Lanterns

Next weekend I am really looking forward to going to the Auckland Lantern Festival. The festival was first celebrated at Albert Park in Auckland in 2000, and now takes place every year on the first full moon following Chinese New Year. I will be sure to take lots of photos and write a post about the night here soon.

I love lanterns. You often see them strung in the trees at restaurants and hotels lining the beaches in Thailand. I think lanterns make lovely decor both inside and out at beach houses. We will definitely be having a few at our future bach.

Petit Pan is a French Chinese company. The owner's father Pan is a famous master kite flyer in China and his influence is seen in the attention to detail of their beautiful (and often quirky) lanterns. A few of my favourites are below.

For something more simple, you can't go wrong with the classic round paper lantern that can be found in numerous stores. Paper lanterns now seem to be a design staple at many weddings. I used nylon ones at my wedding and thought they added great pops of colour. I sometimes pull them out to decorate the garden outside when we have parties.

Habitat in the UK stock some nice colour paper lanterns in a range of shapes. The Shiro lanterns pictured below come in a range of colours and are so inexpensive there is no excuse for bare light bulbs to be dangling from the ceiling! The blue/green shade on the right is currently on sale for just £3.60.

AD

Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7