Leaping Kangaroos

Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 10:20 PM

Dong dong qiang is just a few days away. Every Chinese's home has been decorated with anything red for sure as it symbolises prosperity and wealth. Anyway, after going out for a walk with Snoopy and my sister this morning, we decided to make more CNY decorations using ang paos. I cut out the Chinese word 春 and made an ornament out of it.

Pronounced as chun; means spring in Chinese.

I've seen many decorations using that Chinese character as normally CNY occurs during the spring season in China... I think. I guess it symbolises the crossing over from the old year to the new one? I'm not so sure about the history behind it but that word seems to hold an auspicious meaning. It's my first time making that 春 ornament and boy, was it hard! But I have succeeded (after two tries), HAHAHA. Victory is mine! So, I shall teach you guys how to make the perfect 春. I mean, if you're interested, that is. No pressure.

To start off, you'll need :

● Ang paos
● A ready made 春 cutout
● Scissors
● Glue
● A sharp pencil (mechanical pencil will be better)
● Needle
● Red thread

1. Take an ang pao and fold it into half.

Like this.

2. Take the ready made 春 cutout and trace around its shape on your folded ang pao.

This is what you should get. Notice the tracing.

3. Now, cut out the shape of the Chinese character you've traced on your ang pao.

Tadaa! You'll get this! :D

Now, you can leave it at that and sticky-tack it on walls/doors/television corners OR you can continue on to make the perfect 春 ornament to hang it on your CNY tree (IDK what's that plant called o_o) or door handles.

4. You'll need another copy of the 春 character in order to make the ornament.

But remember, do not use the ready made 春 cutout as you'll need to trace around it again if you wanna make more 春 characters. So, trace out a new copy of it.

5. Place and adjust the two 春s together at an angle.

6. Paste both of them together at their sides...

...and trim off any extra edges.

7. Bend it lightly at the sides to give it a 3D effect.

8. Using the needle and the red thread, make a loop above the 春 character so that you can hang it anywhere you want.

And there you have it! :D Your very own 春 ornament for your CNY tree!

Yay! So proud of myself, TROLOLOL.

It's quite time consuming and tedious but you can make loads of it to decorate anywhere you like! It really gives a pure CNY spirit to your home. :) Of course, don't forget to clean up the mess you've made...

Ang pao scraps everywhere... Dammit. -_-

Anyway, I'll be visiting my relatives in Malacca tomorrow and I'll be gone for two days. Happy Chinese New Year to everyone and to those who aren't celebrating CNY, happy holidays! :]

The best of luck in making your very own version of a perfect 春!

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