[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 (51–60)
Kagami mochi
What kind of kagami mochi do you usually display? Originally, kagami mochi refers to two freshly pounded rice cakes stacked on top of each other with a mandarin orange placed on top.
However, in recent years, plastic kagami mochi that can be displayed repeatedly and versions featuring character designs have also been sold.
So, how about making your own kagami mochi with a design you like? You’ll use origami paper, and by assembling it like a papercraft to give it a three-dimensional finish, you can create one with unique colors.
Kadomatsu
Let’s make a New Year’s kadomatsu using an empty snack box! The key is to choose an empty box with a certain height.
First, wrap twine around the cut box.
Trim any unnecessary parts, secure with a hot glue gun, and set a paper base inside the box.
Next, craft bamboo, ornamental cabbage, and nandina using copy paper or tissue paper.
Finally, arrange the pieces you made on the base, and you’re done.
It’s also a great idea to prepare a larger box and create the piece together with friends or members at your facility!
Daruma
Daruma dolls are beloved as symbols of the New Year, aren’t they? How about making a gently rocking daruma using a paper plate and construction paper? They make lovely decorations for a room or for a New Year’s party.
It’s an easy craft—just cut the construction paper and stick it onto the paper plate—so it’s perfect to enjoy with older adults.
There are plenty of chances to show your creativity, like drawing expressive faces or choosing your favorite colors! The process also helps improve concentration, which can support dementia prevention.
Let’s have fun making them together and fill them with our New Year’s wishes.
They’re sure to bring good luck your way.
Hanging ornaments
How about a hanging ornament themed on the yakko-san and the paper crane—origami designs that almost everyone has folded before? Nostalgic origami is perfect for recreation in senior facilities! While reminiscing about childhood days when we folded yakko kites and paper cranes, let’s all enjoy making them together.
Adding faces to the yakko kites and including fans, silk cocoons, or plum blossoms will take it up a notch! Working together to decorate for the New Year’s party will surely deepen everyone’s bonds.
[For Seniors] Brighten Up Your New Year’s Party: A Collection of Handmade Decoration Ideas (61–70)
Hamaya
Around New Year’s, many households display hamaya.
For those unfamiliar, a hamaya is a wall decoration modeled after an arrow that you can buy at shrines, and it’s believed to ward off bad luck.
Of course, purchasing one is fine, but making your own is fun, too.
Use paper straws for the arrow shaft, and recreate the other parts with construction paper or origami paper.
If you’d like to raise the quality a bit more, you could arrange the design so it looks like an ema (votive plaque) is hanging from the arrow.
Shimenawa made with kraft paper and origami
Shimenawa are a classic New Year’s decoration, believed to welcome the toshigami (New Year deity) and ward off evil.
This craft recreates a shimenawa using kraft paper, finishing it with a festive New Year’s look.
The key step is making the rope: twist the kraft paper tightly so it resembles a real rope.
Form it into a loop and tie it to create the base.
Then decorate it with Japanese-patterned and gold origami to give it a luxurious, New Year-inspired appearance.
The rope itself holds important meaning, so it’s best to arrange the decorations with some open spaces that let the rope remain visible.
pine
How about using pine decorations for the New Year’s party? Pine has long been cherished as a symbol of health and longevity.
Making pine needles from tissue paper and assembling the trunk with pipe cleaners serves as good hand rehabilitation.
In the process of creating uniquely expressive pine trees, the experience and wisdom of older adults can truly shine.
Once the finished pines are displayed on the wall, you’ll have a lovely space to celebrate the New Year.
The activity will spark conversation and make for an enjoyable time.
With hopes for the coming year, try making pine decorations together!