Handmade Chinese New Year Cards

Handmade Chinese New Year cards are a tradition families have enjoyed for many years. Chinese New Year is a time for to reconnect with family, share a delicious meal, celebrate the change of the year, and settle as well as establish many arrangements in life. Handmade Chinese New Year cards can be simple or very complex, from the painted traditional characters to complex paper cutting or origami based cards. Making Handmade Chinese New Year cards can be a fun and addictive way of ringing in the New Year.

A Word About the Color Red

The most traditional color to use when making Handmade Chinese New Year cards is red. The color red symbolizes many things, but most Chinese point out a story from mythology of a monster named NIAN (Year) who threatened to destroy and eat everything the people needed to survive, but he was afraid of the color red. Red is the color the envelopes for Hong Bao (fung bao, ang pow), which is a monetary gift given to immediate family and friends. It is usually appropriate to make red Handmade Chinese New Year Cards but some choose other colors. Preference is entirely up to you.

Themes

Chinese New Year has several themes that you see commonly. Firecrackers, a girl and boy child, Hong Bao, Flowers and goldfish, Chinese Lion Dragon, Lucky Symbols in gold writing, and the various animals of the New Year are always common Handmade Chinese New Year Cards themes to name a few. Here are a few types of Handmade Chinese New Year Cards:

Traditional symbols Handmade Chinese New Year Cards

The traditional symbols of Chinese New Year are symbols of luck, prosperity, health, and happiness. Typically the symbols are painted in gold paint on red posters or red scrolls and hung in the home. Children will enjoy making Handmade Chinese New Year Cards with the simple Chinese blessings. Either learn a little bit of calligraphy or print symbols and cut them out to glue them to the card. Another option is to send red paper through a printer and paint over the printed symbols with a gold paint marker. Using fancy-cut scissors, trim the edges of the card for a beautifully ornate look.

Year Animals Handmade Chinese New Year Cards

There are several ways of including the animals of the New Year into your Handmade Chinese New Year Cards. Purchase themed stickers symbolizing the animal at a party supply store and create a collage or use foam animal shapes to glue to the exterior of the card. For an added festive touch, select specific Chinese New Year animals appropriate for the year and add them to the card in the form of animal confetti. The animals of Chinese New Year are as follows: 2009 Ox, 2010 Tiger, 2011 Hare or Rabbit, 2012 Dragon, 2013 Snake, 2014 Horse, 2015 Sheep, 2016 Monkey, 2017 Cock or Rooster, 2018 Dog, and 2019 Pig, and 2020 Rat. Creating Handmade Chinese New Year Cards is easier for the artist who might simply draw the card. Children might enjoy drawing the animal of the Chinese New Year as well or coloring printable Chinese New Year images from Apples4theteacher.com and gluing them to cards.

Fireworks Handmade Chinese New Year Cards

A wonderful Handmade Chinese New Year Cards Craft is that of the Fireworks card made from one of two fireworks craft ideas. Start with a black piece of construction paper. With a compass, draw various sizes of circles on different pieces of construction paper. With a punch, punch a hole in the center of the circle. Then, cut the circle into tiny strips by cutting toward the center of the circle. Be careful to put the circle back in place before you glue it down. Re-assemble the circle on the black paper, but spread the strips farther apart, creating a larger design. Overlap colors to give a real fireworks look. Add a pleasant greeting in gold paint marker. You can also create realistic fireworks cards using glitter, glue, and black construction paper.

Origami Handmade Chinese New Year Cards

Choose an origami pattern for either a goldfish, flower, or one of the Chinese New Year animals in Origami like those at the origami-resource-center.com. Glue the completed animal to the card, or draw a cartoon version of the animal on the outside and include the animal on the inside of the card. For an added affect, go over the creases of the animal in gold paint marker before gluing or inserting.

Papercutting Handmade Chinese New Year Cards

Paper cutting is a traditional Chinese handcraft. To make a good paper cutting, you can learn from a book about Chinese paper cutting, or you can try to learn about Chinese paper cutting and paper cut freehand. Be warned, paper cutting can become addictive, and you may use it more than just for handmade Chinese New Year cards!

Chinese Knot Handmade Chinese New Year Cards

Chinese Knot tying is a tradition that has been around for ages. There are many great sites with tutorials for knots to include in your handmade Chinese New Year Cards, but the best way to learn is to be taught by a friend who knows the craft. The knots can be used as decoration for the edge of the card, or be the highlight of the main card itself like a Chinese Button Knot. Be sure to include a friendly greeting.

Handmade Chinese New Year Cards are wonderful. Not only to they add to the festive feel of the Chinese New Year Holiday, they also show the recipient that you truly care. Have a happy, safe, and prosperous Chinese New Year!