Chinese New Year crafts crafts handmade Kids crafts tutorial

Chinese New Year tea light holder

Chinese new year tea light

We’ve been thinking about Chinese New Year lately. 2014 is all about the Chinese New Year of the Horse but animal crafts don’t seem to be our speciality, so far. Instead we opted for some simple Chinese New Year tea light holders.

We collected some old (clean!) glass jars from the recycling bin, a bottle of PVA glue, paint brush and red tissue paper which I cut into small squares. I had to google why red is associated with Chinese New Year, apparently the colour red, which corresponds with fire, symbolizes good fortune and joy.

Then my son got to work, first covering a jar with a liberal amount of glue, and covering it in the red tissue paper. We made a couple as this is a really quick craft activity.

easy Chinese New Year tea light holder

We left them to dry for an hour before he added some colourful stars. Then I popped in a tea light and we sat back to admire the warm glow.

 

Chinese new year tea light

There are some lovely crafts for Chinese New Year. If you’re looking for some inspiration why not take a look at these: dragons from toilet rolls, firecracker decorations, a Chinese fan, dragons for a puppet show,  more dragon shadow puppets, or candy cane horses.

37 Comments

  • Reply
    maggy, red ted art
    January 9, 2014 at 11:23 am

    Oh my, that is so sweet!

    • Reply
      jenny
      January 9, 2014 at 11:25 am

      Thanks, it looks so pretty for such a simple craft.

  • Reply
    Ruth
    January 9, 2014 at 11:35 am

    What a lovely idea. Simply love all candles and candle holders.

  • Reply
    Candy Cane Horse for Chinese Year of the HorseDomestic Goddesque
    January 9, 2014 at 11:52 am

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  • Reply
    Eileen Teo
    January 9, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    They look so pretty!

  • Reply
    Mum of One
    January 9, 2014 at 12:43 pm

    Very sweet and so simple! Love it!

  • Reply
    natalie
    January 9, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    what a lovely idea, will do this with the kids

  • Reply
    Aly
    January 9, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    Oh I bet they look pretty lit at night!

  • Reply
    Liz Burton
    January 9, 2014 at 2:24 pm

    That’s so effective!

  • Reply
    Mums do travel
    January 9, 2014 at 2:30 pm

    What a lovely, simple idea. The finished one looks really pretty.

  • Reply
    Janie
    January 9, 2014 at 3:28 pm

    Very cool & effective. I bet the kids were chuffed with themselves.

  • Reply
    Charly Dove
    January 9, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    That’s such a lovely idea. Looks really pretty and easy to make too (famous last words!)

  • Reply
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    January 9, 2014 at 4:35 pm

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  • Reply
    Hellie's Corner
    January 9, 2014 at 4:42 pm

    So simple and looks great 🙂

  • Reply
    Fritha Strickland
    January 9, 2014 at 5:41 pm

    aww this is so sweet! so simple but so beautiful! x

  • Reply
    Kirsty
    January 9, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    Red is a lucky colour in Chinese culture and on Chinese New Year you give money to family, friends and employees in a red envelope and even wear red. I always find this so interesting as in the West red has negative connotations (danger, fire, anger) but it is a joyful colour and the Chinese use it for celebrations. Lovely craft x

  • Reply
    Keri-Anne
    January 9, 2014 at 6:41 pm

    What a great diy! My girls would love to make this x

  • Reply
    Lori
    January 9, 2014 at 6:45 pm

    A lovely idea, I’ll definitely try this with F x

  • Reply
    anna
    January 9, 2014 at 7:15 pm

    thats lovely! makes me wish we had kept some of our spare jars to craft with

  • Reply
    Cass@frugalfamily
    January 9, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    That looks fab – I’ve just pinned it to remind me to come back to it 😉

    Thanks for sharing x

  • Reply
    Shell Louise
    January 9, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    They look lovely, my girls would love making them 🙂

  • Reply
    Kara
    January 9, 2014 at 8:56 pm

    What a fab and simple idea!

  • Reply
    Amanda
    January 9, 2014 at 9:04 pm

    This is so sweet! What a lovely way to celebrate!

  • Reply
    Emily @amummytoo
    January 10, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    That looks great! Really effective and simple enough for the little ones to make. Pinned 🙂

  • Reply
    Pinkoddy
    January 10, 2014 at 5:02 pm

    Lovely idea and so simple.

  • Reply
    suzanne3childrenandit
    January 10, 2014 at 6:43 pm

    What a lovely idea and so easy to make!

  • Reply
    liska
    January 10, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    Oh I love Chinese New Year
    xx
    P.S. Soon: “Xin Nian Kuai Le!”

  • Reply
    KidGLloves
    January 13, 2014 at 10:26 am

    What a fab idea. These look awesome. Thanks for linking up to #minicreations

  • Reply
    The Funster
    January 13, 2014 at 6:13 pm

    Jenny
    What a cool idea! My two daughters would love this! Simple and easy to make and useful too! Thank you for a great post!

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