How to Make a Philippine Parol Christmas Ornament
In this post, I’ll show you how to craft your own Philippine parol Christmas ornament. It’s a fun craft for kids to do as they learn about different Christmas traditions around the world.
What is a parol?
A parol is a traditional Philippine Christmas lantern. Adorned with colorful and intricate designs, the parol is a symbol of the holiday season in the Philippines, representing the star that guided the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem.
We opted to create some parol ornaments for our Christmas tree this year as part of our “Christmas Around the World” unit study. It was a fun little rainy day craft that we worked on together while also making window stars to decorate our home this holiday season.
Our parol ornaments are currently hanging in our window, since we haven’t gotten our family Christmas tree yet. I took a couple quick pictures of the parol ornaments on the kids’ small Christmas tree. They’re so beautiful in the window though that I think we’ll need to make a few more so we can display them in both places!
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What supplies are needed to make a Philippine parol Christmas ornament?
Listed below are the basic supplies you’ll need to assemble the Philippine parol Christmas ornaments. You can grab the free printable sheet from the Worldwide Buddies Advent Calendar Activities page. It’s located in the Day 2 folder.
We opted to use kite paper, which is also sometimes listed as glassine or Waldorf star paper, to make our lantern ornaments bright and colorful. Kite paper is a lightweight, translucent paper that’s available in a variety of colors. Known for its durability, it can also be used to craft Waldorf window stars.
Supplies you’ll need to make Philippine parol ornaments
A quick note:
If you have younger children, I recommend cutting the ornaments out yourself and then letting your kids cut and paste the kite paper pieces to assemble each parol ornament. Elementary-age children should be able to use a ceramic blade craft knife under supervision, but you know your children best. Always take the proper safety precautions when it comes to using craft knives.
How to Make a Philippine Parol Christmas Ornament
- For a set of 4 Philippine parol ornaments, print 2 copies of the Christmas parol sheet from Worldwide Buddies onto cardstock paper. It’s located under Day 2 on their Advent calendar.
- Use a craft knife to begin cutting away different sections of each ornament. Cut the same sections from the second sheet of the Christmas parols. Be sure to use a cutting mat underneath your project for this step.
- Once you’re happy with the cut-out designs, cut out the ornaments using scissors.
- Then, paste different colors of the kite paper onto the backside of one of the ornaments. Once dry, find the other matching ornament and glue it onto the first ornament, sandwiching the kite paper in between them.
Once you’re finished pasting the ornament together, you can either punch a hole in the designated spot and hang it on your Christmas tree. Or, simply use tape or a glue dot to stick it to a bright and sunny window, allowing the light to stream through your pretty lantern ornaments!
Of course you may also choose to color the ornament as well, using colored pencils, markers, or even a light wash of watercolors. We opted to leave our first set of ornaments white to enhance the brilliance of the light streaming through the kite paper.
Want more Christmas Around the World ideas?
Check out our Christmas Around the World unit study
If you found our Philippine parol ornament tutorial inspiring and fun, help spread the holiday cheer by sharing it on Pinterest!
Your support means the world to our family, and together, we can bring the joy of festive crafting to even more families around the globe. Pin it, share it, and let’s make this holiday season merry and bright for everyone!
