This year I made two small lanterns to give for Christmas. The idea to make these stayed in my head for four years! I finally decided that 2012 would be the year I would attempt to construct these lanterns.

I started with four match boxes that were the inspiration for the lanterns. Four years ago I thought that these match boxes were so awesome that I didn’t want to throw them out. Then the idea to make them into decorations came into mind. When I rough sketched what I wanted the final pieces to look like I decided that it would be neat to make them into functional lanterns, not just decorative pieces.

A little jewelry making skills, templates, measuring, lot’s of wood glue, and a lot of caramel popcorn and my mini Japanese lanterns were born! I used battery operated candles to keep them lit. I had two pieces that were pendants and I used those to add weight and interest to the bottom of the lanterns. These were so much fun to make and I was happy to try something new outside of jewelry making. I intend to make more of these to sell on Etsy and my a new e-commerce site that I am selling my jewelry on, goodsmiths. Thanks for reading!