Before you start, get hold of:

Butter paper: five sheets, any colour Measuring tape Scissors Glue Paint, brushes, acrylic colours, markers Bending wire or thin reed Fuel cell or paper napkins and wax Sellotape

Procedure:

1. Butter paper works best because it’s easy to handle and doesn’t tear easily. Place a sheet horizontally and fold the edges at the top and bottom asymmetrically so that the fold is 6cm at its widest and 3cm at the opposite end (see illustration far right, top). Cut along the folds. Now the sheet will be broader at one end. The broader end becomes the top of your lantern. Do this with four sheets.

2. Stick the sides of three sheets together using a glue stick. Make sure the end of each sheet overlaps with the other by about 10mm so that they can be glued together easily. Now you have a canvas four sheets long.

3. Trace or draw anything you like on the butter paper, from random designs to doodles. You can even keep it plain.

4. Glue the remaining two ends together. The four sheets will now form a column, open at the top and bottom.

5. Draw a square shape on the unused butter paper by placing the inverted column on it and cut it out. This should cover the top opening of the column like a lid (see picture far right, middle). Make sure the lid is properly sealed so that the hot air cannot escape once the lantern is lit.

6. For the base, flatten the open end of the column. Then get bending wire or thin reed (the kind you find in a narkel jhadu) and make a ring by joining the two ends using Sellotape. Stick the ring to the bottom rim of the lantern.

7. For fuel, you can either add a fuel cell or make one at home. Take some napkins, fold them into squares and stack them up. Heat some wax in a pan and soak the napkins in the molten wax. Lift the napkins from the pan and let the excess wax drip. Once dry, your home-made fuel cell is ready.

8. Finally, cut a piece of bending wire or string and attach it to the bottom of the cylinder so that it criss-crosses the ring. Attach the fuel cell to the wire or string with glue and light up (picture above).

Donna Bose
Second year, NIFT