Chinese New Year

Year of the Snake; Celebrating, Sharing and Crafting

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The days are calm and quiet in Maine as we hunker down for snowstorm after snowstorm and do our best to stay protected from the frigid air. I look out the window with my coffee, and the bright sunshine streaming in seems like trickery from my warm perch. Lunar New Year festivities have now passed, and as you know by now, this is my favorite post of the year, recapping all of the events and special moments. 

This Year of the Snake 蛇年 was especially wonderful because my adult daughter attended every gathering. Sharing our traditions and being together takes me back to all the Lunar New Years and special Chinese cultural celebrations of her childhood and of course, all the years of making crafts. This being the snake year, some are also sharing the Legend of the White Snake as part of their cultural program. If you are inspired to take a deeper dive, look up this interesting piece of folklore; as with many ancient Chinese tales, it’s a wild ride.

Nothing can compare with having a few friends in my home for a festive evening of dinner and conversation. This year was no exception and my house was festooned with red and gold decorations and the dinner I prepared was (mostly) edible! Ginger beef and firecracker shrimp were my mains and I have to say so myself, my almond cookies from scratch were pretty good. The guests braved inclement weather, and there was much joy and laughter.

Our local library was the location for my first 2025 public event with Lucky Bamboo Crafts. We had a cozy nook right in the children’s area to make snake crafts and share the holiday traditions with preschoolers, homeschoolers, and the after-school crowd. Paiten, their fantastic librarian is always so enthusiastic and full of (craft-addicted) talent! We are a great collab.

On to Chinatown, Boston where I always know I need to level-up the make-and-takes, with both projects offered and quantity. We were hit with a New England heavy snowstorm the evening before, into the morning so I definitely felt like a Lunar New Year warrior to make it to the China Trade Center and get set up. But the people did come out, and it was a festive day to ring in the Snake. And as always, the couple of hours spent walking around Chinatown in the early evening after packing up the crafts were so very fun and delicious. 

Back to Maine for the local CAFAM Lunar New Year celebration. I spent the day in the Cultural Village overseeing the numerous craft tables I prepared and also sharing Lucky Bamboo Book of Crafts with some new customers! I guess if you stick around long enough, kids grow up and new kids move in, looking for creativity and culture. Yay! The CAFAM Board did a tremendous job planning and carrying out the event, and I felt lucky to be a part of it, even as just a volunteer member. This year the program included numerous Bates College student performers offering everything from traditional dance and instrumental performances to Chinese rap! I have such a long history with CAFAM, I never want to miss being a part of the action each year with my many friends 朋友们.

I don’t feel compelled to do a Spring dance quite yet with the snow piled high and several weeks to go before the true thaw. But these mostly indoor days are good for introspection, planning, resetting, being with friends, enjoying time with my daughter, and starting to carve out my next creative inspiration and new venture. I have recently left my longtime project manager position so like the snake, I am shedding some skin. I try and lean into these cycles of life as an opportunity to realign my priorities while getting caught up on the essentials. I know there is always down time and up time and do have some really fun adventures planned. It all can be equally fulfilling. Let’s fill our cups.

Creativity, Culture and Looking Ahead

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Hello Friends,

I know it’s been a minute but Lucky Bamboo Crafts is still alive and well! I’ve just had several life pivots that have pulled me away from focusing on my maker side. The biggest of which is I am leaving my longtime project manager job at the end of the year. That will certainly shake things up and offer me a reset.

My mind is already popping with creative ideas and plans for the extra bandwidth I will have of time and energy. I can put many more events and workshops on my calendar, including visiting schools during the week. You know by now that teaching kids about Chinese culture is my jam! I can also create more Chinese craft designs. And I will freshen up this site for sure, with new content, media, tutorials, etc…. it’s an exciting shift.

Self-marketing has never been my strong suit, but my ask is to please help me celebrate this leap by continuing to share my book and website. You can still pick it up from this site or Amazon, and my fulfillment co., Nataraj Books is selling it at a huge discount! It’s a great holiday gift.

Lunar New Year falls on January 29th, 2025 and is the Year of the Snake. I look forward to slithering into lots of celebrations and hope you’ll watch my calendar and come along! 

The Dragon is Awakened

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As I approach every Maine winter, I ponder how to “make the best of it”, knowing there are several frosty months ahead. Since the Lunar New Year doesn’t arrive until late January or February, making goals keeps me motivated and gives me some glimmers of enjoyment. I typically convince myself I will learn how to knit, make creative meals in my slow cooker, learn Mandarin, and do some cross-country skiing, just to name a few. It’s a similar list every single winter.

