[For Seniors] Brighten Up Your New Year’s Party: A Collection of Handmade Decoration Ideas
Why not brighten the joy of welcoming the New Year with festive decorations? New Year’s party décor lifts everyone’s spirits and builds excitement for the year ahead.
From lucky charms like daruma dolls and ema plaques to motifs that evoke traditional Japanese elegance—such as camellia blossoms and the lion dance—you can easily create warm, handmade decorations using origami or craft paper.
There are also plenty of exciting ideas like oversized kagami mochi or a torii gate entrance.
Working together with your hands naturally sparks conversation and brings out smiles.
When all the heartfelt intentions behind each piece come together, your New Year’s gathering is sure to be unforgettable.
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[For Seniors] Brighten Up Your New Year’s Party: A Collection of Handmade Decoration Ideas (41–50)
paper fan
Paper fans are often used at glamorous parties and photo booths.
Their petal-like, spreading pattern is beautiful and brightens up the atmosphere.
This version is made by accordion-folding origami paper, gluing the ends together, and opening it into a circle.
It’s easy to customize by changing the paper size or pattern.
Besides origami, using washi paper can evoke a sense of nostalgia for older adults.
Try making a variety of paper fans to match different decorative themes, whether Japanese or Western!
Seven Lucky Gods origami
The Seven Lucky Gods are said to be a group formed by deities from various religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, and Taoism.
They’re like the Avengers of gods! In fact, there are countries and regions that recognize Eight Lucky Gods.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to fold the Seven Lucky Gods with origami? If you’re enjoying a craft activity at a senior facility, it might be fun for seven people to split up and each make one of the gods.
You can find tons of knowledge and information about origami on professional origami websites and hobbyist videos.
Find designs that are easy to make and give it a try!
first sunrise of the year
A New Year’s decoration themed around the first sunrise of the year, which symbolizes the dawn of the new year.
It features a beautiful natural scene with Mount Fuji, the sun, and clouds.
If you’re making it with origami, it’s recommended to create each part separately and assemble them at the end.
It can be used for a wide range of items such as wreaths, ema plaques, and message boards.
It’s also great for older adults to work together on a bold, large-scale piece.
Create a bright, festive decoration that everyone can use to celebrate the start of the year together.
Nandina (heavenly bamboo)
Nandina is a plant that bears red berries in winter and is often used as a lucky New Year’s decoration.
This is a decoration inspired by nandina, made using beads and other materials.
The main materials are beads and wire: attach the beads to the wire to represent the berries and stems.
Then paint the beads red, finishing them with a glossy red using varnish or similar so they look like real nandina.
Finally, bundle them with craft tape and attach the leaves to complete the piece.
The more berries you add, the more luxurious and realistic it will look, so it’s highly recommended.
Ema plaques with Japanese-style origami
Ema plaques, which carry wishes for how you want the New Year to be, are an indispensable decoration for the first shrine visit of the year.
Let’s make personalized ema that capture each person’s hopes by incorporating vibrant Japanese-style origami.
First, create a pentagon with origami paper, then glue it onto a slightly larger piece of construction paper and cut around it to make a sturdy base.
Next, attach a space in the center for writing your wish, add decorations like string or mizuhiki, write your wish, and it’s done.
You can express your originality through the choice of patterned origami and the construction paper for the border, as well as how you decorate it.
Zodiac ornament
Decorations featuring the zodiac animal of the year are an essential part of New Year’s celebrations, aren’t they? This is a simple mascot made with origami, inspired by those zodiac animals.
You fold the animal’s face and the kimono separately, then combine them at the end.
It’s fun to think of different variations, such as which patterned origami to use for the kimono and what kind of expression to draw.
A traditional Japanese-style kimono is a classic choice for creating a New Year’s atmosphere, but adding any designs that come to mind could be interesting too.
Plum blossoms on a folding fan
We’d like to introduce a decoration featuring a very festive fan adorned with plum blossoms, perfect for the New Year season.
Fold the origami in half so it becomes an accordion fold, open it, then fold toward the guideline, then fold that in half again—continuing to make fine creases.
Take two sheets folded into alternating accordion pleats, place them together, and bind them about 4 centimeters up from the bottom with gold wire.
Trim the corners at both the top and bottom to make them rounded for an even lovelier finish.
Try arranging mizuhiki cords and plum blossoms in your own unique way.
We recommend using two colors of origami or choosing colors that evoke the New Year!
