Glowing Pumpkin Lantern

How to Make

1. To make a base for the lantern, bend a pipe cleaner into a 6cm circle. Twist the ends around the circle to make a neat shape with ends tucked in.
2. To make the pumpkin shape, you need 4 pipe cleaners (any colour). Hold 2 pipe cleaners together to make a cross then twist them together. Repeat with 2 more pipe cleaners to make another cross. Place one cross over the other then twist together in the middle to make a spider shape with 8 pipe cleaner pieces, with each piece approximately 14cm in length.
3. Twist 1cm at the end of one of the 8 pipe cleaner pieces around the edge of the circle. Repeat with the opposite pipe cleaner, so the circle is attached above the centre of the spider shape. Continue to twist the remaining 6 pipe cleaners to the circle to form the round lantern shape. Turn the lantern over with the circle sitting at the bottom.
4. To make the stalk, fold another pipe cleaner in half and twist it into a double thickness. Push the pipe cleaner through the middle of the lantern then twist it around the middle point where all the pipe cleaners are joined. Twist the stalk again to check it is securely attached to the top of the pumpkin.
5. To cover the lantern, cut out 8 matching leaf shapes from coloured tissue paper, 6cm x 25cm. It’s easiest to do this in one go with the tissue paper folded over to make 8 layers.
6. Cut some 12cm strips of double-sided tape so they are ready to use. Stick 2 pieces of tape onto 2 pipe cleaners next to each other down the side of the lantern. Peel off the backing tape then carefully stick down one of the tissue shapes, to cover 1 section of the pumpkin. If the edge of the tissue overlaps the pipe cleaner, fold it over to make a neat shape. Repeat with the other 7 sections, using 2 pieces of tape for each section with the tissue shape on top. Continue all the way around until the pumpkin is covered.
7. Stick a piece of double-sided tape around the stalk. Peel off the backing paper then twist a strip of tissue over the top to cover it. Cut some small triangle shapes of tissue in the same colour as the stalk. Carefully apply glue on the edge of the tissue paper using a glue stick, the press them around the base of the stalk.
8. Cut eyes, nose and mouth from a dark coloured tissue paper, lightly apply glue then stick them onto the pumpkin.
9. The circle at the base the lantern should fit over an LED tealight.

Top Tip

If any tissue paper on the lantern gets squashed while you are covering it, carefully push your fingers into the middle and push out the sides. As the pumpkin is quite delicate, apply glue (using a glue stick) to the cutout tissue face pieces then stick them in place, rather than applying glue onto the lantern as it may tear.