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Happy Holidays 2016 + a File Folder Craft

Posted by TAB on

As we approach the end of 2016, many organizations are looking at ways to improve their RIM programs, and this may include reducing paper. Whether you’re considering a transition to an electronic records management environment or simply going “paperlite,” you’re bound to end up with unused file folders and equipment.

So what do you do with these unneeded supplies? While some of the more obvious answers may be to recycle, donate or put in the trash, we wanted to explore some more creative solutions.

Our favorite idea, and one appropriate for the current season, was to transform file folders into paper star lanterns you can attach to a string of lights. We tried this craft out and were pleasantly surprised to find it was easy and resulted in pretty ornaments for our tree!

We followed these instructions from B. Light Design to construct the lanterns:

Here’s a close-up of our final result!

file folder star lantern craft

 

We also took a few shortcuts to save time without compromising the quality:

  • Since the back of the lantern isn’t visible on the tree, and to save our fingers from possible hot glue burns, we used basic Scotch tape to hold the stars together. We can’t speak to how these will hold up over time, but for now they feel very secure!
  • Rather than wire the lanterns to the string of lights, we placed the lanterns on an already decorated tree. We were better able to control the placement, moving them around where they looked best on our pre-lit tree. This also eliminated the need for the wire and pentagon shape attachment.
  • Equipped with only a 3-hole punch that wouldn’t reach the center of the star, we cut an “X” in the center of the star with an X-Acto knife and pushed the light through. As a bonus, this provided a tighter fit to the tree.

 

how to make a star lantern out of a manila file folder

 

If you attempt the star lanterns we would love to hear about it! Get in touch with us via email at usinfo@tab.com, or on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Happy Holidays and happy crafting!

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