Not Your Typical Lanterns

this is what a week of free time in between classes produced. A spin off of an original wedding chandelier idea, I decided that since it is now officially autumn i would create a light source that fit the season. So what better than pumpkins! But who wants to go spend tons of money on real pumpkins just to create a mess that will rot? Just kidding! I'll be carving a pumpkin soon too, but for now these are my crafty vision! So, how to:
what you'll need:
  • glue
  • corn starch
  • orange yarn
  • balloons
  • vaseline
  • water
  • orange tissue paper
  • fairy lights
  • green pipe cleaners, or fuzzy sticks
directions:
  1. create a paste mixture in a small bowl. 2:2:1 ratio. There should be the same amount of corn starch and glue, but not as much water. It should end up as a smooth, thick mixture.
  2. blow up a few small balloons ranging in size
  3. lay down a tarp or towel to avoid messes and make cleaning easier
  4. smear the balloons with vaseline (this is so that your pasty yarn doesn't stick to the balloon when you pop it)
  5. take a really long strand of yarn and feed it through the paste
  6. wrap your pasty yarn around the balloon going slowly from vertical wrapping to horizontal wrapping (it should not be perfect)
  7. hang up the balloon to dry overnight
  8. when the paste is dry, pop the balloon and make sure the yarn holds its shape. if not try again, but add more cornstarch to the paste
  9. if you want a more traditional lantern look, paper mache some orange tissue paper around your yarn ball leaving one side uncovered
  10. once you have your basic pumpkin shape, you'll attach them to the fairy lights with the fuzzy sticks by wrapping them partially through the strand of lights and around the light bulb, and then securing it to the pumpkin by pushing the lightbulb into the pumpkin and wrapping the fuzzy sticks around some bare yarn. 
  11. if you want them to look more like pumpkins, you can curl some fuzzy sticks to look like a vine and attach them to the fairy lights. you can also cut out some leaf shapes and attach them to the pumpkins.
Have fun crafting, and

              Happy Autumn!  



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