Chinese New Year is just around the corner...

With CNY just around the corner, I'm sure everyone is busy doing spring cleaning, shopping & more shopping.

I did my CNY shopping thru out the year...this is to avoid the last minute rush.

As for the CNY decorative items, I can't recall if I ever buy them, as I always make them myself. Reason being, well, those over the counter decorative items are either too expensive or too common. Imagine having the same lanterns as your neighbors! LOL...

Hand make lanterns are unique, uncommon & even if you buy them, it is so unlikely you will have the same unit as most of the people.

My CNY decorative items last for years...the last time I made the decorative items for my house were 4 years ago, when we 1st shifted to our own house.

Although the decorative items are still useful, I've decided to add some new items this year...since it is my year...LOL...

Below are the item I made for my house this year:
Giant Golden Gourd x 2

According to the Chinese, the gourd is popular as a charm symbol to ward off evil spirits and disease because its first character (hulu 葫芦) has the same pronunciation as the word to "protect" or "guard" (hu 护) and also the word for "blessing" (hu 祜).
In some dialects, the Chinese word for gourd (hulu 葫 芦) sounds the same as fulu (福 禄) which means "happiness and rank (as in attaining a high government office)".

Gold color is a symbol of abundance & prosper...didn't we Chinese love gold?

I plan to hang this 2 giant gourds at the verandah, to replace my fire crackers.

Everytime I make lanterns, I will make for 3 houses, mine, my mom's & my in-laws'. Hence, I will get busy for a few days just to finish off the items. For all of the items that I made this year, it took me a week to finish, with some body aches & sore legs, but I guess the end results are rather satisfying...:)

This is what I made for my mom:
1) Mandarin Oranges basket

A little small, but I like the shape. Was wondering whether I should make this for everyone when we go house visiting. I can put all the gifts inside this basket. This can be something different rather than the usual paper bags. Hm...the problem is...I'm not sure if relatives would appreciate them as much as I do. It will be very heart broken to see it end up in the rubbish bin after CNY...what do you think?
Oh, mom puts Oranges in it since we have yet to get the Mandarin Oranges. But it still looks good. Mom puts 10 L size Oranges in it...

2) Fishes (for both my mom & in-laws)

The Chinese character for fish (yu 鱼) is pronounced the same as the Chinese character for "abundance" or "surplus" (yu 余). The fish symbol is, therefore, frequently associated with other symbols and Chinese characters to symbolize the wish for "more" in the sense of "more" good luck, good fortune, long life and children.
Usually, Chinese will put 2 fishes, as it means double of everything....we Chinese can sometimes be very 'greedy' huh...lol

3) Revolving Lanterns x 2

I never thought this can turn out so great! I was contemplating whether to make this as I felt it is too simple; but I was wrong. It is not simple at all. I finally decided to make these because my mom's house ceiling is rather low & I can't make such a big lanterns. So, this is the perfect size.

I think the choice of Ang Pow packets also make a lot of difference too. I purposely choose this ang pow packets because the flowers are almost the same as the picture on the packet...can you see?

This is what I made for my in-laws' house:
1) Big revolving lanterns x 2

This is another favorite of mine. Sometimes, you just have to make it to appreciate it! By looking at the picture, it wasn't so appealing, but when it is done...I'm abit surprise as it turned out this pretty. But this is abit big, so you need higher ceiling in order to hang it, otherwise, it won't look nice. Good thing my in-laws' house has high ceiling.

Planning to do somemore if I have time. But these are the main items that I made so far...