Paper Lantern Jellyfish tutorial. Learn how to make DIY jellyfish party decorations for a birthday or under the sea ocean theme party.
Paper lantern jellyfish make the cutest decorations for an ocean themed birthday or shower. They add a fun under-the-sea element for mermaid and narwhal themed parties, too. With a few supplies from your local party store, you can make your own paper lantern jellyfish! This simple DIY tutorial will show you how.
If you saw the post recapping my daughter’s Narwhal Birthday Party a few weeks ago, then you saw a peek at how these paper lantern jellyfish turned out. When I was brainstorming ideas for her party, I thought it would be fun to incorporate other ocean themed decorations, and these jellyfish were such a cute idea. They were very easy to make (though it did take a while to cut all the streamers, but this is easily done while catching up on your favorite TV show), and because the supplies can all be found in the party section of almost any store, you can customize the colors and styles to your own party.
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
How to make Paper Lantern Jellyfish
Materials Needed:
- 9.5″ Paper Lanterns
- I used Robin’s Egg Blue, Light Pink and Lavender/Lilac
- Tissue streamers
- Iridescent Cello Tissue
- Curling ribbon
- Scissors
- Aleene’s Tacky Glue
- Command Mini Hooks (option; for hanging)
Tutorial:
Making the Tentacles
For the tentacles, I used tissue streamers, curling ribbon and iridescent cello tissue.
1.) Cut tissue streamers and curling ribbon to desired length and set aside. I made my tissue streamers double the length I wanted, then folded them in half. If you want to give the tissue streamers some texture, fold them accordion-style:
I cut some shorter streamers to glue around the outer edge to give my paper lantern jellyfish tentacles in a variety of lengths. For reference, my long streamers measure about 60” total, 30” folded. My short streamers measure about 40” total, 20” folded.
2.) Fold individual sheets of Iridescent Cello Tissue into squares, then trim off the corners so you have a shape resembling an oval. Start on one side and cut into a spiral until you reach the center. You may have to cut through one or two folded edges to get a long spiral tentacle. If these are longer than you’d like the tentacles to be, simply cut each in half or in thirds to use for your paper lantern jellyfish.
Assembling the Paper Lantern Jellyfish
1.) Carefully assemble the paper lantern, then flip it over so that the bottom opening is facing you.
2.) Use Aleene’s Tacky Glue to attach the tissue streamers one by one around the bottom opening. I glued my streamers down at the fold.
3.) Add a layer of Iridescent Cello Tissue spirals in between the streamers.
4.) Once the glue is mostly dry on this first layer, carefully move the tentacles aside and add an outer layer of short tissue streamers, more iridescent cello spirals and the curling ribbon.
Allow to dry fully before hanging. Curl ends of curling ribbon if desired.
Love this? Don’t forget to Pin It or Bookmark It!
