A dear friend of mine is about to welcome home her new daughter. She has put together a lovely room with and Asian theme in soft pinks, bold pinks, green and white that is just precious. After mentioning she’d like to hang a few decorative lanterns, i found some online with a cherry blossom motif. Unfortunately, the color scheme was all wrong. Long story short; my friend directed me to the lanterns she loved at Land of Nod. i ordered them right away, and we made a plan for me to paint them with a cherry blossom design in the correct color scheme. i gave them to her at her baby shower yesterday. You can see above how they came out. Sweet, right?

Note: i was concerned the paint might weaken the delicate paper and cause it to tear, so i practiced on an old paper lantern i had in my basement from my wedding almost 8 years ago! The bottom line is…use straight paint and a non-waterlogged brush. i dried mine thoroughly after rinsing between colors. Also, use a light touch, and don’t go over the spot too much rubbing on the paper. i had no problems at all using a light hand : )