Tag Archives: Paper Arts

Last updated by suzlipman at January 30, 2016.

Happy Chinese New Year: Celebrate the Year of the Monkey with Crafts, Recipes and Fun

Posted on January 28, 2016 | 1 comment

Chinese New Year is celebrated on February 8th this year, and marks the beginning of the Chinese year 4714. The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar calendar, with the new year beginning on the darkest day of the month. New years celebrations often go as many as two weeks, until the next full moon. And a celebratory holiday it is, with red decorations, good-luck gifts of oranges and money, parades with dragon dances and firecrackers, and special foods.

Learn about Chinese Lunar New Year parades in San Francisco, Chicago and New York, as well as Chinese New Year activities around the world.

This year is the Year of the Monkey. See a Chinese zodiac calendar. Try one of these fun Chinese New Year activities:

Fingerprint Monkey Card from Crafty Morning

Year of the Monkey Papercut Printable from Craft Kids

Chinese Good Luck Ornament from Sand in My Toes

Paper dragon from Teach Kids Art

Paper Plate drums from Crafts and Art for Children

Kid-friendly Honey Prawns from Kidspot

Homemade fortune cookies from The Spiffy Cookie

Felt fortune cookies from Martha Stewart

Fruit roll-up fortune cookies from Recipe by Photo

Noisemakers from Slow Family Online

Make these easy paper lanterns

This is probably the classic Chinese New Year craft. It’s easy and satisfying. I made these as a kid and, of course, with my daughter.

You’ll need:

Construction paper
Scissors
Tape
Glitter or other decorations, as desired.

Fold a piece of paper in half length-wise.

Beginning at the fold, cut out approx. 4 very skinny triangles that go halfway up the folded section of paper.

Unfold the paper and curl together so that the two shortest ends of the paper meet and the cuts run vertically. (The cuts should now each result in a “diamond” shape.)

The paper lantern activity is adapted from Fed Up with Frenzy: Slow Parenting in a Fast-Moving World, which contains 300+ activities for family fun.

Lantern photo: Planetforward.ca

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Posted in Butter and Egg, Celebrations, Community, Crafts, Field Trip, Holidays, Recipes, Seasons

Tagged Baking with Kids, Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year Food, Chinese New Year Parade, Chinese New Years Crafts, Chinese Traditions, Cooking with Kids, Crafts, Kids Crafts, Lunar Calendar, Lunar New Year, Monkey Crafts, Paper Arts, Paper Crafts, Year of the Monkey

Happy Chinese New Year: Celebrate the Year of the Horse with Crafts, Recipes and Fun

Posted on January 25, 2014 | 3 comments

Chinese New Year is celebrated on January 31 this year, and marks the beginning of the Chinese year 4712. The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar calendar, with the new year beginning on the darkest day of the month. New years celebrations often go as many as two weeks, until the next full moon. And a celebratory holiday it is, with red decorations, good-luck gifts of oranges and money, parades with dragon dances and firecrackers, and special foods.

This year is the Year of the Horse. See a Chinese zodiac calendar. Try one of these fun Chinese New Year activities:

Year of the Horse paper cutting from Craftiments

Write and paint a Chinese horse character from Artchoo

Paper dragon from Teach Kids Art

Paper Plate drums from Crafts and Art for Children

Homemade fortune cookies from The Spiffy Cookie

Felt fortune cookies from Martha Stewart

Fruit roll-up fortune cookies from Recipe by Photo

Noisemakers from Slow Family Online

Make these easy paper lanterns

This is probably the classic Chinese New Year craft. It’s easy and satisfying. I made these as a kid and, of course, with my daughter.

You’ll need:

Construction paper
Scissors
Tape
Glitter or other decorations, as desired.

Fold a piece of paper in half length-wise.

Beginning at the fold, cut out approx. 4 very skinny triangles that go halfway up the folded section of paper.

Unfold the paper and curl together so that the two shortest ends of the paper meet and the cuts run vertically. (The cuts should now each result in a “diamond” shape.)

The paper lantern activity is adapted from Fed Up with Frenzy: Slow Parenting in a Fast-Moving World, which contains 300+ activities for family fun.

A version of this post originally appeared on Bookboard.

