the beach and packed it tight (it should be moist) into a tub.  We each took turns scooping out sand to make a little form.  A perfectly smooth, round form is nice, but we really loved the ones that were more free-form the best.

Method

What you need:  Chunk of wax, approx 1 lb, clean empty tin can (24 oz size works well), saucepan, short votive wicks with metal clip on bottom.

Make smooth mold and place wick so metal is on the bottom, wick straight up.  Mom’s job: Boil water in saucepan and melt wax completely in the tin can which is set in the double boiler.  Be very careful with the hot wax on the stovetop.  Pour wax leaving at least 1” of wick exposed.  After the wax hardens, lift them out and dust any loose sand off the outside.

We used orange and cream layered wax and they turned out beautifully!

Captain really liked Grandma’s because “it looks like the shore and mine looks like the ocean where everyone runs into the waves.”  She was very excited to take home a very special candle for her Dad.

I originally got this idea from my wonderful mother in law Judi, who made these back in the 70’s.  There is also a project listed on education.com. Here’s to summer dreams and the smell of sand, sun and the ocean!

Good Thoughts, Karen