Lantern Bottles with rattan

1. 7 x 25 cm long sticks are needed for each bottle (the vertically placed rattan sticks). 2.

2. The sticks are soaked in lukewarm water to make them flexible. The sticks can be left in the water for the entire working time.

3. Fix the sticks at equal intervals to the centre of the bottles with crepe tape so that they do not slip during weaving.

4. Weave the ends of the sticks together from left to right. To do this, place each pole in front of the next pole and behind the next one after that (braid pattern) until all the poles are braided together.

5. Now you can start braiding. For the weaving you will need more strands of the rattan, which are also soaked in water. Take the first strand and place it behind the first of the vertical beams, in front of the next, behind the one after that...As soon as one strand is woven in, continue working in this way with the next.

Important: Rattan is a natural material and therefore varies in length. Therefore you have to start again several times. The ends are in different places in the weave and are visually inconspicuous. When weaving, make sure that the distance between the sticks remains as even as possible.

6. After the bottles have been braided about halfway, braid the ends of the sticks as you did at the beginning.

7. Cut the leather strap so that it fits around the top and bottom of the bottle and across in between.

8. Punch holes into the leather straps. To do this, it is best to hold the ribbons against the bottle to determine the right places for the holes (the distances should be as even as possible).

9. Use round head clamps to fix the leather bands to the bottles.