And then as we approach Lunar New Year, I start preparing for my Lucky Bamboo Crafts events and celebrations with friends. Life gets increasingly busy and my efforts are all focused around Chinese culture, food and crafts. These rituals warm my soul even while needing to bundle up, and bring me joy during what can be a long, bleak season in Maine when you stay put.

This lunar year’s mythical dragon is a wood element, and is identified with strength and good fortune, rising above all the other zodiac animals. Thanks, perhaps, to the dragon’s unleashed power I had a string of experiences and occasions with an especially auspicious quality. Schedule, weather, friendship, and fun all seemed to be in my favor. And my craft designs fell into place easily, with so much dragon-themed art already in my illustration archive.

I kicked it all off by hosting my annual little dinner party on Lunar New Year’s Eve. I think my hospitality was probably more notable than my cooking abilities, but having friends around my table, and my home festooned in red and gold was a perfect way to launch the holiday. And guests went home with a lantern garland gift along with their hongbao.

My first seasonal craft date was Love Weekend in the MakerSpace at Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine where we had a dual celebration of crafts for Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day. As always, the staff was beautifully prepared, and such great company. Every time I visit that museum, I pinch myself at what a stunning, tremendous addition it is in the Portland Thompson’s Point area for young and old visitors.

Our local Falmouth Middle School holds an annual school-wide cultural celebration and I was so pleased to be invited by the library staff this year to give an author talk. I shared some Lunar New Year traditions while guiding crafts (of course!). I felt a little rusty since my classroom teaching days were so long ago, and now I had all those 6th-grader sets of eyes on me. But it was the last period before their winter vacation, so although I could take no credit for the amiable mood, it worked to my benefit and I could do no wrong.

Boston Chinatown was my next destination, and the excitement was in the air. I’ve been attending this Chinatown Main Street event in the China Trade Center for enough years now that I have annual families who come looking for me! It’s a great feeling and motivates me to bring a good array of different crafts each year. Nothing compares with being in Chinatown, and on the sparkling, mild day with Mayor Wu making the remarks, the crowds seemed the largest in several years, enjoying the events, lion dances, restaurants, and fireworks.

I wrapped up my event schedule with the CAFAM Lunar New Year celebration in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It fell on the Lantern Festival holiday, always the last day of Lunar New Year, which offered a perfect bookend with the full day of speakers, food, crafts, activities and (yet another) stunning performance by Chinese Folk Art Workshop. The kids loved being invited on stage after the show to meet the performers almost as much as the performance, itself!

So circling back, I can report I did end up finding some winter diversions…. no knitting but I constructed those cute aforementioned lantern garlands. No winter slow cooker (although better-late-than-never corned beef and cabbage is simmering now), but I’ve been testing the new air fryer that my family gave me for Christmas. No great Mandarin progress, but I was able to enjoy social environments where Mandarin was spoken and I could hope for osmosis, and no skiing (well, surely the lack of New England snow this year is not my fault), but I did skate a few blissful loops on our local ice.

Now we are talking spring. My beautiful daughter will celebrate her 22nd birthday soon and will be graduating from college. I am meeting wonderful people through my advocacy work to help get through these tough months of national politics and increasing world conflict. And yes, I will continue to feed my creativity by designing more cultural crafts, while also getting my hand back with some painting in gouache. Art has always been a soothing antidote for stress and worry, and I feel I have some ideas I need to bring to life. The full symphony of the new season will not arrive in Maine for a few more weeks but I’ve seen some green nubs and a couple of bright crocuses poking up in my yard. A tiny whisper that there are good things to come.

Good Luck Arrives

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February can be a hard, icy month in the Northeast. But my heart and spirit (and stomach) were warmed on February 13th when I traveled to Boston to share crafts in Chinatown at the China Trade Center. The annual celebration was back with hundreds of excited visitors enjoying the street parade, firecrackers, traditional lion dances, and indoor activities.

How I had missed the collective energy of ringing in the Lunar New Year and being able to make crafts and “Fu” decorations with the kids to ensure good luck would arrive. The weather was fierce (as always, in mid-February) but we all braved the snow with the determination of the Tiger. And no trip to Chinatown would be complete without enjoying a delicious meal and soup dumplings at a local spot! It was perfect sustenance for the journey back to Maine.

