Chinese New Year Blog Hop

Click here for SVG Attic DT Monday

Ni hao and welcome to the Chines New Year Blog Hop!  This hop is in honor of Guan, the little boy April's family is adopting from Taiwan.  To celebrate his culture, we want to share some Chinese-inspired projects with you!

• If you arrived here from Amy's blog then you are in the right place!  If you just joined us, please go back to April's blog at www.curlsandgrins.blogspot.com to see everyone's amazing creativity!

  We have some great blog candy to offer from April Nourse and PSA Essentials.  To be eligible, you must simply comment on each blog on each day's post.  We'd love for you to become a follower of each of our blogs too.
  

  *************************

 Gung Hay Fat Choy means "Best wishes and Congratulations

Welcome back to our celebration. Yesterday I showed how we decorated and the food we prepare and eat but today I will continue our celebration.

When we are done eating, everyone is given a fortune cookie to open, read their fortune and eat.

Here is some Wikipedia history of the fortune cookie...Fortune cookies are often served as a dessert in Chinese restaurants in the United States and some other countries, but are absent in China. The exact provenance of fortune cookies is unclear, though various immigrant groups in California claim to have popularized them in the early 20th century, basing their recipe on a traditional Japanese cracker. Fortune cookies have been summarized as being "introduced by the Japanese, popularized by the Chinese, but ultimately ... consumed by Americans."

 Once the cookies have been consumed, the elder, which was me because daddy was away on business, hands out red envelopes called hong bao or lai see to the children. Each pack has money in it, usually a dollar at our house. The red envelope represents good luck. The amount of money should end in an even number to bring good luck but should never have a four in it such as 40 cents because the number 4's pronunciation is similar to the word pronunciation for death.

 I used Inkscape to make the red envelopes for the children and the children saw what I was making and asked if they could decorate them. The lines and stars represent firecrackers being lit off.

 Finally, we end the night by handing out candy filled poppers. It's illegal to light off fireworks in Tucson so we stick to the poppers. I used the New Years Party file from SVG attic to make my poppers.

Then the children and I curl up in a chair to read a book dealing with something Chinese. The kid's favorite book is "The Seven Chinese Sisters."

Since it is the Year of the Dragon, I had to make this card because I love this stamp and have been wanting to use it since I bought it from a friend.

Last bit of info...The Drangon Dance is done to bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year.

Thank you so much for celebrating with us this year. I love to have company visit and share in our traditions and it's always fun to break out of the mold and share a tradition that is of another culture.

Hugs from Lorby's World

• Thanks for stopping by!  Your next stop is Shannon.
  
  
• April - http://curlsandgrins.blogspot.com
• Lynne K. - http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/
• Ashley - http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com/
• Amy - http://www.lovetocrop.com/
• Jearise - http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com/
• Shannon - http://www.purplelionpaper.com/blog
• Inga - http://mommahobbit.blogspot.com/
• Maria - http://www.mdcraftcorner.blogspot.com/
• Janet- http://www.createatdreamscrapbooks.blogspot.com/
• Dena -  http://missdjones.blogspot.com/
• Jennifer - http://jenrubio.blogspot.com/
• Theresa- http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/
• Ellen - http://cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com/
• PSA Essentials - www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com/