Thursday, February 7, 2013

Chinese New Year Ideas & Crafts

Chinese New Year begins on Sunday, February 10th this year. Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, is the most important holiday/festival of the Chinese calendar. February 10, 2013 kicks off the year of the snake. You can read more about Chinese New Year on Wikipedia. Here is a collection of various ways you can celebrate Chinese New Year.

Red Snake Envelopes- Steph of The Silly Pearl has some great CNY printables. Download them here.
I printed out the square envelope graphics and we made them at our last Girl Scout meeting.
 

Beaded Snake Craft- In my daughter's left hand above you see the snake we created at scouts. For this craft you need pipe cleaners, pony beads, and googly eyes. I got the pipe cleaners, heart shaped beads, and eyes from Dollar Tree.
I cut red pipe cleaners into fourths. We made a loop out of one end of the pipe cleaner to create the head. Then we threaded beads before cinching off the end. We folded the piece of red over the end of the loop and twisted it to create the snake tongue. Then topped it off with glued on eyes. I loved the girls' creations!

Paper Snake Craft- Kirstin of Craftiments has this awesome snake craft made our of paper and a cardboard tube. Find the directions here.

Fabric (Valentine) Snakes- Sky from Capital B came up with this great idea that combines fabric and a felt heart to create a cute snake. Perfect with Chinese New Year & Valentine's Day in the same week! Find the directions here.

Tissue Paper Snakes- Here is a cute idea from The Mother Huddle. Find the directions here.

Books- Here is a collection of some of our favorite Chinese New Year books over the years!

Traditions-We have created a few different traditions over the years. I always get my daughter a new stuffed animal to match the new year. Most snake stuffed animals are ugly, so I ordered this one off Etsy. It arrived and my daughter is excited to get it on Sunday. It's SUPER cute!! We also have a little Christmas tree that we decorate for Chinese New Year. We create handmade zodiac animals for it each year. We have a CNY year meal, often out at a restaurant.Here are some photos from over the years.

Bentos- Here are last year's CNY bentos that I made.

Updated: Tonight we went to a Chinese New Year dinner potluck and the kids enjoyed making dumplings from scratch.
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48 comments :

  1. Nice crafty ideas, Diana. Your daughter is so cute.

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  2. Oh my goodness how cute everything is! I love the bead snakes you made with the girls and the tissue paper one from the guest artist. I actually just completed some snake projects with the grandkids, not even realizing the tie-in to the Chinese New Year.
    It's beautiful the way you promote your daughter's culture through art, literature and food. She is adorable!

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    1. Thank you for your kind comments. Her culture is our culture now, so it's important!

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  3. So much inspiration! Lovely pics of your daughter too. She's very pretty :) Thanks for stopping by my blog and taking time to leave a comment, Diana! Greetings from Australia♥ ~Pernilla

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    1. Thanks for visiting! We too think she's pretty!

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  4. Hi, Diana, I have pictures of my two girls adopted from Korea in their Korean outfits also. My husband was working for a large company and one of the workers was going to Korea on a business trip. He bought 2 darling Korean traditional outfits for the girls. It's special. Take care, Linda

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  5. Thanks for featuring my Valentine snakes, Diana! You've chosen some great ideas here! Hope you have a great weekend!

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  6. You are invited to join my new weekly link-up "Say it Two Ways Thursdays"! I would love for you to link up activities like this that teach children about other languages and cultures (especially heritage cultures, I love that). Link up at http://toddlefast.blogspot.com/search/label/Say It Two Ways Thursdays.

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  8. Diana what wonderful pics and ideas! You totally ROCK!
    xoxo SusieQTpies

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  9. Ahh mom you are so cool! What a great way to celebrate! I love the paper snake the best!

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    1. My kids don't always think I am cool, but you and I know the TRUTH!!!!

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  10. Love these great ideas Diana! Happy New Year!

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  11. I LOVE it, Diana! I love that you celebrate the Chinese New Year with your daughter. We have a very strong Chinese population here in Seattle (Chinese is the second most widely spoken language in Seattle). We took our step-son to the Dragon Fest last year in the international district (pictures: http://ngnrdgrl.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/dragon-fest/). We had so much fun watching the dragon and lion dance, kung fu demonstrations, Kabuki theater, break dancing and other dances from all over asia. I would love to add Chinese New Year to our families traditions once we start having children of our own. I love your tree and stuff animals for gifts. Thank you for sharing all these great ideas with us!

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    1. I wish we lived in a big city like that!! So much fun!

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  12. Wow, you are so creative with your bentos! And your daughter is adorable! :) love that you guys celebrate CNY with her! <3

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  13. We did a pipe cleaner and bead snake too but used a button for the head. I liked how you looped the pipe cleaner for the head, looks a little more realistic. Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas.
    Maureen
    www.strongstart.blogspot.com

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  14. Cool snakes - and those bentos are unbelievable! So much fun!!

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  15. Every year I say I'm going to celebrate and do something fun. And every year it sneaks up on me! Next year for sure. I love all these ideas!

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    1. Snuck up on me too! I was hoping to get this post up sooner!!

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  16. What fun Crafts! Thanks for linking at Show Me Your Plaid Monday's!

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  17. This post is full of great crafty ideas! Love it.

    Shannon

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  18. Thanks for dropping bynTumbleweed Contessa's What'd You Do This Weekend? The paper snake craft could be a great granddaughter project.

    Have a sweet week!

    Linda

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  19. Thanks for sharing all these fun ideas and for linking up with us at The Mother Huddle! I hope you had a Happy Chinese New Year!

    Aubrey

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    1. Thanks Aubrey! My daughter has been very excited about it all!

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  20. There are so many wonderful ideas here! I love all the paper snakes. Thanks for linking up at Family Fun Friday at http://HappyandBlessedHome.com
    Monica

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  21. Such fun ideas. I love that you keep your daughter's heritage and culture alive in this way! You seem like a great mom!

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    1. Thanks! I pride myself in being a great mom!!

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  22. Thank you for submitting this awesome project to the Crafty Showcase. I love those snakes with the pipe cleaners! Everything looks great! xoxo susie @bowdabra

    Ps- here is the newest linky! We have a new Button! http://bowdabrablog.com/2013/02/16/crafty-showcase-link-up-anything-fun-in-the-craft-project-linky/

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  23. Hi! These are great ideas!! I would love to invite you to link up at our Share It Saturday linky party. We have lots of creative ideas submitted each week and you would fit right in! http://www.sugaraunts.com/2013/02/share-it-saturday-7-and-our-week-in.html
    We also are inviting all contributors to join us on our Share It Saturday Group Pinterest page as a collaborator. It is a great way to have your posts seen by new viewers! The link for the Pinterest page is on our post. Hope to see you there!
    Colleen at Sugar Aunts

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  24. These are the kind of snakes I like. Thanks for sharing at Fluster's Creative Muster. Looking forward to seeing what you link up next week.

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  25. You are amazing Diana!!! Looks like a perfect New Year celebration!

    Thanks so much for partying at The DIY Dreamer.. From Dream To Reality! Can't wait to see what you link up tomorrow evening!!

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  26. What a neat post, thanks for sharing on Tutorial Thursdays.
    x
    Natalie
    www.marigoldsloft.blogspot.com

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  27. These are great projects for the little one. Thanks for linking up to Artsy Corner :)

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