In the early time, the traditional paper industry was prosperous in Nantou, where is still an important production center of quality handmade paper. Using the local Nantou paper and bamboos from Taomi to make the paper lantern is marvelous.
Paper Craft Village had the concept and took a year time to devise the DIY activity for the artistic and portable lantern. You may think such a handmade lantern can be easily worn out, but by making it, you would know how strong its materials are and it could become an art piece for decoration in your living room!
▲The bamboo shadow painting makes each lantern unique
▲Seeing the lantern made by myself at night is healing.
DIY portal lantern is officially launched during this firefly season so the visitors are welcome to spare one hour in the Paper Craft Village to unleash the creativity when coming to Taomi.
“80% assembly steps plus 20% creativity will make a unique artistic portable lantern.”
Being tested and revised back and forth for a whole year, the way to make the lantern is finalized. Children above 3rd grade can make their portable lanterns on their own. Making the lantern requires the participants to use simple tools and that is part of the learning because the Paper Craft Village expects everyone to carry out the steps on their own.
Mr. Shifeng Huang, the paper expert in the Paper Craft Village, said “adaptability to the locations and materials” is the most critical. Hence all materials are from Nantou. Paper is from the paper mill in Puli and the bamboos are from the forest in the back of the Paper Craft Village. If the visitors have sufficient time, the village host will walk you to the backyard and bring the bamboo branches back.
▲Sparing one minute to the backyard and get the bamboo branches which are the source of the silhouette showing on the lantern.
▲The materials collected in the buckets
▲Inside the small warehouse of the Paper Craft Village are many materials to play with
▲Cutting the bamboo branch is a step forward to an art piece
▲The tip is to have some branches thick and some thin so the light shadows lie meticulously would make the lantern more beautiful
▲Learning to use the hot melt gun
▲Using the bamboo branches to paint—by gluing the bamboo branches to show the drawing is where the 20% creativity is
▲Choosing the paper—there would be a choice difficulty to select 2 out of 4
▲Gluing the paper onto the lantern, the paper size fits the structure perfectly
▲The study lantern is a good paper decoration at home
Shifeng Huang eagerly develops various materials to give imaginations on paper. He uses all sorts of materials to make paper, such as paper mulberry in front of the house, water bamboos that are widely planted here, even the cow dung sent from friends living in Taitong are tried.
If you are a stationery fanatic or have a special liking for paper, you definitely should take part in the DIY paper activities devised by the Paper Craft Village. Through the participation, you would sense how devoted and serious the village host is.
▲Shifeng Huang has a lot of imagination for paper and having a conversation with him gave me plenty of take away.
For more information on DIY paper lantern, please visit https://www.taomiala.com