Easy Diy Filipino Christmas Lantern Parol

Parol is one iconic Christmas decor in the Philippines. The parol symbolizes the one bright star of Bethlehem that the three Wise Men used as a guide to find the newly born infant Jesus.

While parol is traditionally made simply from papel de Japon or Japanese paper and bamboo, many are made of almost any material from wood to straws. Some parol are also made from seashells while some used recycled materials. Parol also varies from designs to size, from being simple to the most intricately designed parol with lights and sounds.

With Christmas just around the corner and with ready made Christmas lantern being pricey, I finally decided to create our family's own parol with just using affordable materials and two fairy lights to light it up. And that I will share in this easy DIY holiday decor so you can make yours too without breaking your holiday budget.

In this parol making tutorial, I used materials that are affordable with most of it bought from our local store with items mostly less than $1. Two items I used such as the twist tie and garden hook were already available at home.

With that said, have all the listed materials ready and let's start with our parol making project.

Cut 3 to 4 inches long of the tulle. Make five of these. You can use your preferred color, glittered or not. The tulle I used is 6 in. x 5 yd and is just the perfect length against the back of the tinsel wreath.

Fold each of the tulle. Apply some pressure on edges or cover them with something as they have the tendency to reopen if left alone after being folded.

Use the vegetable twist tie to connect each rolled pieces of sparkle tulle on the wreath. It is important to just use the side of the tulle when tying both ends on the wreath.This way, you'll have a room for the fairy light wire to pass through later on.

Make sure to flip and check how it looks like in front as you work on creating the star. Make adjustments as needed to have a better looking star before tying it on the wreath with the twist tie.

It's time to work on the fairy lights after creating the star. Use the ultra-slim light set first. Carefully untangle and straighten the wire. The lights on the ultra-slim set are as tiny as rice grains which makes it perfect to use for this part of the lantern.

Choose in which side you want to start with and work with the wire, passing it through each of the tulle that makes up the star. Gently work on it and guide the wire as it gets stuck sometimes.

Gently bend the wire on each corner after inserting the wire on the next roll of tulle. Refer to photo below.

While working on the wire and after, turn the switch on to check how it looks like when lit specially on the front. Make some adjustments on the wire to have lights not only on both ends of each tulle but have some light on the middle part as well if you can.

Gently straighten the second fairy light set. This will go around the wreath. I used a different style, this fairy light set is star-shaped compared to the one I used for the star which is the ultra-slim set. Turn on the switch and check how it looks like as you work the wire around the wreath. Secure the end of the wire once finished with the twist tie.

Use the mesh ribbon to secure the battery cases on the back of the wreath. Use the steel wire behind the wreath to help position the mesh ribbon that will hold the battery cases. Position the two cases at the back across each other so the weight is even.

Use a garden hook to hang the finished parol or Christmas lantern. Using hook instead of a tie to hang the lantern will help keep the parol in place. Switch the lights on and choose light setting.

Switch the lights on and choose light setting. Put your parol in your front porch or preferably in an area where the light sets will be safe from rain.