Make a flower power lantern

Paint your lantern with a sample pot of chalky house paint then attach flowery wreaths wound with fresh willow.

Gather your supplies

Murobond sample pot in Singing Stones
30cm paper lantern
Green willow branches
Green embroidery thread
Pink and white papers
Green card
Bone scorer or butter knife

You’ll also need

Paintbrush; embroidery needle; ScanNCut CM900 machine and Mid Tack Mat (optional); craft knife and cutting mat (optional); pencil; hot-glue gun and glue sticks; string; florist’s wire; green florist’s tape (for wired flowers)

SHOP: Purchase a Brother ScanNCut CM900

Here’s how

STEP 1 Paint lantern. Set aside to dry.

STEP 2 Wind a willow branch over itself to make a 17cm dia ring for top of lantern. Using embroidery thread, secure ring in 3 or 4 places on lantern. Make 2 more rings approx 27cm dia to fit around belly of lantern, and 22cm dia to fit around its base. Stitch each ring to lantern in several places.

STEP 3 Enlarge Flower and Leaf templates (download it here) on a photocopier. Referring to ScanNCut instructions (below), select Flower template, and from white paper, cut 4 small flowers and 4 medium flowers from white paper. From pink paper, cut 6 large, 11 medium and 3 small flowers. Cut 20 leaves. Alternatively, use templates to hand-cut shapes.

STEP 4 To make a flower, crease a vein down centre of each petal, from flower centre to midway along petal.

STEP 5 With all veins creased, hold flower at back; use your thumb and forefingers to pinch centre of flower and adjacent petal areas. This will pull petals inwards and create flower shape. Twist and rotate some petals as you pinch to create a variety of imperfect and organic flower shapes. Repeat for all flowers.

STEP 6 Score and crease down centre of each leaf.

STEP 7 Add a hanging string to the lantern.

STEP 8 Hot glue flowers and leaves to willow rings. Glue a small flower to side of a larger flower for a fuller effect.