For Seniors: Wishing for Good Health — Handmade Setsubun Decoration Ideas
This time, we’re sharing handmade Setsubun decoration ideas for older adults.
Since Setsubun is a traditional event passed down through the ages, many of you have probably celebrated it before.
Setsubun marks the division between winter and spring.
People pray to “stay healthy for the year,” eat ehomaki to ward off misfortune, and throw beans to drive away evil.
When making Setsubun crafts, put your heart into wishing for good health, and have fun creating them together—chatting and laughing—with everyone at the nursing home or day service.
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- [Day Service] Setsubun decorations that bring smiles. Ideas for enjoying them with a variety of materials.
- [For Seniors] February Wall Decorations: Setsubun-Themed! Fun Ideas with Oni Demons and Ehomaki Sushi Rolls
- [For Seniors] Liven Up Setsubun Crafts! Handmade Ideas Using a Variety of Materials
- [For Day Service Centers] February Craft Ideas: Decorations for Setsubun, Valentine’s Day, and the Feeling of Spring
- [For Seniors] Recommended Wall Decorations and Crafts for January
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- For Seniors: Simple and Lovely Crafts – A Collection of Take-Home Project Ideas for Day Service
- [Day Service] Excited for Hinamatsuri! Craft ideas to brighten up your room
- For Seniors: Wall Decorations to Brighten Up February — Festive Ideas for Setsubun, Valentine’s Day, Plum Blossoms, and More
- For Seniors: Auspicious Handmade Zodiac Ornament Craft Ideas
[For Seniors] Wishing for Good Health: Handmade Setsubun Decoration Ideas (1–10)
Origami: holly sardine
Hiiragi-Iwashi is a traditional decoration made by skewering a sardine head onto a holly branch.
During Setsubun, which marks the changing of the seasons, it’s believed that demons can easily slip into our homes.
To ward them off, people have long displayed Hiiragi-Iwashi at their entrances.
Gathering the materials to make a real one can be quite difficult, so let’s try crafting one with origami instead! Make the sardine head, holly leaves, and stem separately, then combine them at the end—it’s simple.
This is especially recommended if you want a Setsubun decoration that’s a little different.
paper-cup ogre
A wall decoration of oni made with paper cups has a distinctly Setsubun feel and lets you enjoy the season.
Just create parts like the face and horns, then attach them to a paper cup covered with torn-and-pasted origami paper to make a cute oni.
Since there are many moments when you’ll use scissors and other tools, please be careful with your hands as you work.
If you also make beans for bean-throwing, this craft is not only a wall decoration but can also be enjoyed by using the oni as a target for mamemaki.
Highly recommended!
Setsubun garland
Originally referring to wreaths or flower crowns given as a sign of honor or victory, garlands are now popular as interior decorations made by connecting ornaments with string or wire.
If you make oni (demons) or Otafuku (the traditional smiling face) out of origami, link them with string, and hang them up, your room will instantly take on a Setsubun atmosphere.
By drawing original faces on the finished origami, you can create unique decorations that can only be seen in that particular place.
It’s a recommended craft activity that makes you look forward to Setsubun from the moment you start making it.
[For Seniors] Wishing for Good Health: Handmade Setsubun Decoration Ideas (11–20)
Crepe-paper Ehomaki
Handling real food can be tricky from a hygiene standpoint, but you still want kids to experience making ehomaki! In that case, we recommend making ehomaki using tissue paper.
It’s super easy—just roll and glue.
On a sheet of paper standing in for the nori, arrange crumpled tissue paper in colors that match the fillings, like white for vinegared rice and yellow for egg.
Once everything’s on, roll it up tightly to encase the fillings and glue the end to seal.
Cut it so the cross-section looks neat, arrange the pieces on a plate, and you’re done!
Oni made of chirimen fabric
Just by cutting and sticking chirimen fabric, you can make an adorable little oni ornament! Pre-cut pieces of chirimen for the oni’s body, hair, and shorts.
Then use double-sided tape to attach the cut fabric to an egg-shaped Styrofoam ball, smoothing to avoid wrinkles, trim any excess, and finish by adding small decorations like the eyes, mouth, and patterns on the shorts.
No sewing or risky cutting required! If you use leftover fabric scraps, you can create a colorful, stylish oni with a different vibe from the traditional Japanese chirimen look.
Wall Decoration: Bean-Throwing (Setsubun)
Do you know why beans are placed in a masu box? Masu have long been considered auspicious, sacred vessels used to hold offerings to the gods, which is why they also came to be used for Setsubun to ward off evil spirits.
A wall decoration featuring beans in a masu is perfect for Setsubun, when we drive away demons and invite good fortune! Make the side and top parts of the masu for holding the beans and glue them together, then attach construction paper cut into bean shapes so they mound up as if overflowing from the box.
Finally, add the character “福” (good fortune) to the side, and you’re done! Let’s all make one and get into the Setsubun spirit.
An oni eating an ehomaki sushi roll
It’s a bit sad that ogres get chased away every year.
In that case, how about making this year’s wall decoration a unique ogre with an ehomaki instead of a scary-faced one? Cut a paper cup and paint the bottom—which will become the ogre’s mouth—red.
After attaching parts like hair, horns, and eyes, fold the red-painted cup bottom in half and add fangs so they’re visible.
Then simply glue it onto a backing sheet along with the ehomaki made by rolling paper and the ogre’s body parts, and you’re done! The three-dimensional look lets you recreate the moment of adding the ehomaki in a realistic and fun way.