Handmade decorations for Hinamatsuri. Ideas for decorations to celebrate the Peach Festival.
Also known as the Peach Festival, Hinamatsuri is a traditional Japanese event celebrated on March 3, when people display Hina dolls to pray for girls’ health and growth.
While it’s customary to set up a full Hina doll set, some people may feel, “I want to display Hina dolls, but I don’t have any.”
In this article, we’ve gathered ideas for handmade items to decorate for Hinamatsuri.
We’ll introduce classics like Hina dolls, as well as items displayed alongside them, such as hishimochi (layered rice cakes) and temari balls.
Enjoy making handmade Hinamatsuri decorations that let you have fun with sewing and crafting.
Handmade decorations for Hinamatsuri. Ideas for decorations to celebrate the Peach Festival (1–10)
Chirimen Hina Dolls
These are Hina dolls made with chirimen fabric that has a distinctive crimped texture called “shibo.” If you want to create slightly elaborate handmade Hina dolls, give this a try.
You’ll make the head using black-and-white fabric and cotton swabs, and for the body you’ll sew the chirimen fabric while forming pleats, so some sewing skills are required.
If you’d prefer to craft your own rather than buy ready-made, or if you’re good at handicrafts, get some cute red and blue chirimen fabric and give it a go.
Let’s make your very own one-of-a-kind Hina dolls!
paper lantern (especially small decorative festival lantern)
The “bonbori” lanterns, which also appear at the beginning of the children’s song Happy Hinamatsuri, are a type of small andon: a lighting fixture with a candle set in a lamp base enclosed by paper.
Hina dolls recreate an Edo-period imperial wedding, and bonbori were essential items used to illuminate ceremonies held at night.
Let’s try making these bonbori by hand using construction paper, chopsticks, and cardboard.
With its many steps and careful handiwork, it’s perfect for enjoying a craft project.
And because of the detailed work involved, you’ll end up with high-quality bonbori.
Hina decorations made with 100-yen store items
This is a Hina doll hanging decoration you can make with a round empty box (like a cheese box) and items from a 100-yen shop.
First, remove the bottom of the empty box, turn it into a ring, and firmly apply masking tape to both the front and back.
Next, use an awl to make a hole at the very top of the ring and thread a string through it for hanging.
Then make two holes at the top area and two at the bottom area, thread strings through them, and attach Hina dolls made from round stickers by sticking the front and back pieces together.
Feel free to add your favorite decorations using transparent origami paper, beads, and more!
Tsumami-zaiku Hina Dolls
How about making some cute, rounded Hina dolls using tsumami-zaiku? You can do it with items from the 100-yen shop like Styrofoam balls and decorative tape.
A plastic bottle cap works well as the base.
First, place a piece of chirimen fabric over a circular double-sided tape cutout, leave it a bit larger, trim the edge, and use glue to secure it along the circle.
Fold square pieces of fabric, shape them into petals with glue, and attach them to the base.
For the dolls’ faces, cover spherical Styrofoam with light peach-colored fabric, then use tweezers to attach the eyes, crowns, and other details.
The gentle expressions of the Empress (Ohina-sama) and Emperor (Odairi-sama) are so heartwarming.
[Felt] Hina Dolls
![[Felt] Hina Dolls](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p_5ybYRWVso/sddefault.jpg)
This is a rabbit-themed Hina doll decoration you can make with felt using a hot glue gun—no sewing required.
For the dolls’ faces, use felt balls.
Prepare two colors, pink and white, and glue the two balls together vertically.
The top will be the face; for the bottom, wrap layers of pink-toned felt around it to form the kimono.
Pinch the base of the ears to give them a three-dimensional shape.
For the safety eyes (button eyes), first mark where you’ll place them, make small holes, and press them in.
Add small accessories like hishimochi (diamond-shaped rice cakes), peach blossoms, and bonbori lanterns to make it even cuter.
Tsurushi-bina (hanging Hina dolls)
This is a tsurushi-bina (hanging Hina) with cute round-form decorations like balls and temari.
You can easily make it using items from 100-yen shops, such as chirimen-style adhesive fabric, spherical foam pieces, and kimekomi-style foam parts.
First, apply fabric around the foam balls, trying to avoid wrinkles as much as possible.
Apply your chosen fabric to the temari as well.
After roughly attaching larger pieces of fabric, carefully finish the four visible sections with precisely sized pieces.
For the shippo-mari (seven-treasure pattern ball), prepare leaf-shaped and half-moon-shaped templates and sew on the fabric.
Feel free to use favorite vintage fabrics to create decorations full of originality!
hishi mochi (diamond-shaped layered rice cake)
Hishimochi, a stack of diamond-shaped red, green, and white rice cakes, is one of the essentials for Hinamatsuri.
Each color carries various wishes, such as warding off evil and longevity.
You can make your own using materials from a 100-yen shop, so give it a try.
Cut slightly thick styrofoam into diamond shapes, paint them in the three colors, and stack them.
Make a black stand as well to give it a realistic finish.
It should look more festive than displaying just the Hina dolls alone.
Japanese-style wreath
A glamorous Japanese-style wreath made with fabric features Japanese-patterned cloth as the key point.
For the base, use a willow wreath from a 100-yen shop and green foliage like goldcrest, which you often see during the Christmas season.
First, cut the foliage and attach it to the wreath.
For the flowers, use larger blooms in different colors, such as dahlias and spider chrysanthemums, and smaller ones like snowballs and hydrangeas, using only the heads by removing or cutting them.
The best part is that, despite involving no complicated steps—basically just cutting, inserting, and gluing with a hot glue gun—you can achieve a luxurious look.
folding fan
A glamorous, glittering fan is essential for hina doll displays.
You can make one with origami, so give it a try! Prepare floral-patterned or gold origami paper.
With the patterned side facing inward, make vertical creases to divide the paper into eight equal sections.
Then fold it in half with the back side out, and layer the folds to form a fan shape.
Finally, fold it in half from the center and glue it together—your origami fan is complete.
The folding method isn’t too complicated, so it’s a great activity to try with children!
temari (Japanese handball/embroidered decorative ball)
Temari balls have long been loved as toys for girls and are now cherished as handicrafts as well.
They also carry parents’ wishes for their children’s healthy growth and a happy life, making them perfect for Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day).
Traditionally, making a temari involves a complex process: wrapping thread around a core many times and then adding patterns with stitching.
However, you can easily make one by attaching cute patterned fabric or washi paper to a Styrofoam sphere available at 100-yen shops.
Give it a try and create temari balls in a variety of patterns!