10+ Crafts for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is coming up on January 25th, and these fun crafts are perfect for creating with the kids to celebrate in style!

We love Chinese New Year because it happens in the winter, and it gives us something to celebrate and learn about at a pretty dull time of the year for us. My husband is down because I will naturally make something awesome for dinner like egg rolls or peanut butter chicken over fried rice.

This list has something for everyone; literally! From the cute and easy paper fortune cookie to a stunning mason jar lantern; there is something for every skill level in this collection! I can't wait to hear which is your favorite craft!

Mason Jar Lanterns by Mod Podge Rocks
Chinese New Year Tangrams by My Craftily Ever After
Paper Plate Chinese Lanterns by In the Playroom
Rooster Craft by Crafts n Coffee
Egg Carton Dragons by Happiness is Homemade
Homemade Chinese Gong by Kid World Citizen
Chinese Take Out Box Craft by Create Craft Love
Chinese New Year Shakers by In the Playroom
Chinese Dragon Puppets by Crafts n Coffee
Paper Fortune Cookies by Mad in Crafts

If you have a fun idea for Chinese New Year, I hope you will leave a comment to share it!

You might also like this paper fortune cookie craft.

Easy Ways to Improve Your Family's Diet in the New Year

Feeding a family is tough. You might have fussy eaters and busy schedules to attend with. It can be
hard to find time to cook at all, and it’s always tempting to stick to the same meals that you know
everyone enjoys and you can prepare quickly. But this isn’t always good for your diet. 

Even if most of your meals are healthy, eating the same things all of the time reduces the nutrients in
your diet. It can also increase fussiness, and the chances of your children at some point, developing an
unhealthy relationship with food. If you are worried about your family's eating habits, making
improvements doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, there are plenty of easy ways to make positive
changes. Here’s a look at some of them. 

Cook from Scratch

Credit - CC0 Licence

As busy parents, it’s easy to buy ready-made meals, and easy to cook jars of sauce. But, these meals
are often filled with salt, sugar and preservatives. They are rarely as healthy as you’d like. Cooking
meals from scratch means that you know what you are eating, your diet is free from processed foods
and preservatives, and that you’ve got an easy way to add some extra vegetables and nutrients. 

Introduce New Ingredients

Cooking new meals, and introducing new ingredients can be daunting. Learn how to make fresh
pickled okra and other fresh foods that you might not have tried before. Look online for new meal ideas,
and if you see something new, whether an ingredient, meal or snack, while you shop, give it a go.
Introducing new foods and flavors doesn’t have to mean changing your whole diet, it can be adding bits
here and then when you see something that appeals to you. 

l,

Eat as a Family

Eating as a family is one of the best things that you can do when it comes to improving your diets and
relationships with food. Commit to eating meals together as much as possible, leaving phones and other
devices in another room. If possible, eat around a table, without other distractions. Cooking as a family,
and getting your kids involved in the process can also help. 

Prepare Healthy Snacks

Credit - CC0 Licence

Snacking is often where even families that spend time cooking healthy meals fall down. When we’re
busy, it’s all too tempting to reach for a quick snack, instead of preparing something fresh. But, these
snacks are often unhealthy and filled with sugar. Keep ready chopped crudités, fruit salads, yogurts
and other healthy snacks prepared and ready to grab. 

Think About Your Family

All of us have different habits. If you want to improve your family's diet, you need to first look at what is wrong with it. Do you eat together? Do you rush breakfast? Do you eat on the go a lot? Is there too much salt or sugar in your diet? Do you eat chips most days? Look at your diet, and write a list of things that you could do to improve — focusing on small, sustainable changes, and fun experiments with new things.

Design Your Own Play Doh Ornaments

Kids of all ages are sure to love this Design Your Own Play Doh Ornaments project. It is perfect for holiday crafting and turns out so cute everyone will love to display these!

I am crazy for all things play doh, so naturally I had to make something for Christmas from my favorite craft material. These ornaments are so easy! They will have you saying, who knew you could not only draw on play doh but you can bake it too?!

