Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
Many Chinese believe that fish attracts the chi/good energy that brings good luck, abundance and prosperity (年年有余 Nian Nian You Yu – an abundant and surplus-filled year after year)! The number 9 in feng shui principles is the most auspicious and complete number. Hence in many Chinese paintings, pictures, ponds or aquariums, you will find nine fishes in it. In feng shui, they believe that eight fishes should be red or golden and one should be black (which symbolizes strength).
Earlier this year, I made a multitude of hong bao lanterns – do check out my Chinese New Year Pinterest board for inspiration. This latest hong bao mini lantern is quite unique as you are using wooden skewers to make the frame of the lantern instead of using sticky tape or staples to construct it.
For this mini lantern, I have used small rectangle hong baos (approx. 7.5 cm by 11.5 cm). The material of this hong bao is quite stiff so I didn’t need to insert any additional card to keep the shape.
If you can’t find it, make it yourself. This is one of my mottos in life. Many times, I have found it hard to buy accessories online to decorate my ang bao lanterns or my ang bao crafts. As these low value ang bao accessories are not worth listing individually online, many are sold in night markets, especially in Singapore Chinatown or Asian craft shops. If you live in a country as we do in the UK, we can’t even find them in any local Chinese supermarkets.
In the past, lanterns were used to provide light. They are also used for decoration, especially in the form of celebration and worship. This new year, I have made a lot of ang bao lanterns – do check out my Chinese New Year Pinterest board inspiration.
Today, I am going to show you the step-by-step instructions to make these cute ang bao mini lanterns! You can use it as an ornament for your plants or thread the mini lanterns in a roll to make a banner. There are many ways to make use of mini lanterns.
新年快乐, 祝你吉祥如意。Happy New Year and wishing you a prosperous year and may all your dreams come true. Let’s use ang baos to make a ‘Ji’/吉 word to bring good luck to your home! Ji or 吉 as a Chinese character means good luck.
“Tong Tong Chiang, Tong Tong Chiang, Tong Tong Chiang Tong Tong, Tong Tong Chiang.” Whenever this Chinese song 恭喜发财 is played on the radio, you know that we are going to celebrate Chinese New Year soon!
Going back to ancient Chinese New Year history, the nian monster would come out of its hiding place to feed on people and animals. To prevent this from happening, the villagers used firecrackers and fireworks to scare the monster away. They also believe that firecrackers and fireworks are used to drive away evil.
Running out of ang pows (red envelope/red packet) to decorate your home? Try this paper cutting flower to decorate your home this coming Lunar New Year! This is a very easy craft to follow and great for younger children to do.
Wishing you all an abundant and surplus-filled year after year (年年有余 Nian Nian You Yu)! This is a commonly used expression we use to greet each other during the Chinese New year. 年 in Chinese means year and 余 (surplus) shares the same pronunciation with 鱼 (fish). Hence this ang pow fish lantern will surely bring wealth into your home! Come and try it out!
Want your home to shine like a star? Why not hang a few ang pow star lanterns around your home to impress your family and friends this coming Chinese New Year 2023! Chinese people love to decorate their homes with red lanterns during the Chinese New Year celebration as they symbolize wealth, fame and prosperity. It’s also to frighten away evil spirits.
Want to send some love to your loved ones? Then come and make this ang pow heart lantern this Chinese New Year to show your appreciation! They can also be used for decorations for weddings! Just use wedding-themed ang pows instead.
Looking to make a uniquely shaped ang pow lantern? Try out this cute long ang pow lantern. It is so easy to make. This long ang pow lantern display measures approximately 31 cm by 25 cm, not including the length of the Chinese knot tassel at the bottom or the red string on top. The rating of difficulty is 1.5 out of 5, which should take roughly 45 minutes to complete. Do check out my Chinese New Year Pinterest board for more inspiration.
Ong lai! Ong lai! Did you know that the pineapple is known as ong lai in the Hokkien dialect? It also means prosperity comes/brings wealth! This is why we Chinese love to display pineapple ornaments throughout the house/workplace in the hope that it will bring their family/business lots of good fortune for the Chinese New Year.
Many years back, I wrote a blog post about Chinese New Year wall decoration and showcased a few examples. This coming Year of Water Rabbit 2023, instead of buying ready-made wall decorations, why not make your very own ang pow wreath? I will show you the step-by-step with photo illustrations and hope you like it.
This is a Chinese New Year lotus ang pow lantern. Have you made yours yet? If you have not, why not check out my Chinese New Year craft section for more inspiration? Today we are making this lotus ang pow lantern to decorate your home. This lantern is quite big (approximately 23 – 26 cm by 26 cm) and heavy as I have used 30 ang pows to make it.
Love a cube? Then why not come and make this unique cube ang pow lantern decoration for this coming Chinese New Year – The Year of Water Rabbit 2023! This is another easy craft to make and is suitable for older children. This also makes a great opportunity to learn about our Chinese New Year wall decoration and how we celebrate.
