Gony Xi Fachi! Chinese Happy New Year Craft

Chinese New Year is the most revered of all Asian holidays. The New Year is ushered in by fifteen days of celebration which includes visits to kin, special food, monetary gifts, and parades. The first celebration to take place is the New Years Eve dinner held at the senior most family members place of residence. Money is given, in red envelopes called Chinese Happy New Year cards or red packets, from the married elders in the family to the unmarried youth in the family. Other celebrations take place on days two through fourteen where family members visit one another or abstain from visiting with one another out of respect. The commencement of the New Year celebration is a lantern parade through the streets of the cities and villages. The lanterns symbolize lights to help the lost souls find their way. Many decorations for the parade are homemade or purchased in preparation for the parade. One such decoration you might see at a parade is a homemade parade gong, embellished with gold couplets (Chinese symbols usually signifying -happiness, luck and prospeity) cut from Chinese Happy New Year Cards.

To make your own parade gong you will need:

2 6" diameter paper or cardboard bowls (with white bottoms)
1 18" long by 1/2" diameter wooden dowel or bamboo
6 yards of 1/2" wide shiny red ribbon
1 red tassel
2 Chinese Happy New Year Card envelopes
Red crayon
Hot glue gun
8 dried red kidney beans
Stapler
1 red rubber band

Step 1: Color the bottom sides of both of the bowls red with the crayon.
Step 2: Hot glue the tassel to the bowl by placing the hanger loop on the lip of the bowl tassel hanging over the outside lip of the bowl.
Step 3: Cut a nine inch length of red ribbon, lay it on the lip of the bowl on the exact opposite side from the tassel, allowing longest length to hang out of the bowl, staple in place.
Step 4: Place 8 red kidney beans in bowl that has had the tassel and ribbon attached.
Step 5: Add a bead of hot glue all the way around the rim of the bowl that doesn't have anything attached to it. Place the bowl as quickly as possible rim-to-rim with the bowl that has the tassel and ribbon attached to, and hold tightly in place while the hot glue cools.
Step 6: Take remaining ribbon and hot glue one end in place starting at the top of the dowl, begin wrapping around the dowel until the entire dowel is covered, hot glue bottom of ribbon in place and cut off excess ribbon.
Step 7: Take the ribbon portion stick ing out from between the two bowl rims and wrap one inch length around the top of the ribbon coverd dowel, hot glue in place. This attachs the dowel to the gong. Wrap the red rubber band around this top portion of the ribbon and dowel for extra security when shaking.
Step 8: Cut out Chinese couplets from the Chinese Happy New Year Cards and hot glue onto each side of gong.

The color red and the banging sound from the gong will chase away evil spirits and bring good luck to the crafter and parade participant. Happy New Year! Gony Xi Fachi!