Now that we are into our new year, I am mapping out my Chinese culture activities for the rest of 2022. I hope to bring Lucky Bamboo Crafts back to the Riverfront Recapture Dragon Boat Festival in Connecticut over the summer. I also continue to be active in CAFAM events and initiatives here in Maine, although I will be stepping down as president after being “in office” since 2018. I look forward to less leading and more doing!

Other than that, life is quiet again, but I’m amping up for an adventure to the Pacific Northwest and Vancouver BC. Oh, how I’ve dreamed of this road trip for years! Knowing me, it will basically be a food tour. I’ve never been big on acronyms but YOLO does seem to be chiming in my head. The pressures and violence around the globe are so disturbing, and I am mindful of how important it is that kindness and gratitude be a constant. Having the ability and resources to take a little vacation in April for myself feels like a real gift. Hopefully, I can pay it forward.

The Tiger’s Roar of Winter

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Happy 2022! So, do we share these good wishes with mild sarcasm and air quotes or are we sincerely optimistic it will be a much better year?  How can we still be dashed by covid? How can people still not be vaccinated? My immediate family continues to be healthy, but I take it all very personally since one is a front-line healthcare provider that is regularly treating covid-positive unvaccinated people. Can you feel my blood boil?

Well, you get the idea I’m sure, and before I go too deeply into that rabbit hole I will pivot. Maine in January is a chilly, snowy undertaking but the days are gradually brighter and activities, goals and plans for the new year are underway. The biggest holiday on my calendar is the Lunar New Year. We will celebrate the Year of the Tiger on 2/1/22. I’m very involved in two in-person events with Lucky Bamboo Crafts (that will hopefully survive omicron and stay scheduled) and you can get details on the calendar. Time to come up with some new tiger crafts and get the creativity going again!

My daughter will have returned to college so I will have to send a Chinese New Year package and hong bao to campus. (I doubt she reads my blog so this might even remain a surprise!) The school holiday break of nearly a month is winding down, and as a parent, letting her out of my grip never seems to get easier.

But I will carry on with winter with a peaceful spirit. When the weather isn’t too extreme (with bitter cold or blizzard conditions) I find so many ways to enjoy and appreciate Maine each day. Working remotely certainly makes it easier, but comfort food (porridge! soup! a bamboo steamer of dumplings!), and trying to spend time outdoors daily helps me beat the winter blues.

It is also a time of renewal for my advocacy areas of focus. There are so many ways to be “a helper” as Mr. Rogers always used to point out. We are still in a difficult place, but hopefully your life involves more real hugs, your kids are active and healing from their losses, and we all have brighter days ahead.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead with Lucky Bamboo Crafts

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The days are so short, dark, and cool as we head into the quiet peace of late Fall.  Along with that, it’s time to plan the festivities of a real holiday season after missing so much last year. The struggles seem more scattered now. High prices and a multitude of supply disruptions. Schools caught off-guard with sudden covid surges. Trying to live normally but still trying to cope with the trauma of what has been lost in the last nearly two years.

I talk about this first because the pandemic is still first on everyone’s minds and still greatly affecting everyone’s lives. But what gratitude I feel for having the vaccines now so available, even to children, and even to those that want a “boost”. Hopefully, by now, the naysayers have been firmly pushed into their shame corners and will stay there.

So, looking back. It was wonderful to see the CAFAM community and local friends turn out at our Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. We gathered at a beautiful venue overlooking Portland Headlight and the tasty food and warm conversation were abundant.

Just a couple of weeks later, I was one of the presenters for a CAFAM historical marker unveiling in Portland. For those from afar, you may not know that Portland…. and Maine have a rich history of early Chinese immigrants settling here. We honored one particular family for their contributions and you can read more about them here. The best part was that several of the Goon family members, some elderly, traveled to Maine to attend! As they stood in front of their childhood home, I felt our ceremony and remarks were very meaningful and we were all so filled with positive emotion.

And now, looking ahead. Lunar New Year is taking shape, and we are moving forward with a local performance and celebration. Details to come in my event calendar, and Lucky Bamboo Crafts may hit the road with some other events, as well. Hopefully ‘Year of the Tiger’ will bring lots of good fortune (and dumplings) and fewer hardships for everyone. My “empty nest” has been pretty calm, although I miss my daughter terribly as she finally gets to partake in a normal college campus experience. Time to turn some new pages in life, with projects, work, travel, crafts, new friends, and 2022 may even be the year of Mandarin. While giving thanks, for sure.

