Chinese New Year decorations often look the same each year. We see decorations such as spring couplets, or the Chinese character ‘Fu’ on walls.
While these do brighten up the house, here’s how you can add a twist to the usual favourites to begin the year anew and have fun doing it.
Mini Chai Seng Ye
A fun activity to do with kids, this mini Chai Seng Ye, or God of Fortune, is sure to bring happiness into the home. The materials needed are just two red packets, a coin and a marker pen to draw on the face. Once done, these can be used as wall decor, slipped into greeting cards or placed on a table.
Elegant flower centrepiece
To dress up the tabletop, make an elegant centrepiece using flowers. Place red, pink or orange flowers in a long cylindrical jar and fill it up with water. A floating candle can be placed in the jar and lit during dinners for some ambient lighting.
Chinese New Year wreath
Don’t keep your Christmas wreaths just yet. The wreaths can be easily modified into a Chinese New Year decoration using fake flowers and some red packets. There are classes and online tutorials to craft a simple one of your own too!
Lanterns
Lanterns come in various shapes and sizes. The lanterns can also be spruced up with a trail of flowers. These will look good hung up in a corner of the house or in a stretch along the wall. You can even style them up by hanging the lanterns at different heights.
Red packet rat
Since it’s the Year of the Rat, it’s only right to feature this small creature somewhere in the house. This DIY rat helps you use up extra red packets. All you need is three red packets to make the body and use the leftovers to make body parts. The other items needed are googly eyes and a black pipe cleaner to make the nose. The paper rat can be tucked in between leaves of plants, or as a toy for young children.
Koi fish
Fish symbolise an abundance of wealth and success in the Chinese custom. Since rearing fishes isn’t possible for everyone, making a few cute fishes out of paper will suffice. These paper fishes can be used as wall decor, and even as the centrepiece on the table.
