Simple Paper Lantern

Good morning;

here is a way to do a (very) simple paper lantern;

I used it in a garden party last summer; a dozen were made, so at the end of the evening each child got his own glowing lantern to bring at home (and decorate with felt-tip pens, for example...)

Only One solder point is necessary; good for a non-pro like me :-)

Materials:

- A paper bag; in my case was white, light 'silk' paper;

- a white led;

- 2 AAA batteries;

- a battery holder with the 2 terminals on which you can solder the led on (I don't know the exact name, please see the photo...);

- a small rubber band;

- Copper wire, thin enough to be cut with common scissors (easy to bend without any tool, also); mine was salvaged from an old transformer.

Tools:

Soldering Iron; scissors;

The led is soldered directly to the battery holder;

Please take care of the polarity: usually the longer pin of the led goes to the + of the battery; to be sure, you can test it before to do the soldering.

2 AAA batteries give 3Volts, enough to light the led but with reduced power: this was good for the kind of light I was looking for, and with the reduced power I didn't need for a real led driver circuitry.

Please notice that I soldered only one of the two pins of the led: in this way the 'free' pin can be used as a simple switch, the elasticity of the pin's metal can keep in the right position with an acceptable electrical contact.

For the suspension of the lantern, I used copper wire to do a simple hook: in this way no need for any knot.

Of course, you can use any wire, cord, string, of your choice.

1 - Put the batteries in the holder (in the correct direction... :-) .

2 - turn on the led by putting the 'free' pin in contact with the holder terminal (see step 2).

3 - put the holder with the led in the bag: the holder have to be near the 'entrance', and the copper wire have to stay outside;

4 - close the bag with the rubber band, trying to embrace with it both the paper and the battery holder (see picture);

5 - hang it where you wish.

That's it, it's done; thank you for your attention.

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Ah, two things left:

1 - Thanks to Instructable website for this (free!) space.

2 - this instructable will be in the 'Make it glow' Contest, so please vote it if you like it (thanks in advance).

--- Have a good day ---