If you want to find out how to make paper lanterns, there are countless crafts blogs and videos that will provide you with instructions. Crafts are great for saving money and expressing your creativity. But I wonder if you can actually save money by making your own paper lanterns? How much time does it take? And how much effort is required?

Do I really want to
make my own lantern?

You can spend your time figuring out how to make paper lanterns, or you can plunk down as little as eighty cents and buy a paper lantern from Luna Bazaar.

We have “No Frills” paper lanterns that we sell for the lowest price possible without skimping on quality.  A 6-inch lantern costs eighty cents. For less than $10 you can buy enough lanterns to create your own centerpiece or hanging decoration for the center of a room. One very reasonable, yet sophisticated decoration using small lanterns is shown below:

Todd Klein design from House Beautiful

Many “How to Make Paper Lanterns” blogs start with a paper outline or template. The template is stored in a .pdf file which must be downloaded and printed on your printer. If you are using special paper – something other than ordinary printer paper – you need to be sure that your printer can handle the paper. Either too-thick, or thin, flimsy paper can cause a paper jam or damage to your printer.

How to Make Paper Lanterns Using a Template

There are lots of interesting lantern templates out there. These designs are often unique and can’t be purchased – they can only be made by hand. One example is from Craftstylish.com:

Hand-made paper lanterns by Jeffery Rudell

How to Make Paper Lanterns Without a Template

A typical style of lantern that shows up in “How to Make Paper Lanterns” blogs looks like this:

Simple Lantern project from Kaboose

It requires no template, and no downloading. The basic materials and tools required to make these are:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Tape
• Stapler
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Glue, glitter, sequins, if desired to decorate your lantern

This is a fun project for kids. This is not what you want for your wedding.

So, paper and scissors are great, but if your time is limited, you may want to consider what you can create with a few paper lanterns from Luna Bazaar.