When the nights are drawing in and the sun loses its strength, it is time to make our own little sun – a lantern. On the Continent, at Martinmas (11 November) children make their lanterns and take them outside in the dark to walk around in a procession, singing as they go.
Autumn Lantern
YOU WILL NEED
- Greaseproof or tracing paper 30 × 16cm (12 × 6 1/4″)
- Thick coloured paper 38 × 24cm (15 × 9 1/2″)
- Pressed leaves or scrap pieces of coloured tissue paper
- One round lid of a cheese spread box, 11cm (4 1/2″) in diameter
- Glue: Pritt or Uhu
- String
- Night-light candle in clear glass jar
Take the coloured paper and fold over 3cm (1 1/4″) on the 24cm (9 1/2″) side. This is the top of the lantern.
Cut out two windows – see drawing.
Cover the windows with the greaseproof paper. To decorate the windows you can either glue dried leaves onto the greaseproof paper or tear up little pieces of tissue paper and glue these onto the window.
Overlapping these pieces slightly gives beautiful colour effects. Trim off any excess paper.
Make small cuts – 1cm (1/2″) along the bottom of the coloured paper. Bend the coloured paper so that it fits inside the cardboard lid.
Glue the ends of the lantern together, and fold the bottom inwards. Glue this to the bottom of the cardboard lid. Glue the sides of the lantern to the inside of the edge of the lid.
Make two holes in the top of the lantern, opposite one another, and thread a length of string through them. Knot both ends. Place a night-light candle in a clear glass jar in the bottom and your lantern is ready.
This is an extract from The Children’s Year by Stephanie Cooper, Christine Fynes-Clinton and Marije Rowling. A much-loved favourite for thirty years, this book is now available in a full-colour second edition, revised and rewritten by Marije Rowling.
Making the Children’s Year
Seasonal Waldorf Crafts with Children
Marije Rowling
Making the Children’s Year reminds us that making things by hand brings inner and outer rewards, and encourages joy in creating and in acknowledging the rhythms of the year. Read more…