Lantern photo: Planetforward.ca

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Posted in Celebrations, Crafts, Holidays, Recipes

Tagged Chinese New Year, Chinese New Years Crafts, Chinese Traditions, Crafts, Fortune Cookie Recipe, Kids Crafts, Lunar Calendar, Paper Arts, Paper Crafts

How to Make: Fun and Easy Homemade Valentines

Posted on February 12, 2011 | 8 comments

Since Roman times, people have celebrated a mid-February festival — once called Lupercalia and celebrating fertility, the holiday was changed by Pope Gelasius in 496 A.D. into a Christian feast day in honor of the Roman martyr Saint Valentine. Today, 25% of all cards sent in the U.S. per year are valentines.

And why not? In addition to proclaiming love, valentines can be lovely, bright, traditional, and endless in variety. As such, they make a wonderful craft for children, who can easily decorate large paper hearts with simple things found in grocery and craft stores and around your house.

You’ll need:

Construction paper in classic Valentine colors (red, pink, purple) — or not!

At least one good heart-shaped template, made of cardboard, that you can trace around to make valentine hearts. (Sometimes these can be found in craft stores.)

Scissors, regular and/or pinking edged

Glue, traditional and stick

Paper doilies that are slightly larger than the heart-shape

To decorate your valentine hearts, choose from:

Smaller doilies, either whole or cut
Commercial valentines, either whole or cut
Stickers (old-fashioned valentine or floral themes, or any of your choosing)
Small pom poms
Ribbon pieces
Small paper cups for candies or baked goods (available at specialty or grocery stores)
Small paper hearts
Feathers
Buttons
Beads
Tissue paper shreds
Crinkle cut paper
Pipe cleaners
Party napkins, whole or cut up
Felt hearts
Foam hearts and other shapes
Fabric scraps
Crepe paper pieces
Glitter
Markers, to write messages
Paint

The list is endless! We collect valentine items from year to year and store them away when not in use. Most of these things are available in craft and similar stores. Younger children, especially, seem to like the really tactile items like pom poms, feathers and candy cups.

It’s easy to host a small or large group to make valentines. Try putting each item in its own small bowl. Or have guests dress up or wear hats for a Valentines Tea that includes mini sandwiches and juice or tea in teacups. (Second-hand stores are a good source of old teacups.)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman

Thank a Teacher with a Book or Other Gift

Posted on June 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

The end of the school year is again upon us. In the flurry of activities for the students, it’s always good to take a moment and thank the teachers who give so very much of their wisdom and their time throughout the year.

The middle school my daughter attends has a wonderful tradition I wanted to pass on. At the annual school Book Fair in Spring, teachers are invited to take a look around before its opening and create wish lists of books. Each teacher/book combination is written on a library due date card and filed in a pocket, which is mounted with the others on a board.

Parents can attend the fair and shop for their teachers, in what is the ultimate win-win situation: Teachers receive some books they want, just in time for Summer; parents know they are choosing a wanted gift; and, in our case, some proceeds from the book fair go to the school. (The card is a nice touch, as it serves to remind the giver which book is intended for each teacher.) These needn’t be high-end gifts. Most teachers requested books under $10 in their mixes.

Anna’s elementary school also provided a gift wrapping service, which was also a fundraiser for a specific class. The children in that class had hand-stamped and decorated the wrapping paper, as well.

Most people don’t have a lot of money to spend on teacher gifts, especially as children get older and have multiple teachers. We’ve given teachers homemade soap and jam, thinking that those are both things we’re able to make at home that someone would really use and appreciate. For certain teachers, homemade, personal art pieces or cards are very meaningful. If you don’t want to give a teacher another “thing”, gift cards are always welcome.

And if you really want to think outside the box, you might consider making a donation to a charity in a teacher’s name. Justgive.org is a fantastic organization that lets you do just that. Minimum donations are $10. There is a wide variety of organizations at the site, which is very easy to navigate and explore. Many are relevant to education, and some would apply to a teacher’s passion, as well. Let your child help pick the gift to learn more about helping others, and the kinds of groups that are available to do so.

Happy Summer to all, especially our hard-working teachers.

Photo by Susan Sachs Lipman

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Lost Arts: Bookmaking

Posted on March 30, 2009 | 2 comments

Our family recently took a wonderful class in Bookmaking, with Eva Shoshany at W.I.G.T. Printing in Mill Valley. Eva supplied the cardboard forms, lots of recycled papers for covering them, ribbons and comb bindings to bind them, pages for the insides, and tons of ideas and inspiration from her and her business and life partner, Barry Toranto, and from their wonderful print shop, which churns out posters, brochures, business cards and more from a Tudor-style storefront in Mill Valley.

Here’s Eva, getting us started:

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