Crepe Paper Chinese Lantern Flowers
It’s been a while since we designed these traditional Chinese paper lanterns for the Chinese New Year. And since the holiday is coming up soon, we thought it was time to create something new. Our designer Meagan crafted these crepe paper Chinese lantern flowers and they are absolutely gorgeous!
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The orange-red pods on real Chinese lantern flowers already look like thin, wrinkled paper, so this is a great plant to craft out of crepe paper. You can always try a different type of paper, of course, but using extra-fine crepe will make it look more like the real thing. Our extra-fine crepe in poppy is the perfect choice for this plant as it very closely matches the vibrant orange color of a Chinese lantern flower.
When you’re ready to craft your own crepe paper Chinese lantern flowers, we recommend using a Cricut Maker to cut the pattern. But if you don’t have the Maker, you could also download our PDF template and cut everything by hand. It will take a little more time to complete but it’s definitely doable!
Once you’ve crafted your flower, we’d love to see it. You can always share your DIY creations with us on our Member Make Facebook page or on Instagram with the hashtag #MadeWithLia. And if you have any questions while crafting, just let us know!
How to Make Crepe Paper Chinese Lantern Flowers
- Gather the tools and materials above. Then download the pattern at the end of this post.
- Cut your crepe paper according to template notes using scissors or a cutting machine.
- Use tacky glue to glue a 24-gauge wire between the two leaf halves.
- Shade the longer point of each petal piece with PanPastel using an art sponge.
Full tutorial available for members. Join here!
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Tools
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- Cricut Maker (recommended)
- Scissors
- Pliers/Wire Cutters
- Art SpongeÂ
- Tacky GlueÂ
Materials
- Extra Fine Crepe Paper: Lia Griffith Enchanted Garden Collection — Poppy and Juniper
- Pastels — PanPastels Pearlescent Yellow (from our designer set)
- Green Paper-Covered Floral Wire — 18-Gauge and 24-Gauge
- Green Paper-Covered Thick Stem Wire – 18-Gauge
- Floral Tape — Lia Griffith in Moss
- Large Spun Cotton Balls
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Discussion
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24 Comments
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Rita
October 20, 2024 at 5:19am
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Lia
October 20, 2024 at 7:26pm
@Rita
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Louise
October 12, 2024 at 12:09pm
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Lia
October 13, 2024 at 7:42pm
@Louise
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Meilan
January 12, 2023 at 2:52pm
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Lia
January 13, 2023 at 9:24am
@Meilan
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Meilan
January 12, 2023 at 12:40pm
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Lia
January 12, 2023 at 12:56pm
@Meilan
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Meilan
January 12, 2023 at 10:39am
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Lia
January 12, 2023 at 11:26am
@Meilan
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Joyce
July 27, 2022 at 9:22pm
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Lia
July 28, 2022 at 8:18am
@Joyce
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Joyce
July 27, 2022 at 8:38pm
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Lia
July 28, 2022 at 8:18am
@Joyce
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Alison
February 24, 2021 at 6:57am
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Alison
February 24, 2021 at 5:02am
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Lia
February 24, 2021 at 7:09am
@Alison
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debra
September 17, 2020 at 2:10pm
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Lia
September 18, 2020 at 8:07pm
@debra
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Zoey
March 21, 2020 at 5:44pm
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Lia
March 24, 2020 at 3:34pm
@Zoey
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Floranet
September 10, 2019 at 5:14am
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sue
January 23, 2019 at 11:27am
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Lia
January 23, 2019 at 12:14pm
@sue
Leave a CommentHi Lia,
Today I want to try to make the chinese latern.Can you help me with the following.
Where, at what height, do I stick the first sheet on the ball? Thank you.
Hi Rita! You will glue just the tip of the first piece to the edge of the hole that is in the ball. We use the 30mm spun paper balls, which have a small hole on one end and that is where you will also add the wire. Does that help?
I really enjoyed making these and they came out looking very nice. What a fun
autumn addition they are to any bouquet or standing alone in a vase.
Oh, I agree. They are a mini art pieces, each little lantern.
Thanks Lia, worked perfectly the setting for cricut maker and your instructions. I posted just one branch on instagram, this is for a friend for Chinese New Year! and Happy New Year to you, your family and this community!!
Wonderful!
Thanks they are coming along nicely. I find using tweezers to close the petals together is quite nice and clean for glue…
Those tweezers are the best tool!
I’m about to make these chinese lantern flowers. I have a cricut maker 3, what you say is the best setting for the rotary blade and which mat would you use. Thanks
You can use any mat as long as your paper stays in place. Here is a video that will help you with cutting crepe. https://liagriffith.com/craft-academy/cutting-machines-for-crepe-paper/
Hi Lia,
I managed to figure out how to do it! It looks so beautiful
Yay! So happy to hear.
Hi Lia,
I tried this several times but didn’t get it at all. Do you have the stretch the petals first before crumpling them up? When I tried to attach the next petal edge to it, it seems weird because of the curved edge. Help!
This one takes a bit of skill for sure. The stretch of the crepe paper help with the curved edge.
A quick update as I am making these again. I have used 25mm cotton balls as i didn’t have enough of the 30mm and, instead of attaching the first petal to the ball, I attached all the petals together a bit like those folding chinese lanterns, just gluing the edge each time, and then attached the top of the first leaf to the ball and left it to dry for a few minutes. That seemed a bit easier f it helps anyone.
I made these a while ago and they are fiddly but I started by sticking the top of the first petal to the ball and then attached all the others like a folded concertina if that makes sense. I ended up with a pleated paper type shape with each piece attached to the other but not to the ball. The, I gently wrapped them around to stick the last petal to the first. I also used some pointed, egg shaped balls to see if that helped but it didn’t seem to make much difference, so I went back to the cotton balls as the cone shapes were polystyrene and I try to avoid them if I can. They look great in a vase! Thanks for this pattern, Lia.
Great tips, thanks!!
I AM SO STRUGGLING WITH THIS PROJECT… IS THERE A VIDEO I CAN REVIEW? THE PART I DONT UNDERSTAND IS THE FOLDING AND ATTACHING THE NEXT LEAF.
THANK YOU,
DEBRA
Hi Debra! We do not have a video for this project but steps 7 and 8 in the photo tutorial show how to attach one petal to the next. You can always save the photo tutorial to your desktop and then zoom in to see the photos a bit better. I hope this helps 🙂
It looks like you cut the 18 gaught wire that you pull into the ball/lantern. What length do you suggest?
Cut the wire attached to the ball to about 5 inches
Interesting Piece of work. Thanks!
Have tried these using two different methods and failed so fingers crossed I will do better with your method . Can you tell me the size of the cotton ball you have used as the instruction just say “large ” so unsure what that means
Many thanks
Sue
I hope this works out for you! The link takes you to the large balls in our shop– they’re 30mm.
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