Paper Lantern Goldfish Tutorial

My little girl loves her three paper lantern goldfish. Originally a part of her goldfish themed first birthday party décor inspired by this, these bright round-bellied fish now “swim” in her room, suspended from the ceiling. Summer Elizabeth is full of curiosity these days, pointing at everything she sets her eye on. Every single time she catches a glimpse of her orange google-eyed goldfish friends, the index finger juts right out and she grins wide, hoping we’ll lift her high to touch them.

Since these fish are such a hit at our house, I figured that they’d probably make a splash at yours too, so I’ve put together a quick tutorial for making your own paper lantern goldfish. You can get really creative with this, making a whole sea of creatures: whales, dolphins, octopi, etc. Have fun with it! You’ll really be delighted to see your child’s face light up.

What you’ll need:

12” 1 orange paper lantern

1 1/8” set of large googley eyes

orange scrapbook paper/cardstock

clothes hanger

hot glue gun/ liquid silicone

fishing line (to hang)

Instructions

Open up your lantern to make it round. Hang lantern from the neck of a clothes hanger and suspend hanger on the back of a kitchen chair or wherever is comfortable for you to work.

Draw the tail of the goldfish on a piece of scrap paper until it suits you or download this tail I made. Cut out the tail and trace onto orange cardstock. Cut out your tail. Make a short fold along the edge where we’ll attach the tail to the lantern. Cut a small slit in the middle of the folded edge, creating 2 tabs for gluing. This will help it flex back and forth, and ultimately make gluing it in place a whole lot easier. Using hot glue or liquid silicone, glue tail in place. Hold it down for a few seconds, putting pressure on the seam from the inside of the lantern.

Take a good look at your lantern both up close and from a distance to determine where you’d like to place the eyes & then glue them in place.

Use fishing line or other transparent string to hang your colorful paper lantern goldfish. Be prepared to take orders from friends who will want one of their very own. You’ve been warned.

Follow on G+ | Like on Facebook | Tweet with me