Bringing the Lunar New Year tradition home one DIY at a time. The Lunar New Year, aka the Spring Festival, is a big celebration in my culture. If you're unfamiliar with this holiday, you can read about it here. As an Asian parent, I feel responsible for teaching my child about our culture and heritage. For this reason, I like to decorate my house and partake in all the festive celebrations.

For Lunar New Year, I created a paper-cut lantern with the most popular Chinese greeting, "恭喜發財" (pronounced, Kong Hei Fat Choi). It translates literally to "Congratulations on getting rich", and is often used to wish someone a prosperous new year.

How to make this Lunar New Year Papercut Lantern

Supplies you'll need:

• Cutting machine (I use Cricut)
• My svg cutting file (link at bottom of page)
• Red cardstocks
• White tissue paper
• Glue or adhesive tape
• Tea light candle (battery-powered)

Instructions:

I made a mini-sized lantern that measures about 6 x 4"(only because I was testing it out and I wanted to save paper in case it didn't work out). From my template, you can choose between the large or small size you'd wish to create your lantern in. 

1. Upload the SVG file to your cutting machine and cut onto a red cardstock following the prompt on your machine. 
   
   
2. Weed out the designs carefully and fold along the score lines. 
   
   
3. Stick a white piece of tissue paper to the backside. 
   
   
4. Assemble the two lantern frame pieces by slotting the smaller frame into the empty area of the larger frame perpendicularly. 
   
   
5. Insert the design panel around the assembled frames by slotting them into the side slots. 
   
   
6. Glue the edges to secure them in place. 
   
   
7. Add a battery-powered tea light candle inside for a tabletop lantern or add a yarn tassel at the bottom as a hanging lantern.

I hope you like this DIY tutorial! If you give this a try, be sure to share your pictures with me on Instagram and tag @tingandthings_ or use hashtag #diywithting. I'd love to see your creation!

If you don't have time to make your own, you can also grab this card made for you in my shop as well! 

Have yourself a prosperous Year of Snake!