"This 'lil light of mine..."

Another unique "first" I can add to my list of "I never did this until I came to Japan" is lantern-making.

I participated in a special craft time with my san-nensei class (9th grade) students at Okawame Jr. High School last month. We made lanterns out of clay for the star festival, which I wrote about last time.

First, each student received a clay pot...

The two guys doing the peace sign are two of my most "genki" (outgoing) students: Dai in the front, and Shin behind him.

Next, we could choose different shapes to trace onto our lantern....

I went with a moon and star theme, since that seemed appropriate. :)

Then we used a tool to cut out the shapes we had traced...

Nice work, Maria! {I actually stole her idea of trimming the top like that.} By the way, Maria is one of the girls who did a homestay at my house in January.

I love her star cut-outs!

My finished product...

Close-up shot of my lantern, before being fired.

I had a lot of fun being crafty with my students, and I love that I now have a handmade lantern for decoration in my apartment!

Sidenote: You've probably heard in the news about the recent typhoon and earthquake on this side of the world. While I wasn't affected by either one--other than experiencing rain on Sunday and Monday, which may or may not have been a result of the typhoon--my heart and prayers go out to the people who were.