[For Seniors] January Craft Ideas: Boost Your Luck with New Year Decorations and Good-Luck Charms

origami: horse ema (votive plaque)

[Origami Original] Ema Charm Edition — Horse, Year of the Horse, 2026, origami, New Year’s card, the Twelve Zodiac Animals, single sheet, horse

Here’s an idea for making an ema (votive plaque) from a single sheet of origami paper.

The creasing step is important for this one: you’ll cut along those crease lines with scissors and keep folding from there.

The steps for folding the horse are quite detailed, so having some tools on hand might help.

Also, if you use 15 cm origami paper, the finished piece will be quite small, so we recommend using a larger sheet.

Write your wish on the white part of the ema and hang it up with a string.

Use brown-toned origami paper for this project.

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Making Kadomatsu out of construction paper

Preschool & Kindergarten: Kadomatsu Craft Ideas for New Year’s DIY

This craft project is appealing for its simplicity—you can make it almost entirely with construction paper.

Without any special materials, just by cutting, rolling, layering, and gluing colored paper, you can create a surprisingly authentic kadomatsu.

Preparation is easy, so it’s perfect for recreational activities or at-home craft time, and anyone can try it casually, which is a big plus.

The making process is fun and hands-on, and once you display the finished piece, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment and growing excitement for the New Year.

It’s a highly recommended seasonal craft.

Kadomatsu wall decoration

[Craft] Kadomatsu Wall Decoration #dayservice #daycare #daycareforolderadults #dayrehab #caregiving #seniors #easycraft #craftactivity #kadomatsu #walldecoration #NewYear #craft

A New Year décor classic! Here’s how to make a kadomatsu wall decoration.

First, cover a cork coaster (the base) with chirimen fabric.

Next, glue washi-patterned origami and mizuhiki onto a strip of cardstock, roll it into a tube to form the kadomatsu base.

Wrap green origami around a straw and cut the tips diagonally to make green bamboo, accordion-fold origami to create a fan, and skewer decorative balls onto craft wire to represent mochi blossoms and nandina berries.

Make a “Geeshun” (Happy New Year) tag by sandwiching a toothpick between paper, then arrange everything neatly on the base.

For the mochi blossoms, nandina, and New Year tag, insert a piece of foam into the base and stick them in.

Finally, glue the kadomatsu onto the base, attach a hanging cord, and you’re done!

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[No-Sew] Handmade Kadomatsu Decoration with Felt

[No-Sew] Handmade Kadomatsu decoration with felt #felt #NewYearDecoration #feltAccessories #NewYearDecor #feltHandmade #kadomatsu #felt #100YenShopDIY #handmade #kadomatsuDecoration #beginner #craft

Creations made from felt convey warmth through the nature of the material.

Even a New Year’s decoration like a kadomatsu, which is often associated with the chill of the season, can feel cozy when made from felt.

You might think felt crafts require sewing with needles or a sewing machine, but you can make them without sewing.

Instead of stitching, you attach the felt using a hot glue gun.

While handling a glue gun does require care, it seems accessible for many older adults to participate in making these.

The result is an adorable kadomatsu that would be perfect to display at home, and it would surely be appreciated as a gift for family as well.

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Nakajima Junko

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Mount Fuji and Kite Flying Calendar

Attach a calendar to the lower part of a rectangular backing sheet, and use the remaining upper area to depict a kite-flying scene.

In a New Year’s style, the kites are flying with Mount Fuji in the background.

Make the kites and Mount Fuji using origami or construction paper.

Once finished, paste them onto the backing, then use yarn to represent the kite strings on top.

Glue cotton around Mount Fuji to suggest clouds.

It’s recommended to make the kites with your favorite traditional Japanese patterned origami.

You can also add color to the date section to match the origami’s colors.

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Origami Calendar: First Sunrise of the Year

[New Year Origami] How to fold the first sunrise (Mt. Fuji, sun, clouds) with audio commentary ☆ Origami Mt. Fuji, sun, clouds tutorial / Tatsukuri

Let me show you a New Year’s first sunrise scene expressed with origami.

You’ll make three parts: Mount Fuji, the sun, and clouds.

For Mount Fuji, fold the origami into a triangle to make a crease, open it, then make a step fold on the top corner to represent snow.

Fold the remaining edges and corners inward to shape it like Mount Fuji.

For the sun, start with a cushion fold (zabutons), then fold the corners into triangles to round it off.

For the clouds, fold into a triangle to make a crease, then fold the two left edges in along the crease, fold the left corner into a triangle, and form an isosceles triangle.

From there, offset the fold slightly from the crease and fold in half, then fold the corners twice to refine the cloud shape.

If you make them with origami sized to fit your backing paper, you can also use the design for a calendar.

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Origami Calendar: Maneki-neko (Beckoning Cat)

[Made with a single sheet of origami] Easy and cute Maneki-neko (beckoning cat) folding instructions ◇Origami beckoning cat, cat, animal, good-luck charm, decoration◇

How about incorporating the maneki-neko, a classic good-luck charm, into your calendar design? In this idea, you’ll use two rectangular sheets of origami paper cut in half to make the cat’s head and body.

Once you’ve made the head and body, glue them together, then use a pen to add the body’s patterns and the facial expression to finish.

It’s said that a maneki-neko raises its right paw to invite wealth and its left paw to invite people, so make yours with whichever paw you prefer.

It’s also recommended to design it together with other New Year’s motifs like kadomatsu or plum blossoms.

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