Make a Paper Lantern Unicorn

Make a Paper Lantern Unicorn

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You can make a paper lantern unicorn like this one with my step by step tutorial!  Before my son in law left for Texas to re-unite their family, he hosted a going away party for my granddaughters and their friends from preschool.  The chosen theme was unicorns. 

I think this would make a great addition to a bedroom for a little girl who loves unicorns.  I am gifting this to my niece for her elementary classroom.  I began with this 36″ Nylon Lantern.  I had purchased this for another project that never came to fruition, so this was the perfect occasion to use it.Making a unicorn horn from a gold table runnerI started with the easiest part of the project, the horn.  I used a gold paper roll and rolled a large horn for my unicorn.  Glittery paper cannot be taped securely, so I used my new Gorilla Glue glue gun and Gorilla hot glue sticks to secure the paper for my horn.  I used a piece of black scrapbook paper, a chalk marker and a plate to get an idea of the shape for my unicorn’s eyelashes.  I cut the eyelashes out of the black paper and glued them to the front of my lantern.  Time for the hard part!  I hung my lantern at a height where I could work on the top of it.  Using a 10″ styrofoam cake dummy, I made a hole down the middle of it to prepare for attaching the ears, flowers and horn to my unicorn.  I secured pipe cleaners through the hole I made in the center of my cake dummy with a piece of driftwood I had laying around for another project.  This piece of styrofoam was now secure above the opening on the top of the lantern.  Using a 36 inch long 1/2″ diameter dowel, I pushed it all the way through my styrofoam so that the end inside the lantern is resting against the far side of the lantern.  That is necessary to support the unicorn’s horn. Simply slide the golden horn over the dowel and you begin to have something that looks like a unicorn!  Two styrofoam triangles were cut to become ears.  Later each of these would get a piece of the gold paper glued to them.  I attached these with wooden skewers.  Time to have fun adding the colorful florals to the top of my unicorn’s head.  I used a steel pick machine to securely attach a variety of bold silk flowers to cover the styrofoam.Unicorn from a paper lanternMy unicorn is complete and ready to hang!  What little girl wouldn’t love having this sweet thing hanging nearby?  Whether for a party decoration or to adorn a child’s bedroom, a unicorn from a paper lantern is a fun and pretty addition!  Happy unicorn creating!  

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6 Comments

  1. Awesome idea , look fabulous and not too hard. My 7 year old twin nieces are going to help me create this for their room ( but not quite so big). I love crafting with them!

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