Welcome to PAGE TWO of the DIY Doily Lantern Tutorial. Below you will find a materials list for making these dazzling doily lanterns yourself.
Materials List:
- Balloon
- Petroleum jelly
- Elmer’s Glue
- Doilies
- Mixing bowl
- Paint brush
- Mixing Spoon
- Tablespoon (measuring spoon)
- Water
- Flour
- Scissors
- Straight Pin
- Light kit
Instructions:
- Get your balloon, blow it up and tie it off to hold the air.
- Lightly lather the balloon with petroleum jelly to help prevent the doilies from sticking to the balloon.
- Once the balloon is covered with jelly, set it aside and get your mixing bowl ready
- Pour the contents of a bottle of Elmer’s Glue into the bowl along with 1 tbs. of flour and 2 tbs. of water and mix it all together until smooth.
- Take your first Doily and center it on the top of the balloon and smooth it out (see photo below)
- Using your paintbrush, begin to paint an even layer of the glue mixture onto the Doily starting at the center and working your way down.
- Once you’ve got the first Doily covered with glue, you’re ready for the next Doily, overlapping the first doily slightly so there are no open spaces. Hold it in place and begin to paint another layer of glue, working from the top down as shown below.
- Repeat this process until you’ve completely covered the balloon with doilies, remember to leave a hole at the bottom for the light fixture to go inside.
- Now set it aside and let it dry completely. Once dry, if your doilies do not feel stiff enough, you can apply another layer of glue and let it dry again.
- With your doilies dry, now comes the fun part… popping the balloon! Using your straight pin, pop the balloon and carefully remove the popped balloon from the hole at the bottom.
- Now it’s time to insert the light fixture into the hole at the bottom of your lantern. If the hole is not big enough, use your scissors to trim a larger opening, but not too large, we want the light fixture to be able to stay inside when hung upside down.
- Hang it up and plug it in and now it’s time to admire your handiwork! I love the way the doilies cast beautiful illuminated shadows on the walls, don’t you?
If you’d like to see the entire tutorial process on video …
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