The Tangled lanterns depict magic in one of the most romantic and visually engaging scenes orchestrated by Disney. The Tangled lanterns hanging at the Magic Kingdom encouraged me to surprise my wife with some of our own craft lanterns.
This project also led to additional Disney-inspired arts and craft projects, including the creation of the DIY Pixie Dust blog. This way, you’ll experience the same magic in your home. I opted to create my own design derived from Disney’s Tangled golden sun template. After a weekend of play in Inkscape, a free open-source tool, I came up with the design featured here. My goal was to capture the original beauty of the Tangled lanterns but also make them unique for my projects. Below you’ll see the border depicting a small boat with Rapunzel, Eugene, and three floating lights. The boat alternates with Rapunzel’s frying pan around a curved pattern. You may download, print, and assemble your own lanterns by saving the full resolution design. Simply right click or control click on the description under each image and select “Save Image” to download. You can also click the link first to see the full image and save it using the same steps.
Creating the lantern design
I also created three other color templates with the same pattern. This way, you can apply one of many color schemes to your DIY project (non-commercial purposes only, please):
- Gold round and gold square
- Purple round and purple square
- Turquoise round and turquoise square
If these colors don’t quite match your inspiration, you can easily change the color in GIMP!
Selecting the best materials
I continue to use everyday items to simplify this DIY project and keep costs down. However, it’s important to use the baronial ivory classic linen paper because of its excellent quality and nice texture. This paper contains a Classic Linen watermark so be sure to sort through and select pieces with the watermark near the top or bottom edge. Use these pieces for minimal interference with the finished lantern. I learned that pages with the watermark at the top work best for square lanterns. For round lanterns, the watermark can be either at the top or bottom.
Optional step: As a detail-oriented engineer, I opted to cut out a small notch on round lanterns. I also trimmed the square lanterns to allow for a clean finished look. (I use a utility knife, self-healing cutting mat, and straight edge.) You don’t have to do this but think it’s worth the extra effort! Keep in mind that the sun is designed to have one ray on top and two rays on the bottom. (Think of them as feet.) This is also how it appears most often in Disney’s Tangled. Plus, with the Tangled boat border, Eugene and Rapunzel would be upside down in their boat if you mix them up so it’s pretty easy to see which side faces up!
Trim and prepare the lantern paper
The round lantern is very easy to trim! Just take your utility knife and make two straight cuts angling from the frying pan handle towards the edge. This doesn’t have to be perfect. Just mane sure there is enough room for the curve to show through on the adjoining page.
The square lantern is a bit more complex. I opted to make these cuts so two sides of the lantern are a clean, single layer. This also ensures that two remaining sides have all folds and overlap from the adjoining sheets of paper.
In order to cut the pattern below, make three slices with the straight edge in place, working around the curve. Once complete, pull away the straight edge and trim the remaining paper around the curved pattern
Assemble the Tangled lanterns
Once the notches are cut, you can prepare the individual lanterns by using a glue stick to bond one seam on two 8.5×11 sheets of paper. I prefer Elmer’s disappearing purple or gel glue sticks work best but the traditional ones work as well. You’ll need at least two glue sticks for this project.
While the glue dries, prepare the Con-Tact Brand Clear Matte paper, also available from Amazon and numerous other sources. You can create 26 lanterns from one 18″ x 20′ roll. The Con-Tact paper also has measurements on it so it’s easy to work with.
Trim the Con-Tact paper
You’ll need 18″ for each lantern so if your contact paper starts between the 13″ and 14″ mark, just unroll it to the next 13.5″ mark and cut along that line.
Each of those sections will cover two lanterns. Once that section is detached, fold it in half lengthwise and cut along the horizontal so you’ll have two longer pieces that will fit nicely on the back of the lanterns (with a little overlap on the bottom).
Peel a corner from the peel-off backing on the Con-Tact paper and apply it to the back of the lantern as pictured. You want to start a few inches from the edge to allow for your linen paper overlap when you glue the pattern in the round shape. Even square lanterns start as round ones!
It’s worth noting that Con-Tact paper can bunch up quickly. I find it easiest to keep the Con-Tact paper as close to the back of the lantern as possible, slowly removing the peel-off backing while keeping the sticky side close to the linen paper lantern, then quickly sticking it to the lantern as I move from left to right. Dont worry, if it’s not perfect the first time, Con-Tact paper lets you peel back and re-apply without damaging your lantern.
Tip: You may find it easier to keep the bubbles away with a straight edge!
Leave approximately 5 inches of peel-off backing on the right side to allow for overlap on the inside of the lantern. One you glue the second side to complete the lantern shape, you may apply the Con-Tact paper over the remaining seam.
Complete the lantern shape
Glue the other side of the lantern creating a circular design for both round and square lanterns.