This post contains affiliate links. Making a purchase means I will earn a small advertising fee, at no cost to you.

These easy ornaments give kids a chance to design their own addition to the Christmas tree! Made with basic supplies this is the perfect project to do with the kids for minimal mess this holiday. 

You can make your own white play doh, like in my super soft play dough recipe, just leave the food color out, or to make this activity really easy during a generally already packed holiday season, just buy cans of white play doh.

To make these design your own play doh ornaments you will need
Supplies
white play doh
washable markers
cookie cutters
bakers twine
A pen or stick to poke a hole with

Directions

Roll the play doh out to be about 1/8" thick.

With your cookie cutter of choice cut shapes of doh.

Poke a hole in each ornament so that it can be hung after completion. I used an ink pen to make my holes.

Use washable markers to draw on the designs.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Allow to cool.

Thread bakers twine through the hole and display on your tree.

Find all of my Christmas crafts here
Reader favorites include:
Button Tree Ornaments
Mickey Mouse Jingle Bell Ornaments

My Favorite Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Christmas is near and that means it is time to get your ugly sweaters out and wear them with pride! 

This year is the first year in the history of my marriage that my husband is excited about cold weather, because he has the coolest ugly sweater of them all to rock for the holidays!

Ugly Sweaters for the holidays come in all shapes, sizes and degrees of horrible. From the standard bells and snowman variety to awesome cat lady displays and a glimpse at galaxies far away.

Here are some of my favorite Ugly Sweaters to Make this Holiday Season.

Christmas Mantle Ugly Sweater by Lovely Etc
Purr-fect Ugly Sweater Style T Shirt by The Crafty Blog Stalker
Photo Ugly Sweater by A Girl and a Glue Gun
DIY Star Wars Ugly Christmas Sweater by Clever Pink Pirate
Santa Baby Maternity Ugly Sweater by Swoodson Says
Rudolph Ugly Sweater for Kids by One Artsy Mama
Meowy Christmas Ugly Sweater by Crafting in the Rain
Gaudy Ugly Sweater by Clever Pink Pirate
Kitty Christmas Ugly Sweater by Laura's Crafty Life
Ho Ho Ho Ugly Sweater by Joyful Scribblings

We LOVE the winter holidays! I have so many fun ideas to share with you!

Find all of the Christmas Fun here

My favorites include:

Mickey Mouse Jingle Bell Ornaments

Kid Made Button Tree Ornaments

Do you rock an ugly sweater during the holidays? Tell me about it in a comment!

Reclaimed Farmhouse Joy Sign

This farmhouse joy sign was made entirely from reclaimed materials to add a festive touch to your home.

I have been making a ton of things with pallets. From creepy Halloween signs, wooden black cats and even some fun pallet Christmas trees that I am going to share with you soon. I knew exactly what I wanted to make the last time I tore apart some pallets. Rustic and charming farmhouse holiday signs.

These reclaimed farmhouse joy signs are so easy to make.  They add a festive touch to your space or are perfect for gifting. Plus, they are so budget friendly you can make dozens for a dollar!

This is a really easy project. Gather some supplies, finding inspiration in trash.

Supplies for one sign

One pallet board section

One pop tab

One screw

One penny nail

Glue

One Christmas Bauble

Paint

Paint Brush

Screwdriver

Hammer

I cut one pallet board into 4 smaller boards, just big enough to proclaim my message, Joy.

I pulled tabs off of empty soda cans for my method of hanging.

Line up the soda tab so that it is even with the board. 

Place the screw in the small hole and tighten.

In the center of the other side of the board, place the penny nail. Drive it in half way.

Paint the board in the color of your choice. 

After the board is dry, place a Christmas bauble over the nail. Add a bead of glue to secure and allow to dry.

Use stencils, or with another color of paint, freehand  your letters J and Y. Allow to dry.

Now you can display your Joy sign, or share it with a friend this holiday season.

In the mood for more creative projects?
Check out some of my favorites here:
Ribbon Tree OrnamentsBarbie Serving TrayButton Tree Ornaments