Chinese New Year Craft Ang Pow Ball Lantern Tutorial

This lantern requires a whopping 30 ang pows to make. I put off making this every time as it takes such a long time to make and my fingers would be sore after so much folding and stapling... But this lantern is just too big and pretty to pass up!

My boys were like "It's so nice, Mum, can you make one for my class too..." 😏 The boys are encouraged to contribute some CNY decorations for their classes. But it's getting harder to get 30 ang pows of the same design each time. The shops nowadays are trying to be more hip and less conventional that I often get a pack of ang pows all in different colours/design. It's so annoying right! Like I can't use them to make lanterns and I can't even give them away as it's strange to give out ang pows in different colours, lest my nephews/nieces think they are all colour-coded and start comparing! (or maybe I'm just over-thinking here...)

This lantern is simple enough to make. But please set aside some time. It took me about 1 hour to make, with lots of help (read: distractions) from the boys.

I hope the picture tutorial is clear enough. 

Start by folding the ang pows to form a diamond shape. I use a cardboard as a mould to make it easier to fold the ang pows.

Step 1: Staple 5 of them along the folded parts like below. This would make the top layer.

Step 2: Take another 5 ang pows. This time staple each of them perpendicular to the top ang pow.

This is what you would get after stapling 5 ang pows perpendicular to the top.

Step 3: Now take 2 ang pows and staple to each other along the folded sides.

Make 5 sets. 

Step 4: Each set will be stapled to the top vertically. I have positioned them where they need to be stapled.

This is what you get after stapling the 5 sets.

Step 5: Then staple the 2 ang pows where the folded parts are touching each other.

Step 6: Now staple another 5 ang pows horizontally perpendicular to the top.

Step 7: Then staple the last 5 ang pows vertically.

The last 2 steps (steps 6 & 7) are the same as the first 2 steps.

I turned the lantern upside down in the photo so now the bottom becomes the top. This is when you can add a ribbon for hanging. Make sure it's added before stapling the last bit.

It still looks like some thing from outer space! 😣

Step 8: To get rid of the spikes and make it more rounded, just fold the corners of each ang pow and staple it.

Ta-daa!

Looks so much better now.

I stapled a tassle to a piece of card then squeezed it in from below. Yah I should have been more organized and done it before I stapled everything up. Oh well... it looks so pretty now! I like.