In the making of Atapattam - Part 2

If you missed Part 1 click here.

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So last time I wrapped the story when it came to the side frills right? Technique wise there's no difference in making these frills but the only difference comes in how you paste them. The frills at the bottom wraps around the frame while the side frills stick to the joints of the squares (on each 4 sides).. as you see below..


Well.. this one shows some odd colors cause this pic was taken at night, with a candle lit inside.


Want to know how I fixed the candle? Well the package (easy-to-fix lantern frame) I bought off the shop didn't have a plastic strip to hold the candle, so I had to come up with a solution.

I took one of my old plastic rulers and taped it to the bottom frame using PVC tape (adhesive ones). And then tried fixing a candle on it but.. the candle won't remain steady. Then I looked for an old oil paper bucket, cut off a strip from its cardboard bottom which had a candle holder.

Placed a candle on the holder and taped the candle to the cardboard strip. Next took this lil gizmo and placed it on the ruler (that was now fixed to the bottom of the frame). It was really tough to tape the candle holder and the cardboard strip to the ruler without breaking the fragile tissue paper decor wrapping the lantern.

It didn't come out that neat but at least the candle was really steady and didn't even budge. And the result.. is as you see below..


It was really tough adding this candle stand to the lantern so I left it out for the 2nd lantern. =D


Oh and talking about colors.. I think I made a wee mistake last time about colors. Actually I didn't realize it until I saw these photos again.. and it turned out that for the 1st atapattama I used not just one color but 3 colors to wrap it up!


Let me sum it up again.

Atapattama # 1
Covered with: white and yellow squares, orange triangles
Paper cuts: red
Frills (bottom): indigo and pink
Frills (sides): indigo and pink
Frame borders: yellow

The frame border decor is actually necessary to cover up the messy overlapping of pasted tissue paper on the edges. With paappa (the home made glue) you can never get any neat edges. What's more the lanterns they show on TV always had really cool decor to cover these borders (a frilly decor) but I didn't know how to make it either. So I used yellow strips of paper (to compensate with red, white and orange combo) and made tiny slits on both sides keeping small gaps between. And simply pasted them along the borders.. like this..


Even though the borders look neat with those centipede-like-decor, I couldn't get the paper cut neat here. You can see blots of paappa (pinkish blots) on the red paper cut right? =D  Working with paappa is never an easy task.


It took me 1.5 days to complete the 1st atapattama. And this is how it looked when hanged along with other decor.




Since I was tired to the max I thought of postponing the decoration of 2nd frame for Poson! (you know it's another special festival that comes in June) Well.. mom felt sorry for the empty frame (the 2nd frame) that was sitting around with no decor and so she insisted that I should decorate it as well.

But.. there was hardly enough time.. as it was Wesak already! Still I thought of working on it the next day. And guess what happened? While I was half way through with the 2nd frame decorations, my uncle (mom's youngest brother), his wife and eldest daughter visited us. They stared at me, then at the half done frame, again at me and back at the frame and fired the question... almost chorusing..

"Are you going to hang it up for Poson?!!! O__O *which means in June, since Wesak comes in May!*

Well.. there went my pride blown to smithereens with a flashy kaboom!.. I was so embarrassed but couldn't stop laughing at the same time. hehe.. Geez.. my folks.. don't they ever know how to appreciate someone's earnest efforts. Oh well.. but they did commend me for the neat paper cuts (those perforated ones)..  but that was like after 5- 10 minutes of teasing! lol

*ahem* So coming back to the 2nd frame.. the process was exactly the same as the 1st atapattama.. but thanks to the previous experience it didn't take me that long to finish the 2nd one. The 1st and the 2nd lanterns had a few differences though. With the colors I used, the paper cut designs, and the frame border decor.

So if I sum it up..

Atapattama #2
Covered with: white squares and triangles (made of oil paper instead of tissue paper)
Paper cuts: dark green and indigo in perforated style
Frills (bottom): pale yellow and white
Frills (sides): red and orange
Frame borders: red (the frilly style!)

*if you check the color combo here, it is totally wacky and not only two-toned but multi-toned..! But when it was completed it didn't look that weird, least to me* =D

And yep, finally I mastered *to some extent* the frilly style for the frame borders. Well that was a lucky chance, cause they showed a program on TV that covered a Wesak lantern contest. And I caught a glimpse of one of the contestants working on the very decoration of the frame borders! Yep, that cool frilly style. All he did was slide a long strip of paper along the frame border, and made frilly waves.. just like that.

My first two attempts made a mess and then I realized I was doing it wrong. Instead of applying paappa on the strip of paper I realized I should apply it on the frame border. And tada..! it was so easy to make those frilly designs just as seen on TV! =D

So.. finally I was able to hang the 2nd lantern beside the 1st one. And now my story comes to an end. *phew*

Don't worry I won't wrap it up without showing the final result. =D

So here you go.. my own Wesak decor!



See the lantern on the right with fading pink frills? The glaring sun seems to have bleached the color in a matter of 2 days!



Add a bit of strong wind and you get this!





By the way those paper chains you see are the festoon chains (made of multicolored tissue papers) I was talking about last time. They are the easiest to make. The paper buckets and paper flags and small frills were from last Wesak, so it saved me the trouble of doing more decor.

Call me stingy and lazy if you want.. =P but.. I was dead tired after decorating 2 lanterns and the chains so I was left with no energy to do anymore decor. =D

Come to think of it, I seriously can't imagine how they make those humongous lanterns (more than 10ft high) with dozens of offspring lanterns, using the toughest kinds of materials. I truly admire their commitment and patience. ^__^

Too bad I missed those lantern contests in Kandy last time but my endeavor in capturing the cream of Lankan artistry will never end.. just from that. As for proof, you'll see a couple of pics (in thumbnail) already in the 'Random Picks' column (on the right panel). You'll get to see them in their original size in my future posts. ^__^