January 31st 2014 marks the start of the Chinese New Year! An ancient family celebration to honor elders and ancestors, rid bad spirits and welcome good fortune is now a popular party theme–whether you descend from those regions or just enjoy the idea of gathering with friends for an evening of festivity! Each year of the Chinese calendar is represented by an animal in 12 year cycles…2014 is the year of the horse…so you can have fun creating a celebration with traditional Chinese decorations as well as the animal representing the year! Make it a family affair and invite all ages to experience the excitement of something new!
the year of the horse…
simple plastic ponies are given a coat of gold paint!
cute in favor boxes or topping little cakes!
(you can keep the horses from touching the icing by sliding the feet into plastic birthday candle holders or clear straws and bury them in the icing…and we always recommend working with non toxic, food safe products)
gather simple supplies and have some fun!
tiny chalk tag clips label some festive treats…
easy & simple serving pieces…
white soup bowls look grand sitting on cake stands…
an empty frame sitting on top of of black poster board–
a great way to highlight & label the food…
chalk…quick & easy!
simple globes grace the window…
kids and adults will love the treat table…full of sweets, festive trinkets and fortune!
red ribbon in strips adds color to the table
while tissue paper and gold stickers make an easy backdrop…
the year of the horse is represented on cakes with those little gold ponies and red Giggle Glitter cupcake liners!
yummy!
this holiday is also celebrated by giving gifts of money to family or smaller gestures to friends, mainly consisting of sweets–these favors were designed with this tradition in mind…
tiny “to go” boxes filled with chocolate coins, candies & trinkets…
plain brown card stock cut into the shape of–what else?…a horse…
any celebration is better with flowers…keep it simple and fill tiny cups with value blooms…
