Monday, January 23, 2012

Greetings from China - New Years' Dinner - Blog Hop, Day 2

This is the second day of the Chinese New Year Blog Hop, hosted by April Nourse, who has an extra-special reason to celebrate: She and her family have welcomed their son, Alex, an adopted 6-year old who came to them from Taiwan. 

To welcome Alex and to share her happiness with us all, April invited her bloggy friends to celebrate The Year of the Dragon, Chinese New Year. You should have arrived here from the Queen T's blog spot; if not, or if you're one of my followers who'd like to start at the beginning, please go to April's site and wish her well on her journey (and learning Chinese!) with her wonderful gift from Taiwan.
 
In case you missed it, see yesterday's post to learn that last night, I hosted a Chinese New Year dinner party for some neighbors. I showed the invitation in yesterday's post. 

Here is one of the napkin rings that I made for the occasion: 

To make this napkin ring, I found an image of a Chinese dragon on ClickArt Online. (www.clickartonline.com).  I then printed the color image on white cardstock and fussy cut it out, mounting it on yellow paper for added stability.  For the ring, I cut a 1/2" piece straight across and off of a toilet paper cardboard.  I put a swab of glue inside the ring and wrapped it with red seam binding from Zipperstop.  I slit the opening for the fire from the mouth of the dragon, and fussy cut a fire-like/tongue thingie that I slid into the opening.  After letting a liberal dose of Stickles dry, I used Sookwang double tape (strong!) to adhere the image onto the ring.  To allow it to dry, I rolled a piece of white cardstock into the ring, which is when I took this picture for this post.  They looked FABULOUS on my table, with yellow linen napkins trimmed in red.

I just found this great looking cupcake dessert tray, posted on Facebook, via HelloCupcake's blog (http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/2012/01/23/year-of-the-dragon-cupcakes.aspx).  Wish I saw this before dinner!!!  




Be sure to visit April's blog to learn about the GRAND PRIZE Blog Candy for those who comment on each of the blog's stops. However, I also have blog candy! ...

SPECIAL BLOG CANDY alert!!  For my SUPER blog candy for this Hop, I am giving away the die I used to make the invitation I showed yesterday. It is the beautiful Lace Dragon Frame by Cheery Lynn, which I purchased from Happy Scrappy LLC.


ANYWHOOOO... if you'd like to win the Cheery Lynn Lace Dragon Frame I used above, please:

a) Be or become a follower of mine,
b) Leave a comment on this post telling me:
c) "My favorite Chinese food dish is ...."  

Winner will be picked at random using Random.org, and announced on this blog on Tuesday, January 24 (since this is a 2-day hop). Post about this hop on your blog or on Facebook, and get another chance to win!!

So now head on over to the next stop on the Chinese New Year Hop:  PSA Essentials! 

Here is the complete line-up, in case you get lost along the way:





  • April - http://curlsandgrins.blogspot.com









  • Lynne K. - http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/









  • Ashley - http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com/









  • Amy - http://www.lovetocrop.com/









  • Jearise - http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com/









  • Shannon - http://www.purplelionpaper.com/blog









  • Inga - http://mommahobbit.blogspot.com/









  • Maria - http://www.mdcraftcorner.blogspot.com/









  • Janet- http://www.createatdreamscrapbooks.blogspot.com/









  • Dena - http://missdjones.blogspot.com/









  • Jennifer - http://jenrubio.blogspot.com/









  • Theresa- http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/









  • Ellen - http://cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com/  <--- YOU ARE HERE!









  • PSA Essentials - www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com/








  •  (Thank you!)
     

    16 comments:

    Aim said...

    Oh WOW, Ellen, your napkin ring is FABULOUS!! Props to you for fussy cutting those out -- My chin is on the floor!! :)

    Hope you had a great get-together... And I hope you had some of my favorite Chinese food, which is still Crab Rangoon!! :)

    Amy :) at www.lovetocrop.com

    ibecircled.blogspot.com said...

    Napkin ring is super awesome!! TFS!!

    http://ibecircled.blogspot.com
    ilovetonkinese2 at hotmail dot com
    Rexann♥

    Unknown said...

    What a inventive hostess you are. The invitation and now the napkin ring are beautiful.
    Debbie
    http://craftywizard.blogspot.com

    JaniceA said...

    These napkin rings are fabulous! My favorite are crab ragoons.
    janiceaeschliman.blogspot.com

    jengd said...

    LOVE that napkin ring- it's just fantastic!! As for fav food, my 2nd fav would be steamed dumplings.

    Beckie said...

    How super cool are you!!! Love it.

    Be blessed, Beckie

    Anita Braddock said...

    Wow supper beautiful the Daragon is Awesome you have outdone your self. Beautiful colors and papers. thanks for sharing.
    new follower and I love Chicken chow main. almond chicken
    www.anita-craft-corner.blogspot.com

    Unknown said...

    Very creative job on the napkin ring

    Edwina said...

    Ellen, I love your napkin rings!!! They are beautiful! They are perfect for a Chinese New Year dinner. I love all the colors. So bright and cheerful. Thanks for sharing.Zipper Stop is that a place by you or do you order from them? Edwina Brown edwinabrown@comcast.net

    Stacey Brucale said...

    Your napkin rings are really pretty and that dragon made of cupcakes is really cool! My favorite Chinese dish is sesame chicken.

    Karenladd said...

    Yikes, that napkin ring is incredible!! LOVE the colors and intricate layers! I would LOVE to win that amazing die, and I am a follower . My favorite chinese food dish is asparagus beef...YUM!

    Krista's Paper Cafe said...

    I love the idea of your napkin rings! Such a stunning dragon head that you chose.
    KristaInMN at gmail dot com

    mommahobbit said...

    I love love love BBQ buns! Ty so much for sharing a great project :)

    lorby said...

    I just LOVE you napkin ring and wish I had thought of something like that. Jearise.

    sunflower sue said...

    These napkin rings are simply wonderful! :)

    Lynne said...

    The napkin rings are phenomenal!!!! I can imagine how beautiful they looked on your table and only wish you had taken a picture as I would love to see!!! Pleasure hopping with you as usual!
    Hugs, Love, and Pixie Dust
    Lynne
    Her Craftiness
    http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/