 

Support Our Asian Communities

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Jen DeCristoforo, president with CAFAM friends

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings from Lucky Bamboo Crafts! I’ve been trying to push through the stress and exhaustion (sound familiar?) so I could share some updates…. about both what has been happening and what is to come. While other parts of the country seem to be enjoying very warm weather, events, travel, and many trappings of normal life, Maine is still very quiet. This is a result of a cautious governor and strong CDC state leadership (thank goodness). And spring, as always, is slow to arrive.

Lunar New Year ‘Year of the Ox’ was very uplifting and successful for the organization I lead locally, CAFAM. We did an entirely virtual celebration, but that did not mean we cut corners! We offered dazzling performances, traditional stories, a marketplace, lectures, and even a live cooking class with a fantastic local Chinese chef, only requiring registration to participate. I wouldn’t say planning and hosting it was “easier” than our in-person annual event, just different. (But the clean-up was MUCH easier!) You can still access and enjoy the entire event from the CAFAM website and it includes my 2021 craft video!

Just a mention about my merchant side; Lucky Bamboo Book of Crafts has been distributed by IPG for many years and our relationship is winding down. They have been a wonderful partner, making my “selling” tools so easy and doing all the shipping and tracking, but now it makes more sense to have it back on me. So please spread the word and check out my website for buying options. I am also transitioning the Amazon store to do the fulfillment for those purchases from here, although the Amazon order process should be identical. I always love being in contact with folks that buy the book, so hopefully this will get me more engaged again with getting books out of my warehouse and into eager hands!

I plan to resume offering Chinese craft activities at some events this summer and beyond. Keep an eye on my calendar. I really miss visiting festivals, camps, libraries, and packing up my bins with great crafts to travel to all kinds of fun places. I’m ready!

I would be remiss to not say a few personal words about the current anti-Asian atmosphere in this country. I had hoped the climate of hostility toward China, and fear-mongering, discrimination, ignorance and racism would move on with the last administration that did so much to incite all of it. But sadly, as covid has continued to ravage the U.S., our Asian and Asian-American communities have been easy scapegoats, leading to tragic and painful consequences. I never thought I would have to worry about my 19-year old adult daughter needing to be careful about where she goes and who might try and victimize her, just because she is Chinese. I am sick, sad and very, very angry.

Here in Maine, our Asian groups, organizations and communities have been partnering in solidarity and communicating with lots of other groups that suffer from the same dangers and attacks; other minorities, LGBTQ, new immigrants, etc…. It has helped a little, just recognizing we have good people around us that will watch each-other’s backs and we’ve organized rallies, vigils and panels. But that is far from enough. I hope you will think long and hard about what small or big actions you can do in your own communities to move us all in a better direction.

Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know how you are doing with planning activities and crafts with your families, campers and students, while you try to help them understand the country and the world right now. I hope you are looking ahead as I am, to a more hopeful, safer, kinder day when our worries will be few. If you would like to know more about Lucky Bamboo Crafts or get in touch with me, please e-mail me at [email protected]. I would love to hear from you!

Spring Festival – Year of the Ox – And the New Normal?

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Hello friends,

I’m sharing my thoughts ahead of Chinese New Year, since we will be enjoying the February 12th holiday virtually, this year. When I look back on 2020 and all the fun and festivities I participated in both with CAFAM and Lucky Bamboo Crafts, I’m stunned at how long ago it seems.

Virus, politics, and the world spinning ’round…. not to mention (but I will) personal changes and challenges have made the months seem endless. The upshot has been a slowing of Chinese craft efforts, even though one would think I would have “more time” for these pursuits. Nope…. life has felt constantly arduous, and perhaps the lack of in-person event opportunities has also mellowed my motivation to get my game on. Enough whining, I know….. in the scheme of things how bad do I REALLY have it….?

So here we are in 2021 and the days are getting brighter, the vaccine queue is getting shorter, and do we dare think about late spring and summer in any confident way? You tell me. I have a college student sidelined remotely as her campus tries to pare down their numbers (shshsh that’s kind of nice for Mom!) but it’s yet another thing that feels off-kilter-ish.

A bright spot is our upcoming CAFAM Lunar New Year virtual event. It goes live on New Year’s Eve (Feb. 11th) and I hope you will check it out. Offering leadership (and crafts) to the CAFAM mix has been a good way to stay connected to my board and also celebrate the holiday! Other than that, I’m just trying to keep a positive outlook a day at a time and feel gratitude. Always.  新 年 快 樂!

