Paper Lantern / Gazebo Tutorial

Paper Gazebo

              Dear friends I have been fascinated by Gazebos for a long time and wanted to make a 3 D Paper Gazebo .The Paper Gazebos I saw online were all made using SVG files and since I dont have an electronic cutting machine ,improvised and made one using die cuts and paper rolls.

Paper Gazebo

My 3 D Gazebo is big enough to house a little doll.It can also be called a Bird house or  Lantern as it houses a battery operated tea light.

How to make a 3 D Paper Lantern/Gazebo

Making any 3 D structure in paper looks deadly complicated but its completely do-able if you break it down into parts!

And though I used die cuts to make the roof of my 3 D Gazebo, you can make one without using any fancy equipment!

To make it easier, I will break down the Paper Gazebo tutorial into 3 parts

• How to make the Dome of the Gazebo
• How to make the Supporting walls/Pillars
• How to make the base of the Gazebo

How to make the Dome of the Gazebo

Paper Lantern tutorial 

You can make the roof of your Gazebo anyway you fancy! Here are some options:-

• Conical  Dome:The easiest way to make the dome of the Gazebo would be to cut a thick card into a circle and glue it in a dome shape- you could decorate the rim of the cone with lace and pearls and it would look spectacular!
• Pyramid Shape: If you like Pyramid shape [ I do!!] you can follow these tutorials  to make a pyramid and use it as your Gazebo roof: Pyramid Decoration tutorial , Pyramid tutorial 
• Hemispherical Dome: If you want a simple style Gazebo just use 2 circles and make a dome  like I did to make a 3 D pram shaped box using this Pram Box tutorial 
• Slanting Roof: You can adapt the roof I made for this Wishing Well to make a Gazebo roof too!
• Fancy Domed Roof: If you really wanted a challenge ,you could make a real fancy 3 D domed roof using a printable like I did in the Taj Mahal Model
• Using Die Cuts /Hand cut shapes

I used the same Marianne Petra Corner die set I used to make the 3 D Chariot.

Paper Lantern tutorial 

You don't really have to use the same dies I used-- just try playing with whatever die cut shape you have on hand or hand cut a shape you fancy.

3 D Gazebo tutorial 

The picture above shows how the die cut looked before I inked it and heat embossed it with WOW clear sparkle embossing powder as described in the 3 D Chariot making post.

Gazebo tutorial 

I cut and heat embossed 6 of the above die cuts.Scored and folded them in half as shown below. As I said don't despair if you don't have the exact die I have shown-- you can make a gazebo dome using a humble circle shape too and use it as a base to make the rest of your Gazebo! [See tutorial to make a 3 D structure using Circles : Easy Paper decoration tutorial ]

Gazebo tutorial 

Apply glue to half of one folded die cut shape and stick to half of another one as shown below

Gazebo tutorial 

Stick  all 6 pieces and your dome is nearly done.You get a fairly lovely shape even if you use only 5 die cuts but I found working with 6  made the rest of the 3 D construction easier [ like placing the pillars] !

Gazebo tutorial 

Before you stick the last 2 pieces, add a hook if you plan to hang your lantern. I used a long jewelry finding and threaded a large bead on one end and made a hook on the other end.Later on I added a dangling heart to the hook on the inside and a pearl- ruby to the hook on the top.

Gazebo tutorial 

To complete the Gazebo roof, I used the Marianne die cut shown below which was again a bit plain on simply die cutting it but on embossing with Spellbinders embossing pads revealed beautiful embossed designs!It looks rather plain doesn't it..well instead of inking and embossing , I took a shortcut!

Marianne Petra Corner

I know many of you will be already knowing how to emboss your die cuts with the Bigshot/Cuttlebug...well this was the first time I did it ! So but sharing the embossing steps in case you didnt and remember its yet another way to explore the maximum potential of your dies!

Die cut embossing

After you have cut the die. keep the dic cut paper within the die itself [on your acrylic cutting plate]and place a Spellbinders Embossing pad  atop it and then your other cutting plate.

Die cut embossing

Just one run through your big shot and you will get beautiful embossed impressions on your die cut as shown below.

Die cut embossing

Before I got the embossing pad, I tried  to emboss die cuts with thick felt and even foam-- I did manage to get some amount of embossing but my foam/ felt spoilt and disintegrated real fast and on comparison the embossing was not as deep and beautiful as what I got using the proper Spellbinders Embossing pad. There are many embossing pads out there but I hear the Spellbinders  one is the best!

Embossed Die cut

Attached 6 of the above die-cuts between the arms of the basic frame made earlier to make it more sturdy.Here is the aerial view of the Gazebo roof showing the pretty dies and bows.

Paper Gazebo tutorial 

Here you can see the dangling heart and pearly beaded sprays [See Easy Beaded Spray tutorial ] hanging from the center of the Gazebo roof.

Paper Lantern tutorial 

How to make the Base of the Gazebo/Lantern

Make the base of your Lantern / Gazebo to match the shape of your roof. The easiest shapes are simple squares and circles.
I  cut a circle from ivory card to form the base of my Paper Lantern and placed a battery operated tea-light on it and surrounded it with embossed die- cuts made by folding the 3rd design of die cuts from the same Marianne Petra Corner die set

Paper Lantern tutorial 

Here is how the tea- light looks when it is lighted up.

Paper Lantern tutorial 

You can stick the circle of card on a thick cardboard or even a CD.To make the base even sturdier, after adding the pillars ,wrap a  piece of corrugated paper around the pillars along the circumference of your circular base. 

Paper Lantern Base

How to make the Supports/Pillars of the Paper Lantern/Gazebo
You could use strips of card folded at right angles to make the supports but I found it easiest to use rolls of corrugated paper as pillars.

Paper Lantern tutorial 

Corrugated paper is super easy to fashion into rolls. I used 1 inch width corrugated card , cut 6 pieces into lengths I wanted and rolled them up tight to form pillars.Stick the pillars on the circular base and on to the roof of  the Gazebo.

Paper Lantern tutorial 

Tip to make 3 D Paper-crafts : Obsessing a bit about symmetry, gluing and re-gluing is the key to building a good looking and sturdy Paper Lantern/Gazebo! Working with 6 eg :6 spokes on the roof, 6 pillars, 6 sides  etc makes it easier to build a symmetrical 3 D structure than working with 5 !

Paper Gazebo

The delicate lacey bows I used on my Gazebo are Sue Wilson dies from Crafters Corner.

Paper Gazebo

I do hope you enjoyed my first DIY Lantern ,and hoping some of the principles shared will come in useful to help you make your own Diwali /Christmas Lantern for the upcoming festive season.
Here is another adaptation of this 3 D lantern : Festive Lantern

Paper Lantern

Supplies:Embossing: WOW Embossing Powder Clear Sparkle, Versamark Watermark Stamp pad, Ranger Heat gun;Dies :From Crafters Corner: Marianne creatable Petra Corners ,Tattered Lace Lacy Rose, Sue Wilson Filigree Bow, Lifestyle crafts Circle Die, Spellbinders Lace hearts;Embellishments: Crystal Beaded pollen from Crafters Corner;Lace : Commercial street Bangalore

Edited : this 3 D lantern came top 5 in Marianne designs Kreadivas Challenge