Clay Lanterns for Diwali
What You Need
- Clay (any kind and any colour)
- Cutting tools and a mat to work on.
- Stamp, stencils or anything else you want to make an impression of.
- Cling wrap (to protect the mat)
- Bottle (of the size and shape you want for your lantern)
- Sandpaper
- Needle
- Check that the clay is not flammable.
16 Steps to Make Clay Lanterns
1. Roll out the clay.
2. Take a hunk of clay and roll it out to about 0.5cm(1/4 in) thickness.
3. Cut the top and bottom edges in a straight line with the desired height (in my case I made it about 9cm(3.5in)).
4. Check that it is long enough by loosely wrapping it around the bottle and trim the edge.
5. Make an impression.
A Christmas ornament is used here to make an impression on the clay, stamps work nicely for this too. Or if you have a steady hand you can draw something yourself. Try to add even pressure and don’t push too hard that it goes through to the other side.
The cup is being made large enough here, so that two impressions of the dove could be made on it.
6. Poke holes.
With a needle or something with a pointy end (a seam ripper is used here) poke holes all the way through the clay along the pattern you made with the impression.
7. Space them roughly 2mm apart and make sure the needle enters the clay vertically, not at an angle.
8. A stencil is used here to add more holes since some areas looked a bit bare.
9. Make a cup.
Loosely wrap the clay around the bottle and connect the two ends together.
10. With the clay I used I just wet the clay and blended the edges together.
11. To make the bottom, roll out some more clay to about the same thickness as the sides.
12. Place the cylinder piece on top and trim around the edges
13. Connect the bottom piece by blending the edges of clay together. Allow to dry.
14. Sand and finish
15. Once the clay has dried you can sand it to smooth out the edges at the rim as well as along the seams.
16. Drop a tealight in and you’re done!
More Information about Diwali Festival
- Download beautiful Diwali wallpapers for free!
- Watch this amazing video – Ramayana – The Story of Diwali