Gratitude in the New Year

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Hello, my friends and thanks for checking in to see what’s new at Lucky Bamboo Crafts. The year is winding down and many of you have already celebrated one or more holidays. I hope you are enjoying the gifts of the season with family and friends, while always remembering those that are alone, financially challenged, sick or suffering; those for which the holidays can be especially tough.

The Maine Chinese Conference in Bangor in October was a great place to network with many different factions that are committed to language education, along with introducing folks to what CAFAM and Lucky Bamboo Crafts can offer. I enjoyed wearing both hats and was lucky to have Shannon, a fellow board member spend the day in Bangor with me.

Jen and Shannon with Jing Zhang, Director

Maine Chinese Conference

Lunar New Year seems so close (January 25th, 2020), and our planning is in full swing for our Maine CAFAM celebration including a fantastic performance troupe from Boston. I have also been offered the coveted spot with Lucky Bamboo Crafts to be in charge of crafts at both Peabody Essex Museum and Boston Chinatown again this year. This always fills me with pride and just a wee bit of panic, since they are both such huge events. But I am testing out some craft ideas (yes, including rats!) and thinking about fun materials and it always comes together. Before I know it, there will be smiling little faces and scraps flying. Please check out my events calendar for the details.

This has been a challenging 2019, trying to give my best to my job, keep engaged in Chinese culture, carry the leadership of CAFAM and navigate my daughter’s senior year, along with some other family challenges. And of course the rest of life… volunteer service, friends, and even too many dentist appointments! But as we turn the page and ring in 2020, there is always an opportunity to get on a fresh track with gratitude and renewal. That’s my plan.

Xīnnián kuàilè! (Happy New Year)

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Lucky Bamboo Crafts

If you follow the lunar calendar as I do, you know today is Lantern Festival, the 15th and last day of the Chinese New Year holiday. What a perfect time to review the amazing weeks I’ve had partaking in celebrations for ‘Year of the Pig’ all across New England and sharing Lucky Bamboo Crafts. Most of the events included my daughter’s help and company (and driving on her permit) which was the best! I know this is a long post but I’m proud of the great attendance and cultural education at every one of these events and wanted to include as much as possible.

Sure, I put a lot of work into designing and planning the crafts, but also had enthusiastic and incredibly professional, welcoming hosts at every event. I loved meeting inspired parents, grandparents, educators and hundreds of excited kids, ready to roll up their sleeves and make some crafts. Many children even wore Chinese attire, hairstyles and accessories to show their (adorable) passion for the culture and holiday.

Ok so let’s get started! First was the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine. CAFAM and the CMTM have been mutually hosting some cultural events and it’s been a great partnership! We made mini-lanterns and offered tastes of Tang Yuan. A local Korean organization also brought some wonderful displays and snacks since the museum wanted to highlight the connections of different Asian lunar celebrations.

Next came our local CAFAM event. I was invested heavily in the months of planning all aspects of the day with our board members including numerous craft tables. Whew! We had a wonderful celebration and even hosted a special guest erhu musician from Boston.

Our volunteer site, LearningWorks was the perfect place to share some cultural fun since the children from many countries that are in that after school program are always teaching me so much about their own cultures. The teachers were so kind to turn over their busy classes to us to make dragon puppets and talk about this time of year in Asia.

Merrill Memorial Library right here in town hosted a small event through their children’s library program. Although they’ve had my book in their stacks for years, this was the first time we’ve been invited to offer activities, and it was a great opportunity to meet our local neighbors!

Peabody Essex Museum is always a beautiful venue to host Lunar New Year and build upon their great collections of Chinese art and many Asian-themed activities throughout the year. They have a huge maker space that is equipped for the crowds. The fan project we offered was perfect for toddler through teen, and kids (and parents!) got really creative with the embellishments. They had a fun lantern riddle hunt throughout the museum too!

How we love our Boston Chinatown friends! Bringing crafts to the Chinatown Main Street celebration was a perfect way to round out the holiday. Our craft table in the China Trade Building was a popular hub, even with all the action going on around us. And our young Chinatown friend CG comes and finds us every year and loves helping out. Once we wrapped up, we made sure to linger in Chinatown for a nice meal while the firecrackers popped and the lions munched on their offerings outside the restaurant.

And in other news, I have recently accepted the president position for the Chinese & American Friendship Association of Maine. I look forward to new and exciting events, initiatives and working with wonderful people both on the board and in the community in 2019. Along with that, I’ve been updating my website with new links and projects so do check back from time to time. Now that I’m back in Maine, I’m tidying and storing the sprawl of craft projects and supplies around here as we still dodge snowstorms every few days. But spring will come.