What do you need?
watercolor paper
watercolor and brush
oil
scissors
a pencil & ruler
hobby glue and large paper clips
a tea light or electric candle
Today we are making a very special lantern for winter. A dodecahedron lantern, the name refers to a 3D figure with twelve pentagonal faces. Because we want to burn a candle in the lantern, the top is left open (so we make 11 pentagons).
The Romans made dodecahedrons, it is assumed that they burned candles in them because excavated specimens have been found with wax inside. Our lantern is made of watercolor paper that we will paint with watercolours first. For winter we make the lantern in different shades of blue, from light to dark.
How to make a paper dodecahedron lantern
You can download our pentagon template
Paint with watercolours patterns from dark to light.
Take the time to allow the paint to dry well.
Draw in advance pentagoles on the back of your dried paper.
Rub thickly olive oil on the sheets of paper, until saturated.
The drying of oil takes much longer than the drying of paint
So allow the paper to dry overnight.
Cut out the shapes, they still feel greasy.
Draw 2 lines, from the point to the corners.
Draw this on the back of the pentagons making very light pencil lines, not as thick as in our picture
Connect all corners this way.
Here are the actual pentagons with thin pencil lines.
Fold the 5 points in, down to the pencil line.
Stick the pentagons together on the folded points.
Glue 1 point on the inside, 1 on the outside.
Continue and let the glue dry with paperclips on.
Now stick on the second row pentagons, two at a time and allow them to dry before you continue
Stick on a pentagon, skip 1 and stick on the 2nd.
Allow the glue to dry well, put paperclips on all the triangels.
Now stick the pentagons on 1 by 1 and stick on the side(s) as well.
Allow the glue to dry completely before you stick on the next pentagon and use, where possible, the paperclips
Fold the flaps on the top inwards and stick them on the inside.
Is it dark already? Then we turn on the light ... beautiful!