Squares…

Do you still have last year’s ang pao packets or those from the previous years?

If they have the astrological animals in the Chinese horoscope…

…they will not be all that relevant any longer this year. Like last year, for instance, it was the goat…and you will have to keep till the  next cycle, till the next Year of the Goat, around 12 years from now, before you can use them.

Of course you can keep them if you want but if you’re thinking of throwing them away, perhaps you would want to use them to make decorative lanterns to hang around the house instead. There are all kinds of lanterns that you can make using ang pao packets but many can be quite complicated and you may need quite a lot. This one is actually very simple to make and to produce one, you only need three of those packets.

Cut each of them into two like this…

…so from the three packets, you will get six squares.

Fold the corners inwards to the centre like this…

Staple a string to the centre of one of them like this…

…and of course, since this is for Chinese New Year, it would be best to use a red string…and that is for the top of your lantern – to hang it up later.

If you want your lantern to look more beautiful, you can get those “tails” from the shops and staple that to the centre of another square for the bottom of your lantern…

Staple the corners of four of those squares together like this…

…for the sides and once that has been done, staple the top to the top corners of those squares…

…and the bottom…

…to the bottom, of course.

Make as many as you need and if you would like some smaller ones for a bit of variety, you can cut each of those squares into four and use them to make the mini versions of the same.

Hang them where appropriate…

*Archive photo*

…and of course, since these are paper lanterns, you should not put them out in the open, exposed to the sun and the rain.

There you have it! It’s very simple really and the best part, of course, would be the fact that you do not need to fork out a whole lot of money to buy those pricey decorative items to beautify your house for the festive season.