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Lunar New Year 2023

Did you know that in some countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year, it lasts for about two weeks? Lots of businesses in China and Taiwan shut down completely during this time. This year's Lunar New Year celebrations, starting the Year of the Rabbit, will come to an end this weekend.

My MIL and my kids in 2016

San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade is pretty famous and it usually takes place at the end of the holiday. When my husband and I lived in California, we made a trip to Chinatown one year when our oldest son was a toddler to watch the parade in-person. It was a lot of fun! Since then, we make a point to try and find a broadcast of the parade online to watch as a family. This year will be no exception with the parade happening tomorrow evening, February 4th. 

My husband's family is from southern China, and these are some of the traditions that we've woven into our family. From what I have learned, these are similar among many Chinese families. 

It's tradition for folks to spend this time with their families; especially if they don't live close to them. It's considered lucky to wear red and there are lots of traditions one follows to ensure an auspicious new year. Many families do a thorough clearing of their home to sweep out any bad luck from the previous year. It's actually considered bad luck to clean your house, or cut your hair, on Lunar New Year's Day because you will sweep out any new good luck or cut your chances for a prosperous new year. 

My oldest not knowing what to do with his lucky money.

On Lunar New Year's Eve, families usually get together for a big dinner chocked full of dishes that represent positive aspirations for the new year. There is often steamed whole fish (prosperity), chicken (togetherness) or duck (loyalty), noodles (long life), and dumplings (wealth). It's not uncommon for families to come together to make dumplings for this meal. Deep fried spring rolls are also common because they look like little gold bars.

We sometimes have sweet desserts, but my in-laws have tried to teach my kids that oranges and tangerines (success & wealth) make a great dessert too. And they are luckier with the stem and leaves still attached. Some years, my mother-in-law has made sweet, deep-fried, sesame cookies called zhà má yè.    

Here’s a website that has some really wonderful Chinese recipes that are popular around the Lunar New Year.

This year my husband smoked a whole duck and my mother-in-law steamed a whole fish. We had sweet, sticky rice, that had diced char-siu (bbq pork), onions, ginger, and mushrooms. We had homemade bao (buns) to make little sandwiches with slices of the smoked duck, spring onion, and hoisin sauce; similar to Peking Duck.

Our Lunar New Year dinner this year

Of course, the part my kids most look forward to: Lucky Money! Pronounced lai see in Cantonese or hong bao in Mandarin. Traditionally children and unmarried adults receive red envelopes from parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles that contain money. Sometimes they have a "lucky" amount too. The number eight sounds very similar to "get rich" in Chinese, so it's considered a very lucky number. We've often seen dollar amounts given in eights ($8, $88, etc.).

My kids digging into their red envelopes in 2016, back when they were still cute!

My in-laws and my husband's aunts also give our kids red envelopes for their birthdays. My mother-in-law still gives my husband and me a red envelope at the Lunar New Year and on our birthdays too.

In celebration this year, I created a Lunar New Year cootie catcher. The symbolic items on there are pretty specific to many Chinese traditions. You can purchase and download a printable file from my Etsy shop.

Are you from a country that celebrates the Lunar New Year? If so, how do you traditionally celebrate? I would love to make a cootie catcher that is unique to how you celebrate. Are there different symbolic foods, items, or animals in Vietnam, Thailand, or Korea? Anywhere else? Please share!

Laura's Holiday Card - 2019

Laura’s awesome holiday cards are always creative and they never disappoint; and this year was no exception. I also need to give her family credit for being so enthusiastic about these fun holiday cards.

She took photos of everyone in the family separately and I pieced them together in Photoshop. I LOVE how it turned out. The comic book theme with the text totally meshed with the silliness of the photo.

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And how about a zoom in on those joyriding kids, freaked out parents, and a terrified pug!

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Thanks so much Laura and a very Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Click here to see all of the fun holiday cards I’ve done for Laura and her family.

Jaxon's 6th Birthday

Jaxon had an awesome garbage truck themed party for this 6th birthday. His mommy JoAnna and I worked on some fun printed items for his big day. We started with basic green garbage trucks because they are pretty common, but then Jaxon asked his mom to ask me to change them to red, because that’s what the garbage trucks look like in his neighborhood.

Custom invitation:

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After the invitations were printed and sent, Jaxon had another request for the red garbage truck: could I add the grabbing-arm that is on the side of the trucks. So I made it holding the number six for the favor labels, welcome sign, and t-shirt graphic.

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I LOVE the mini trash can favors!!

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T-shirt graphic:

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Happy, happy birthday Jaxon!!

Laura's Holiday Card - 2018

Laura’s family welcomed a new puppy in 2018, so she brainstormed some fun ways to include their new pug in their holiday card. Their holiday cards have always been out-of-the-ordinary and loads of fun, so that somewhat became the theme for the card; introducing Mr. Bean into the family… that way he knows what he’s getting into.

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Using Photoshop, I created a bulletin board and added all of the holiday cards the Kaschak family has sent in the last eight years. I’m proud that six of them were from me! If you search through my blog, you can see each of the ones Laura and I worked on together. Then Mr. Bean and the kids were added in front. The kids are holding their favorites from over the years.

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The back of the card had a beautiful photo of Laura’s kids and a simple greeting. Such a fun card to work on, thanks Laura!!

Check out all of the fun holiday cards Laura and I have worked on together.

Laura's Holiday Card - 2015

Laura’s holiday cards are so much fun to work on and always so creative. In 2015 she put in most of the work getting her family to pose for such a fun photo in different stages so she could put them together in Photoshop. I helped out a little with cleaning up in a few spots and then I added her photo to a background, added some faux scotch tape and the text.

I really love how it turned out.

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I’m sure any parent has felt this way at some point during the winter holiday season, hahah!

Check out all of the fun holiday cards Laura and I have worked on together.