DIY Lantern Menus

We had an evening reception in a venue with no windows, so we worked on all sorts of nice lighting effects.  Here is the latest--DIY lit-up menus.  (We had one for bar drinks, one for the layers of the cake, and one for the food.)

Materials

• 4 pieces 8½" x 11" cardstock
• 2 pieces 8½" x 11" parchment paper
• Double-sided tape or glue
• Westinghouse stick up light bulb

Equipment

• Exacto knife
• Bone folder
• Microsoft Word or other program of your choice to create the menus for each side
  

Instructions

Sides

1. Right click on the template image below and choose "Save image as" to save it to your hard drive.  (For anyone who is curious, all of the templates were originally created as tables in Microsoft Word, then converted to JPEG files.)
   

2. Print two copies of the template onto two pieces of cardstock, selecting 8.5" x 11" as the size, and 0" for all the margins.
   
3. Take each piece of printed cardstock.  Place a ruler (on the opposite side of the line from the area to be cut out, so that if your hand slips, it will not cut into the portion of the lantern that will remain) along the edge of each piece to be cut out, as shown by the black areas, below, and use the Exacto knife to cut along the lines:

4. Take the ruler, and lay it along each of the fold lines shown as dotted lines below.  Run the sharp end of the bone folder along the ruler, to create a score for the fold, then fold along the scored line.

5. Take the two pieces of cardstock, and use double-sided tape or glue to attach them as shown below, with the printing on the inside.  The holes you have just cut out are not shown on the picture below.
   

Bottom

1. Right click on the template image below and choose "Save image as" to save it to your hard drive.

2. Print a copy of the template onto a piece of cardstock.
3. Take the piece of printed cardstock.  Place a ruler (on the opposite side of the line from the area to be cut out, so that if your hand slips, it will not cut into the portion of the lantern that will remain) along the edge of each piece to be cut out, as shown by the black areas, below, and use the Exacto knife to cut along the lines:

4. Take the piece of cardstock you just cut out.  Place a ruler along the edge of each piece to be cut, as shown by the black lines, below, and use the Exacto knife to cut along the lines.  Place a ruler along the edge of each fold line, as shown by the dotted lines, below, and use the bone folder to score it for folding.

5. Once you have folded it as indicated, you will have a tab sticking out at each corner.  Using double-sided tape or glue, attach that tab to the inside of the next side, forming a small, shallow box.
6. Run a line of glue or double-sided tape around the outside of the little box.  Then fit the box into the bottom of the lantern.

Menus

1. Open up a new document in Microsoft Word.  Click on File, then Page Setup.  Choose the following margins:  Top 1", Bottom 2.5", left 1.5", right 2.5", gutter 0".  Change Orientation to "Landscape."
2. Click on Layout, and change the Header and Footer to 0".  Click on OK.
   
3. Click on Format, then Columns.  Choose 2 columns.  Uncheck the box for "Equal width."  Then choose 2" for Column 1 width, 3" for column 1 spacing, and 2" for Column 2 width. Select the box for "Line between."  Click on OK.
   
4. Create whatever text or design you want for two of the menu panes in the two columns, and print on a sheet of parchment paper.  You should now have a document that looks like this:
5. 
   
   
6. Put a ruler on the line between the two columns, and cut along it using the Exacto knife.  This will create the menus for two of the four sides of the lantern.
7. Use either the same menus or different ones for the other two sides, following the same format as you used for the first two.
8. Check to make sure that each menu will fit behind the open space for it in the menu, and can be centered.  If not, trim as necessary using the Exacto knife.
   
9. Glue each menu inside one of the openings in the lantern.  The bottom of the menu will be folded, and then glued to the bottom of the lantern.
   
10. Take a Westinghouse Stick-Up Bulb.  Put batteries into it.  Pull the string to turn on the bulb. Set the bulb with the base down on the bottom of the lantern

Top

1. Right click on the template image below and choose "Save image as" to save it to your hard drive.  (This is identical to the template used for the bottom, except that the center square is slightly larger, so that it will fit around the top instead of inside it.)

2. Print a copy of the template onto a piece of cardstock.
3. Cut and fold the cardstock, and tape the corners, exactly the same way as you did for the bottom.  However, the top will not be taped to the lantern, but simply placed on top, so you will still be able to remove it and get to the bulb inside.

Here is the lantern before the light is added:

And here it is lit up: