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Materials:
- Flat piece of stone
- Branches of curly willow
- Rice paper or other fibrous paper
- White glue
- 5-minute epoxy
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Tools
- Drill or Hammer-drill
- Glass-and-ceramic drill bits
- Blow dryer
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Steps:
Glass-and-tile drill bits |
The bit you use should drill easily into the stone |
A drill with a 'hammer' setting makes cutting into rock easier
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Rockin' Good Time
Choose a piece of stone for the base of your lantern. Sandstone
is the easiest to drill into. With a spade shaped glass-and-ceramic
bit, drill several holes about one half-inch deep. This will
go a lot faster if you have a hammer-drill, which looks like
an ordinary drill except that it has hammering setting that
adds vibration to the rotary action of the drill. The vibration
makes it possible to remove material faster.
TIP: Don't let the friction heat up the drill bit
to the point where the metal changes colour from silver to
dark grey. Overheating the bit will cause it to lose its 'temper'
and then it becomes dull and useless. To keep the bit cool,
dip it regularly in cold water.
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Blow or vacuum out the holes before gluing |
Curly willow makes a twisty interesting frame for the paper
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| With a sharp knife, carve the ends of the branches to fit
the shape of the holes before gluing them in. Also, to ensure
that the epoxy will make good contact with the inside surfaces
of the hole, blow out or vacuum each of the holes to remove
the stone dust. |
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Cement branches in place with epoxy |
Mix the epoxy thoroughly |
Hold the twigs steady with some craft wire while the epoxy sets
up |
| Next, mix up the epoxy and glue a curly willow branch into
each of the holes using epoxy. Also, wear latex gloves to keep
the epoxy off your hands because the hardening compounds in
it can be corrosive to skin. Use some fine wire to tie the branches
together while the epoxy sets up; it'll keep them upright. Clean
up any glue squeeze-out with acetone or nail polish remover.
You can also spread some of the drilling dust on the tacky squeeze-out
to disguise it. |
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Wet the paper
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Tear it into strips |
Glue the strips to the twigs |
| Wet your rice paper and tear off strips, paying attention
to the direction of the grain in the paper. It'll want to rip
easily in one direction, but not the other. Apply a bit of diluted
white glue (about a 50/50 glue/water mix) to one end of a strip
and wrap the paper around one of the vertical branches. Stretch
it as far as it can go around the other sticks and glue it in
place. Be sure to leave a space between the paper and the stone
so that air can get to the candle, which will reside inside
the paper enclosure. |
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Repair holes with small grafts |
Rub the patches into place with a gluey finger |
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Continue working until the lantern has the shape and height
you desire. If you find that you need to patch spots, just
tear a small piece and glue it in place. If some of the horizontal
seams open up, go back and tack them together along the edges
of the strips using a finger laden with glue mixture. A blow
dryer helps to speed drying. If the paper gets too dry and
a patch won't stick, spray it with water.
The paper will tighten up as it dries and provide a drum-like
tautness to the skin of the lamp shade.
Alternatives:
A chunk of wood can also be used as a base. The lantern
can be wired for an electric lightbulb to provide more light.
Glue notes:
The white glue used in this episode worked well but in concentrated
areas it left a stain almost like an oil spot. If you use
white glue, dilute it well because it doesn't take much to
hold the paper in place.
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A votive candle added |
Finished lantern |
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Attack of the Body Snatchers
My lamp turned out looking like an evil alien pod. The kind
of rice paper I used didn't help. The myriad little dark red
fibers look exactly like blood vessels when lit from within.
Organic, yes, but it frightens children. |
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Free standing twig and paper lantern |
Small twig and paper lantern on wooden base |
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Artisans'
work featured on this episode:
(click pics for Artist info and larger
images)
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