My First Blog

DIY Lantern

Christmas is just around the corner.

Now that we are in the middle of pandemic COVID-19 and many places were damaged after several typhoons, there is still reason to celebrate Christmas because this is the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and to give inspiration and hope to the victims of calamities.

One way to celebrate Christmas is by using Christmas lanterns. In this blog, I will discuss about how to make a do-it-yourself (DIY) lantern.

In this project, we will use recycled materials instead of buying a new and expensive lantern. Using recycled materials like plastic bottles and disposable (plastic) forks will help save the environment and reduce garbage which are usually burned or thrown elsewhere. Burning plastics will cause air pollution while throwing garbage in the waterways will cause water pollution.

However, I also bought some materials to complete the needed number of materials and for other design and adhesive materials.

Materials to be used:

26 pieces of disposable plastic forks

2 500ml bottle of mineral water

2 350ml bottle of mineral water

3 colors of glitters (green, red, gold)

5 pieces glue sticks

1 bottle white glue

Used beads (color gold)

Lace

Thin wire

Nylon

 

Tools needed:

Glue gun

Scissors

Brush

Wire cutter  

 

Steps in making the Lantern:

A.      For the Frame

1.       Prepare 20 pieces plastic forks. Using a glue gun and glue stick, attach the pointed ends of two (2) plastic forks. Specifically, the tines of fork. Tines are what you call to the four (4) pointed ends of a fork. You will come out with five (5) pairs of forks that are formed like a mountain.

2.       Next, connect the sides of two pairs of forks using a glue gun and they will form like double mountain.

3.       Then, connect all “handle” ends of the forks to form a star frame.  

4.       Make sure that the connection points are strong by putting some more glue using a glue gun. If the forks are connected well, the star frame can stand on its own.

5.       Afterward, carefully remove excess fiber caused by the melted glue. You may use scissors. Set aside the star frame.

 

As you have observed in using glue sticks, once it was inserted in the glue gun and temperature becomes high, the glue stick melts and become softer like liquid. You can now apply the glue on things you want to stick together. However, the melted glue, once cooled or temperature is lower, becomes hard again and this solidify the joining of two separate things.  

 

B.      For the Poinsettia flower

1.       Get the two (2) empty 500ml plastic bottles of mineral water. Remove the bottle caps. Cut the bottles crosswise in the middle. All parts will be used so do not discard them.

2.       Take the 2 upper parts of the cut plastic bottles. Cut them lengthwise into five parts to form the flower petals. Make sure to leave at least 2cm uncut on the top part of the bottle which will serve as the center of the flower. Flatten or press the plastic petals and try to curl it. Set aside.  Do the same procedures for the bottom part of the bottles which will serve as the leaves.

3.       Next, put on some liquid glue on inner side of the bottles using a brush.

4.       While the glue is still wet, place the bottle with glue on a paper (any paper or newspaper) then pour red glitters on the top part of the bottles and green glitters on the bottom part of the bottles. You now have the “flower petals” and “leaves”. Shake the flowers and leaves on the paper to dust off the excess glitters. Fold the paper to collect the excess glitters and return to the glitter bottle/container for future use.

5.       Set aside the “flowers” and “leaves” to dry. If dry enough, repeat the procedure of putting glue and pouring glitters again to make the color thicker. Set aside to dry.

6.       Get the 2 “leaves” parts, put liquid glue on the center then pour on gold glitters. Set aside to dry.

7.       Get some few gold beads and glue on the center of the “leaves” using glue gun & stick. Do the same to the other “leaves” part.

8.       Get the “flower” part, using a glue gun, put as much glue on the rim of the bottle and glue it to the center of the “leaves” part, making sure that the golden beads will fit inside the rim of the bottle. Do this to the other “flower” part. You now have two pairs of flower and leaves.

9.       Next, using a glue gun & stick, put glue on the bottom of each pair (of flower and leaves) and attach them against each other.

 

As you have observed in the process, a plastic bottle is easily cut with scissors. It is also easily pressed without breaking. When pressed or cut, no new material is formed. Only the shape and size changed. However, after putting some designs, the empty bottle later becomes a plastic glittering flowers and leaves.  

 

C.       For the lantern pendants

1.       Get the two (2) 350ml empty plastic bottles. Measure about 4 inches from the rim of the bottle. Then cut them crosswise. We will only use the 2 upper parts of the bottles. You may keep the bottom parts for other use. For me, my mother used it as pots for her small cactus.

