Favors with a Good Fortune for a Chinese New Year’s Celebration

We hope you enjoyed our recent post on the festive elements for a Chinese New Year bridal shower! Aside from the striking decorations and the delectable food, though, we thought you’d like suggestions for guest favors as well. So here are 6 gift ideas that immediately caught our fancy—from traditional to fusion, from edible to practical. All wishing good fortune! So take your pick and delight your guests!

Delightful Favors Ideas for Guests

1 – You may have seen these gold-stamped red envelopes given out on special Chinese holidays? Well, Today’s Nest has prepared a DIY template so you can make your own using red card stock and a gold marker. Then, simply tuck in (okay maybe not the traditional cash) fun cards containing favorite Chinese recipes, wise and amusing sayings, or promising a lunch date at a nearby dimsum place!

2 – Folding paper fans would make practical and pretty gifts. You can order them online or buy them at crafts stores with an Asian section. Then, come party time, just add themed favor tags like these we found on Bird’s Party’s ‘Lunar New Year’ post—a great showcase of sweet treats and styling ideas for this holiday, by the way!

3 – Another fusion delight you might like to try are these Mandarin friands we stumbled upon at At Kokken. Friands, we learned, are traditional French cakes made with nut meal (in this case macadamia…yum!). But these have Mandarin orange puree added for a ‘burst of citrusy moistness.’ Wow, will your guests be impressed!

4 – To mark the New Year with a bang…or at least a pop…why not give Chinese party crackers? These ones from the etsy shop Souvenir Suitcase come stuffed with fun items for the particular lunar year, plus a paper fan, whistle, and balloon. So you can end the party on a festive note, with everyone popping their crackers together and using the noisemakers!

5 – A sweet East-meets-West idea for your favors could be regular sugar cookies decorated with Chinese characters and symbols. Gwen’s Kitchen Creations explains how the graphics were traced with royal icing onto parchment paper with the template designs underneath. Once dry, the toppers were placed on the cookies. Clever!

6 – Turn a simple, white favor box into a festive favor for guests using red and gold ribbons accented with a pretty tag! Check out this easy tutorial from the blog of chinagrrl.net. As a treat, she also includes a little fortune cookie covered with chocolate and wrapped up in gold foil.

Looking for more Asian-inspired party ideas? Check out these exciting posts: An East-Asian bridal shower, A Fusion themed Valentine’s party, Asian favor ideas, and a Cherry Blossom celebration.