Today is the day again. As darkness falls, children and their families gather to parade through the streets with their glowing lanterns; November 11th is St. Martin's Day.
Did you know:
Martin of Tours lived from 317 to 397 AD as the son of a Roman officer, and his generosity was well known. His most famous story revolves around a morning in February when he was returning home from a night ride. On the outskirts of town, he encountered a beggar who asked for a small alms. Martin, however, had given his coins to poor farmers, so he cut his cloak in half with his sword and gave one half to the beggar.
Martin of Tours was supposed to become the next bishop of the town, but he hid in the goose pen. Searching for him, the people lit lanterns and sang songs. However, the geese betrayed Martin with their cackling, and in the year 371, he did indeed become Bishop of Tours. To this day, on November 11th, the day of Martin's burial, there are processions everywhere with lanterns, songs, and St. Martin's geese to share, just as St. Martin had shared with the beggar in his time.
But what is probably most important for our children on this day is the lantern they have made.
Today I'll show you how to make a cute handprint butterfly lantern with your little ones.
You will need:
- Lantern cutting
- Cheese Box Set
- Double-sided adhesive tape
- LED light
- Wire hanger
- Lantern stick
- candle holder
- Finger paints (we used pink, purple, brown)
- foam rubber
- googly eyes
- Paint brush
- permanent pen
- iron
- baking paper
- Scissors
- glue
Let's go:
- First, make a small hole (ideally with a needle in the lid of the cheese box). Repeat this on the opposite side.
1. Then carefully bend the ends upwards.
2. First, you (again with the needle) cut two small opposite lines in the middle of the box bottom (measure these with the candle holder and then push it through the slits to attach it).
3. Now comes the "kids' part": Place the lantern cutout on a mat or washable surface, arm your child with a thick brush (we used a face paint brush), and let them dab the lantern background with the color of your choice. (This doesn't have to be even; the irregular color looks really good in the light.)
4. Now let the lantern dry briefly.
5. Next, paint your hands for the butterfly in the color of your choice. Leave your thumb unpainted; it will be the butterfly's body and should be painted brown.
6. Now press your palm onto the lantern. Help your child with this, as it can smudge easily.
7. Now repeat with your other hand. Remember that your thumbs must be touching to form a butterfly shape.
8. You can attach 2 to 3 butterflies to the lantern.
9. Let the lantern shape dry thoroughly. It's normal for it to curl slightly.
10. In the meantime, you can cut out a border from the craft foam for the bottom (or top, if you prefer). We chose small waves on pink craft foam.
11. Once everything is dry, place two pieces of baking paper under and over the lantern paper. Iron these briefly (!!!) so the paper is nice and smooth again. This will make the next steps much easier and the lantern will look neater in the end.
12. Now, using a marker, the outline of the body can be drawn and the googly eyes glued onto the butterfly heads.
13. Now attach the double-sided adhesive tape to the outside of the cheese boxes.
14. Now place the lantern paper in front of you and very slowly attach the cheese boxes to the two long ends, top and bottom - make sure that the lantern paper is attached the right way round.
15. Now slowly roll the cheese boxes centimeter by centimeter onto the lantern paper to glue them in place.
16. Glue the vertical end together with the glue stick.
17. Next, we attach the foam rubber border using a glue stick.
18. Now all that's missing is the LED light and the lantern stick, and our amazing handprint lantern is finished!!!!
We wish you a wonderful St. Martin's Day parade today!!
Your Dani from GADGETTO Products