Looking to add a little light to your nature table? Fold a Waldorf inspired origami star lantern! This is a wonderful way to recycle old watercolor paintings and transform them into pieces of art that liven up mantles, window sills, dinner tables, desks and more! These candle holders look beautiful no matter where they're placed.
Fold along with our video or find each step listed below!
Materials needed
- 12 X 12 inch piece of watercolor paper or recycled watercolor painting
- Flameless votive candle
- Scissors
- Bone folder (optional)
Begin with a piece of 12 x 12 inch watercolor paper. We used a larger watercolor painting and cut it down to size. Fold it in half both ways to create a cross in the middle. Then, fold it in half again along both diagonals.
Next, you will gather the paper into a squash square fold. You may recognize this shape from making a paper crane. It is accomplished by folding both the right and left corners inward between the two remaining squares of paper. You should end up with a 4 x 4 inch square.
If you have trouble here, we encourage you to watch the video at the top of this post, where the movements can be seen more clearly.
With the wider side pointing up, fold the right corner in to the center line, creating a thinner kite shape. Turn the left side over to the right and repeat on each flap.
Then, open up each of these folds and push it down flat, creating a triangle with two "ears" at the top. Repeat this step for each flap.
Take the kite shape that you've made and cut off the smaller triangles at the top.
The resulting shape is an isosceles triangle that points down. Fold the right and left corners down to the center line. Turn the flap to the right twice and repeat the previous step until you get back to the original side. The resulting kite shape should look something like the point of a Waldorf window star!
Now, open each of the folds and invert the flap into the inside of the triangle.
Next, fold the tops of each of the kite flaps down, creating a crease at the top of the triangle. Do this until each flap has been folded down and the resulting shape is once again an isosceles triangle.
Fold the bottom tip of the triangle upwards to meet the tip of the top triangle. Unfold, flip the shape over and fold the tip the other direction. Open up your shape and press down on the center point, flatening it to create the base of your lantern.
Flip the lantern over and place a flameless votive inside of it. If you use a real candle make sure the flame is far away from the paper and that it is never left unattended.
Place the lantern wherever you could use a little bit of light and watch it illuminate your space with its gentle glow!
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