You’ll notice a little overlap of contact paper along the bottom of the lantern. Depending on how careful you were placing the contact paper, there may be some at the top too. It’s pretty easy to trim the contact paper with scissors so I recommend holding the lantern with your non-dominant hand and using your dominant hand to guide the scissors along the edge of the lantern, slowly trimming away the excess. The scissors will run smoothly along a single layer of Con-Tact paper. You may have to cut when you reach an overlap of two layers. Be careful because you do not want to cut your lantern’s linen paper as you perform this action!
For the round lanterns, I let them dry standing up, slightly reshaping the glued portion to ensure it matches the round shape of the lantern and preventing the glued edges from drying flat.
Folding the square lantern
For the square lanterns, I fold them at the corners before letting it dry standing up. The first fold is down the center of the frying pan near the seam.
Finalizing the lantern shape
While the glue dries, I cut and shape the 2.0 mm wire for the top of the lantern. Round lanterns require 16-7/8 inches. Cut the square wire a little shorter at 16-3/4 inches due to the bends at each corner. (This is 1/8 inches shorter than the other pattern.)
If you’re not sure, you can always cut it a little longer and trim it as you shape it to fit inside the lantern once they are shaped.
Shape the wire
The wire is easy to shape but some may find this problematic once you finish each lantern. If you prefer, you could use a wire with increased rigidity such as an alternate plant-shaping wire or a wire coat hanger. I prefer flexible wire because it is easy to work with, you can be reshape as needed, and it complements colors in the lanterns.
To complete the wire shape, I found it easiest to first tape the wire together, then following up with another piece of tape on top of the seam for extra strength.
Form the top ring
Once you form the top ring, you’ll want to place two pre-stretched rubber bands on the wire that cross evenly across the center. It is important to pre-stretch new rubber bands because brand new ones are too stiff and will bend your flexible wire. Pre-stretching will make the tan color lighten and you’ll notice that the rubber bands have more flexibility.
Tape the ring inside the Tangled lantern
When you place the top wire in the lantern, I find it easiest to apply tape on either side of the rubber band so you’ll need eight pieces of tape. I start by holding the wire just above the printed border line, first taping over the taped wire seam and then taping the opposite side for optimum placement.
As you apply the remaining six pieces, reshape the wire and lantern for the best visual appearance of the lantern.
Form the bottom wire
The bottom wire can be made from the 1.5mm flexible wire from the same kit. (Round and square wire lengths match the top wire lengths above.) I used this wire for two reasons:
- It doesn’t have to be as rigid since you aren’t adding rubber bands.
- There is not enough of the 2.0mm wire in the kit to cover 24 lanterns top and bottom rings. Using 2.0mm on top and 1.5mm on bottom allows you to use the wire kit to the maximum extent possible.
Structurally, the bottom wire is not as important for the square lanterns but it does help the round lanterns keep their shape! Form them in the same fashion as the top wire and affix with four evenly-spaced pieces of tape.
Note: The 1.0mm wire included in the kit is not needed for these lanterns. Feel free to save it for another craft project!
The finished Tangled lanterns
Congratulations! You just completed your first Tangled lantern!
You can hang the lanterns on most outdoor LED patio light kits. The one pictured and used in my home is from Costco; however, I’m confident that the rubber band design will allow you to use other kits available on the internet or from your local home improvement store. To complete the project, I drilled 1/4″ holes in the ceiling. Then I placed wall anchors inside of those holes, and used white vinyl hooks from Home Depot. I also have a remote control switch similar to this one, in order to easily turn them on and off while leaving the lights plugged in.
If you buy the Costco patio lights, you’ll notice that the plug is close to the first light. In order to remedy this, I used a power strip to to add a breaker-protected outlet near the ceiling. Some may prefer to use a long term extension cord; however, please be aware that extension cords are designed for temporary use and are not protected by a breaker so electrical professionals will advise against this.
This is how the finished product looks in my house
Don’t have time to Do It Yourself? That’s okay because you can buy these lanterns on Etsy!
Caution & Disclaimer
Caution: The Tangled lanterns are made of linen paper and reinforced with contact paper. They are designed for indoor use only with LED light bulbs. Do not use these lanterns outdoors or with an incandescent light bulb or with candles. This increases the risk of the paper lantern catching on fire.
Disclaimer: The Walt Disney Company maintains the copyright for Tangled, Disney’s Rapunzel, the Tangled golden sun, Walt Disney World, and the Magic Kingdom. I do not own nor claim any copyrights to these items. Rather, this project is inspired by the creativity and innovation of the Walt Disney Company through their depictions in the movie and at the Magic Kingdom. Thank you, Disney, for bringing magic into all of our lives.
