MAKE YOUR OWN...

St. Martin’s Lantern

In Flanders, Netherlands, Germany and Austria, the Lantern festival on November 11 commemorates St.Martin, Roman mercenary and later Bishop of Tours. Legend says that one freezing winter night, Martin shared his cloak with a beggar by cutting it in half. The lanterns, carried by children during the procession, symbolize light in the darkness of winter.

Materials:
• The lid of a round cheese box (a camembert box is ideal; or cut a circle out of hard cardboard using a small plate, and bend 1 cm of the rim upwards, making small cuts into the edge)
• Colorful cardboard paper
• Baking parchment
• Fall leaves, dried and pressed
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue
• Staples & Stapler
• Hole punch
• Tea light
• Wire of approx. 35 cm length, better if it is encased in plastic

How to do it:

1. Cut out two large rectangles from the baking parchments - follow the size and circumference of the cheese box/cardboard circle and add 2 cm. The height is approx. 25 cm.
   
2. Arrange leaves in a pretty pattern on one parchment and glue them on. Place second parchment on top and glue on.
   
3. Staple parchments to the edges of the cheese/cardboard box.
   
4. Add 3 cm wide strip of colorful cardboard to strengthen top and bottom edge
   
5. With hole punch, make a hole on each side. To create a handle, pull the wire through the holes and fasten.
   
6. Place tea light into the lantern.

HAVE FUN!

back to Multilingual Living Magazine Table Of Contents