When I think of Chinese New Year, I think of the eagerly anticipated dragon and lion dances in Chinatown. I remember standing with my family in the massive crowd lining the streets and straining my ears for the sound of drums and firecrackers over the crowd. Those firecrackers meant the dancers were on the way!
Press tissue paper or sawdust or a small amount of clay on top of the ball. You can tamp the paper or sawdust into the tube using the eraser end of a pencil. This is the delaying charge, that prevents additional layers of material from burning all at once so that each charge will shoot into the air. This completes your first charge. Oct 11, 2009.
The colours red and gold symbolize happiness and good fortune which is why they are traditionally associated with Chinese New Year and Chinese weddings. At New Year all the decorations are red, and we give red packets containing money (or gold chocolate coins) to children. Chinese homes display banners, lanterns, and strings of firecrackers for good luck and to frighten away bad spirits.
Today I want to share this easy Chinese New Year decorative firecracker craft with you. It’s based on a whole bunch of toilet paper tubes. After scrounging around and looking in my recycling bin I was able to come up with 14 tubes. (We don’t really go through that much toilet paper in a week – I’m a toilet paper tube hoarder, precisely for craft projects like this.)
We cleaned all the stuck on bits of toilet paper off the tubes then painted them with non-toxic acrylic red paint. Hubby’s old t-shirts make great painting smocks for the girls! You can see a few of the tubes needed a second coat of paint so we did those once the first coat had dried.
![How To Make A Paper Japanese Firecrackers How To Make A Paper Japanese Firecrackers](https://sciencenotes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/homemadefirecracker.jpg)
Once the paint was dry, I hot glued a piece of gold ribbon around each end.
I experimented with using the same gold ribbon to attach the tubes to each other in pairs, but it was too floppy, so I used some 3″ lengths of 28 gauge wire which worked better. I glued each end of the wire to the inside edges of each pair of toilet paper tubes, leaving about half an inch between the tubes.
Then I cut a long piece of the same gold ribbon and tied it around the wires, attaching the pairs of tubes down its length. My knots were about 2.5″ apart, but you may need to adjust yours a bit so it looks right. I happened to have some other fancy gold ribbons lying around so I added them to the bottom for a little extra sparkle.
And that’s it! Hang your firecrackers on the door for good luck and to frighten away any evil from darkening your threshold.
Volkischer beobachter articles in english. Happy New Year! Gung Hay Fat Choy!
A paper 'firecracker', also often referred to as a Chinese 'firecracker', is a simple to fold device that can be used to create loud popping noises. They can be folded out of almost any form of paper, each having their own effect on the kind of pop they will create. They shouldn't take more than a minute to fold and the method of folding is easy to remember.
- A piece of paper
Folding
1. Begin with a standard sheet of paper |
2. Fold the top down about an inch |
3. Repeat this fold until there are two somewhat equal sections, one folded, and the other unfolded |
4. Hamburger fold, leaving the already folded sides out. |
![Make Make](https://sciencenotes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/black-firecracker-287x300.jpg)
1. With the open side of the hamburger fold faced down, pull out the unfolded portion and hold the two folded tips together using your index and thumb. Be sure to have both pockets facing down. To make the popping noise, fling your arm downwards, filing the pockets with air. |
2. Once the pop has been made, fold the 'firecracker' back to it's original form and repeat as many times as you'd like! |
I put together a little video here to help guide you through the steps. Hope it helps!
How Do You Make Firecrackers
Tips
- Generally, the thicker the paper you use, the louder the popyou'll create
- The 'firecracker' will eventually wear down at the folds after constant use and pops will become softer, in this case, you'll simply have to refold another.