2.       Cut each plastic bottle lengthwise into 8 parts as if you are making a sun.  Make sure to form the end of each part pointed. Press/flatten and curl the plastic.

3.       Next, brush some glue on the outer side of the plastic bottle including the bottle cap. Afterwards, pour gold glitters on them. Shake off the excess glitters and save them for future use. Set aside the golden plastic to dry.

4.       Get the remaining 6 plastic forks. Using a glue gun & stick, attach three (3) forks together in their handle. Make another set of three (3) forks.

5.       Get the golden plastic bottles, turn it upside down, then put melted glue stick under the bottle cap. While still wet, stick one (1) set of forks into the bottle cap. Attach the other set of forks to the other bottle cap. Make sure that the forks stick strongly to the bottle cap. Add more glue if needed.

 

D.      Assemble the lantern   

1.       Tie some lace on each of five ends or outer corners of the star frame. This will help bind the frame to be stronger.

2.       Place the “flower-leaves” set on the center of the star frame. Using a glue gun, stick the “leaves” part on five inner corners of the star frame.

3.       Next, using a wire cutter, cut about 2 inches thin wires and attach them to the two outer corners of the star frame which will hold the pendants. Using glue stick, attach one pendant to one thin wire. Make sure to wait for the melted glue to cool down and become solid or hard again. Do the same procedure to the other pendant.

4.       Tie a nylon wire on top of the lantern. This will be the handle. Hang the lantern.

 

For this blog, I also want to share the expenses I spent in making this lantern project.  As I said earlier, primary materials in this project were collected from old stocks or recyclables. However, some materials were still bought to complete the materials in making the lantern.

Table 1. Collected and bought materials

Collected Materials	Bought Materials
6 pieces plastic fork	1 bottle white glue
2 500ml plastic bottle	3 colors of glitters
2 350ml plastic bottle	5 pieces glue stick
Gold beads	20 pieces plastic fork
Lace
Thin wire
Nylon

 

Table 2. Prices of Bought materials

Bought Materials	Volume/Number of materials	Price of Materials
White glue	125 g	25.00
Glitters (green)	60 g	75.00
Glitters (red)	60 g	75.00
Glitters (gold)	60 g	75.00
Glue stick	5 pieces	35.00
Plastic fork	20 pieces	26.45
Total price:		311.45

 

  Table 3. The following tables shows the estimated price of materials actually used in the project.

Materials bought (in bulk)	Price and measurement of the materials	Price of materials actually used
White glue	25.00/125 g	0.20 / g
Glitters (green)	75.00/60 g	1.25 / g
Glitters (red)	75.00/60 g	1.25 / g
Glitters (gold)	75.00/60 g	1.25 / g
Glue stick	35.00/5 pieces	7.00 / piece
Plastic fork	26.45/20 pieces	1.32 / piece

 

Table 4. Take note that not all bought materials were used or consumed. The following table shows the estimated number of materials used and those unused.

Materials bought	Estimated volume/number used	Estimated unused materials
White glue	1/5 of 125g = 25g	4/5 of 125g = 100g
Glitters (green)	2/5 of 60g = 24g	3/5 of 60g = 36g
Glitters (red)	2/5 of 60g = 24g	3/5 of 60g = 36g
Glitters (gold)	1/5 of 60g = 12g	4/5 of 60g = 48g
Glue stick	4 pieces	1 piece
Plastic fork	20 pieces	0 piece

 

Table 5. The next table shows the price of used materials and the price of unused materials which can be used for future projects. In this way, we are practicing Reuse which is also helpful in protecting the environment.

Materials bought	Price of the used materials	Price of the unused materials
White glue	25g x 0.20/g = 5.00	100g x 0.20/g = 20.00
Glitters (green)	24g x 1.25/g = 30.00	36g x 1.25/g = 45.00
Glitters (red)	24g x 1.25/g = 30.00	36g x 1.25/g = 45.00
Glitters (gold)	12g x 1.25/g = 15.00	8g x 1.25/g = 60.00
Glue stick	4 pieces x 7.00/piece = 28.00	1 piece x 7.00/piece = 7.00
Plastic fork	20 pieces x 1.32/piece = 26.45	-

         

In sum, we spent P311.45 for all the materials bought. From that amount, the price of the materials actually used in the project costs P106.5 only. The remaining P177.00 is the cost of the unused materials which, as I mentioned before, can be used for future projects. 

You can also share your lanterns to the victims of calamities to spread the hope and love.

I hope you learned a lot from this blog.

Merry Christmas everyone!