Handmade Diwali Lantern Tutorial

A Handmade Diwali lantern for Diwali is a great great way to add that festive vibe to your home. Apart from handpainted diyas and rice lights, lanterns are a good addition to the decor part.

Diwali is the biggest festival in India and I am truly in the celebrations this year. Welcome to the capital region of India and I have actually realized the real magnitude of the festivities starting from navrathri to diwali. Its like an entire month long of festivities and good food (read belly full of sweets). As like every year, this year too, a Diwali special post is up here.

Many of you liked my previous post on Diwali handmade paper lantern and so I thought this time again I will indulge myself in some Diwali lantern making activity. Read on for full tutorial for the same.

Materials required to make Handmade Diwali lantern :

• Cardboard sheets (carton boxes)
• Sequins string
• pompoms
• cellotape/glue

Making Handmade Diwali Lantern

I had earlier made a couple of Diwali lanterns with papers and as much as they were really pretty when lit up, it weren’t that glamorous. After I came to the north of India, I realized the true value of glam and decor. Its more of gold, glitter and colors. Every flea market I went to, this entire month, one thing that was constant was faux marigold floral garlands, door latkans made of golden beads & colorful pompoms, wall hangings with mirrors.

So this time my handmade Diwali lantern is just a reflection of these rich details of gold and colors from the festive streets. Start out by cutting out side window panels for the lanterns from old carton boxes or any cardboard pieces lying around at home.

Take out four equal size cardboard pieces in square or rectangle shape. Cut out their insides to make window or frame shapes.

Make use of cello tape or paper tape and to bind these panels side by side.

And finally of course stick the open two edges together to for the base frame.

This frame will be a bit flimsy and might not stay properly so you can add a cardboard piece at the bottom to adjust the side wall positioning.

Now that the base is done, you can spray paint them if you want. As my cardboard did not have any printed details and looked pretty neat, I did not paint the base. Start out by sticking one end of the sequins chain at the base of the frame. Keep wrapping it around the frame in no specific order. You can add glue at specific intervals so that in case the string is not tight enough, the glue will keep it from sliding down.

Now for whatever frame area is left off, stick colorful pompoms and yeah thats it. Initially I thought of having pompoms all over the frame area but then later I decided to have them just around the base and top.

And they look absolutely stunning with lights inside. Its a shame I don’t know how to capture good images in low light but from what the picture says, I think its truly festive in Indian way 🙂

And not to mention how pretty it looks even during day time. This is sure going to be the talking point of your guests and every single person would be asking you from where you bought this. And thats when you will be flaunting your DIY skills and boasting of how easily you made this glamorous Diwali lantern 🙂

Wish you and your family a very very happy diwali. Hope you are already festive ready and if you have added any DIY festive decor, do tag me in the same on Instagram. I would love to bring about a compilation posts for all the DIYs you make .