DIY storm lanterns for dreaming
14.1.2019
Translation: machine translated
I'll show you in simple steps how you can make winter tea lights together with your children. You can combine my tips as you wish or come up with new ideas yourself.
January is often a very quiet, almost bland month for me, in which not much happens. After December, which is so exciting, mysterious and ends with a big bang, this month somehow lacks something special. Since last year, however, I have realised what quality January carries within it: it is the quiet month that brings light, where the daylight increases from day to day and we become more active again as a result. To symbolise this to my children and nieces, I created winter tea lights with them, which you can also make at home with your children.
Achieving results with just a few materials
When my children and I do handicrafts, we love it colourful. Not just in terms of colours, but also in terms of variety. That's why we opted for different jars. Look for different containers, such as drinking glasses or preserving jars. You will also need a white chalk marker, wintry decorative stickers, masking tape in different colours, matching ribbon, acrylic paint, decorative granules and tea lights (or LED tea lights). All you need is a paintbrush, scissors and perhaps a mat to prevent the table from getting dirty.
Decorate the glasses
I've come up with four options for you and your children. Depending on the age of your child, they may be able to decorate the glasses all by themselves. If not, your child can do it with your help. There's something for everyone in this fun craft activity.
Pick up the chalk marker. Colour the glass differently with different snowflakes or snowmen and then leave the paint to dry. Then you can fill the glass with decorative granules, place a tea light inside and your first lantern is ready.
For this variant, you need a brush and your acrylic paint. Dab the entire glass with the brush to create a nice texture. If you like, you can sprinkle a little decorative granulate over the paint. Leave everything to dry. Tie a ribbon of your choice around the jar, fill it with decorative granules and place a tea light inside.
This is the simplest version: stick on decorative stickers, tie a ribbon around them, fill with decorative granules and a tea light and the lantern is ready!
Depending on how thick your masking tape is, you can cover your jar in different ways. Maybe your child likes to tear off lots of small pieces of tape and stick them on in a colourful way. Think of a way to decorate the glass with tape. You know the rest: Fill the jar with decorative granules and a tea light and you have your lantern.
Our ritual - maybe soon your ritual too
Lighting a candle means bringing brightness, warmth and movement into your surroundings. Especially for the month of January, which stands for a new beginning in the cold season, I find this "lighting a light" particularly fitting. Let me introduce you to our ritual:
We light all our homemade lanterns. We like to do this in the evening when it's dark and cold. We sit in a circle with a sea of lights in the centre. Each lantern represents a month (in this case you need twelve) or a season (in this case you need four). At the beginning we are quiet and let the dance of flames take effect on us. Then we start dreaming together: about the coming months, the next spring or summer and all the things we want to experience together. We then tell each other the most amazing things. We don't light the candles every day, but whenever we feel like it.
I think dreaming is so important because it brings us closer to ourselves and, above all, helps us move forward. And one thing is for sure: children dream with ease. We adults often find it difficult because we have somehow forgotten how to do it and are often our own biggest blockade.
Even if your children are a little younger, do it with them anyway. Even if they can't communicate yet, tell them what you're dreaming about for the next few months. They will look at you with big eyes and be happy with you! And at some point, they will tell you about their dreams.
I'm more of a thinker than a doer. Yet I'm still always active: crafting, sewing, writing to-do lists, daydreaming, counting clouds, digging into soil, comforting my two little ones and collapsing into bed after a long day. If it were up to me, each day would have a few extra hours... I wonder if that would be enough.
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