'Happy Birthday' lantern design

Bead List

19g size 11/0 Delicas in your main colour (I used DB1563)

5g size 11/0 Delicas in your highlight colour (I used DB461)


For the side pattern...

2149 size 11 Delicas in DB141, crystal (about 11g) 

143 size 11 Delicas in DB751, matte opaque yellow (just under 1g) 

144 size 11 Delicas in DB611, silver-lined wine (just under 1g) 

42 size 11 Delicas in DB265, opaque mauve luster (less than 1g) 

34 size 11 Delicas in DB42, silver-lined gold (less than 1g) 

194 size 11 Delicas in DB1569, opaque cyan blue luster (about 1g) 

90 size 11 Delicas in DB10, black (less than 1g) 

19 size 11 Delicas in DB1537, opaque light sky blue Ceylon (less than 1g) 

273 size 11 Delicas in DB1563, opaque mandarin luster (about 1.5g) 

8 size 11 Delicas in DB461, galvanized tarnished copper (less than 1g) 

59 size 11 Delicas in DB200, white (less than 1g) 

85 size 11 Delicas in DB1137, opaque agate blue (less than 1g) 


Additional Notes on Colouring...

As I mentioned in the video, I chose to pick out the orange shades from my side pattern design to use as the main colour. This is because the recipient of this lantern loves orange. But you could use any of the shades as your main colours...or something completely different!

You will also see that this design uses a lot of different colours, but in very small quantities. So, if you're trying to follow my exact bead colours, you might find this frustrating if you're looking at buying a full tube, but only using a small number of beads. Or, you might be happy to have an excuse to expand your range of colours!

So, if you don't want to buy full tubes for just a few beads, I recommend looking at making colour substitutions that would allow you to use beads you already have in your stash. And it doesn't have to be that hard. Take a look at the pattern chart in your PDF file (when you've got that from the Beadflowers website), and see where the colours sit. Some will be balloons, some are on the cake and some are on the presents. But, in general, they are all in blocks.

So, there is very little risk in changing a block. For example, if you're not a fan of blue and don't have any blue beads in your stash, you could change all the blue areas to pink. Just look at each shade of blue and decide whether it is dark, medium, or light. Then replace that with a dark, medium, or light pink, accordingly.

Remember to stick to the 'rules' on colouring. So, don't use transparent shades as they will allow too much light through. But beyond that, there is relatively little risk in making substitutions in this design. And if you're not convinced, you can always try stitching little sample strips using the colours you think you want. That will allow you to test how they work together before using them on your actual lantern.


Optional...

If you want to add the hanging loop, you will need an additional 2g of Delicas in the colour of your choice

I do not recommend adding frames to this design because they will pass through the middle of the 'Happy Birthday' message which won't look good!

You can find this design at the following link on the Beadflowers website: https://beadflowers.co.uk/beads/online-beading-classes/happy-birthday-beaded-lantern-side-pattern-chart/


Complete and Continue