This DIY Cloud Lantern Is So Beautiful And So Easy

I am, almost certainly, the least crafty person you will ever meet. My hands are constitutionally incapable of putting together anything that requires any degree of artistry or skill. Pinterest is basically a place I go to feel bad about myself, because even the simplest DIY project is absolutely beyond my abilities. I dropped out of Girl Scouts because the two coleaders were seriously into crafts and I was tired of spending hours each week realizing how bad I was at something which seemed to bring happiness to all my friends. (Though, to be fair, I mainly joined up for the uniform, which no one but me wore, so I was already on the road to disenchantment.) While I still look with wistful longing at a hot glue gun or the contented-looking droves of other women coming out of Michael's with bags of silk flowers, mason jars, and popsicle sticks, I've pretty much accepted my fate as someone who will have to buy all her home decor at Target. But when I saw this video of a really cute project from YouTube crafter TiffyQuake, I realized that even I could manage this one...I think...yeah, I'm feeling confident!

So you start with several paper lanterns of varying size

That most mystical of crafting tools: a hot glue gun

Clear string and a dowel

LED lights

And batting (which I've just learned is apparently the actual term for what I've always referred to as "cotton-fluff-stuff")

It seems like this couldn't be simpler, which, admittedly, is a concept that has burned me in the past, but I'm determined with new confidence!

So you start by gluing the batting to the paper lanterns. (Sidebar: TiffyQuake, I heart your nail polish.) Do this on your lanterns of varying sizes.

Next, tie your clear string to the ends of a dowel and hang it from screw hooks.

Hang batting covered lanterns at different levels with the string, eventually, the cloud will take shape (The cloud in this video is made of five lanterns, incidentally. The picture above shows the first two.)

Next, hang the LED lights through the base of the cloud (it's suggested to get some help from a friend for this bit). Let the lights hang from the bottom at different lengths.

And voilà! Pretty cute, right?! This is a particularly nice decoration for a nursery (I could see it serving as a unique nightlight) or

A baby shower. Awwww!

The full instructional video is below. For the artistic among us, this should be a cakewalk. For the...less capable, it seems like a basically attainable goal. Happy crafting!

Images: YouTube(12)