This time of year, when there are far more hours of darkness than light, I think we are all drawn to the warm, comforting glow of candles and twinkle lights. Last week I shared a series of lanterns and lights on Facebook with the intent of making several of the projects myself. The kids and I started with the Watercolor Paper Star Lantern. The kids aren’t quite finished with theirs yet. They all managed to get to the folded pentagon stage on their own but are now awaiting my help in the assembly process.

Watercolor Paper Star Lantern

It is a relatively easy project in terms of materials and time. The only tricky part is the assembly. Here is a quick run down of the process but for complete directions I will refer you to the site that I used and point out that using a pencil for the lines was not a great idea. You can see the lines through the paper… a light colored marker would have been better.

Watercolor Paper Star Lantern Photos

To see the complete step-by-step tutorial that I followed, visit Happiness is Homemade.

http://www.happinessishomemade.net/2011/01/10/dodecahedron-star-lantern-tutorial/

Inside our paper lanterns we always use flameless candle. This year I have purchased some flameless candles that are on a six hour timer. I love them! To use them, turn them on when you would like your six hours to start… around here 5pm works well. They automatically turn off six hours later and turn themselves back on after another 18 hours. They are fantastic for holiday decor… especially in fixtures that might be a bit trickier to reach.