Garden Window - Chinese New Year

Hey There:

One of the many things I love about my new apartment is the Garden Window. I've been adding different decorations according to the season and I'll be posting my garden window decorating ideas as the months go by. For the month of January I wasn't sure what to do as a motif since everything white and wintery doesn't really go with Southern California weather, so I decided to go for Chinese New Year which will be celebrated on January 23rd with the Dragon as the animal sign.

I had to be creative since decorations are not easily available in crafts stores like Michael's, searching on the web this is what I came up with.

Dragons:

This was done from a Google image search, found a Chinese New Year dragon mask I liked, printed it and attached it to a "body" made from red stock paper.

This dragon came from a www.CraftJr.com where they have a very easy Dragon Paper Craft with a printable template ready to be colored. It was very fun to make!

Chinese Lanterns:

I followed the instructions from www.EnchantedLearning.com in this case there's no template, just easy-to-do steps using scrapbooking paper to make the lanterns. I know they look a bit off, but I printed a small sign referencing the Chinese New Year just in case my neighbors wondered what the hell I was going for with the decorations.

Chinese souvenirs:

I have several Chinese items that I bought in Hong Kong or where brought to me as souvenirs from friends. I used to have this very cute little purse, but gave it to my niece. I also have a beautiful traditional dress bought in Hong Kong about 25 lbs ago, maybe next year I'll add it to the display.

And here's the final result, not too flashy but I think it still captures the spirit of the Chinese New Year.