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Friday, February 9, 2018

Chinese New Year Pot Sticker Station

Disclosure: Thank you to Cost Plus World Market for sponsoring this post. Product and/or compensation was provided to me to share my ideas and tips, however, all opinions are fully my own.  #ad #worldmarkettribe




I'm  a celebration girl and love just about any chance to entertain.  With Chinese New Year fast approaching I wanted to share a few simple ideas for setting up a Chinese New Year Pot Sticker Station.





Dumplings (sometimes called potstickers) are a main staple of many Chinese New Year celebrations.  If you're hosting a Chinese New Year celebration this year, you may want to head to Cost Plus World Market to decorate your space.  There were so many beautiful Chinese New Year Decorations at my local store at Pentagon Row in Arlington, Va






We have an old vintage dresser that we converted into a buffet for our dining room.  It's typically where I set up all of our food and desserts when we're hosting gatherings.  Normally, it's just decorated simply with a bouquet, the kids schoolwork....or mail....but I cleaned it off nice for this post ;)




I set up my Pot Sticker station by hanging a black fabric over a curtain rod for a backdrop behind the buffet.   Most Asian design is very simple and minimalist and I wanted to keep to that aesthetic.  Red is a color of good fortune and a must when decorating for Chinese New Year, so, I  placed a Red Hexagonal Porcelain Jar on top of a wooden crate to display a dainty pair of 
White Velvet Plum Blossoms .   Inside the wooden crate, I added tasting square tidbit plates that displayed clementines, which are another symbol of good fortune. 





Blending nature into the design, a key component to most Asian design, I placed a woven fiber runner on top of a red table cover.  The dumplings were placed in bamboo steaming baskets.  I thought they needed a pop of color so, I added a 
Lucky Coin Hanging Decor onto each of them. 








Brown Ironwood chopsticks were placed on top of a Matte Black Sushi plate.  Also on the table, I added these Shanghai Dip Bowls for my dipping sauce (recipe follows). 


To dress up the chopsticks, I found a beautiful gift bag at Cost Plus World Market that I just had to use in this set up.  I cut a few strips and wrapped them around the chopsticks and I love how they turned out.





Since I am SUPER intimidated by making dumplings I ordered them from my favorite Chinese Take-Out restaurant.  What I do know how to make is a great dipping sauce to go with the dumplings. 
To make the sauce, all you need is:


1/2 cup  Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Marukan Lite Rice Wine Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Lee Kum Kee Chili Oil Sauce
1 tablespoon fresh chopped garlic
2 sprigs green onions, 
chopped 
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (optional) 

TO MAKE THE DIPPING SAUCE
Whisk all the ingredients together and enjoy (see.....I told you it was super simple!)  Tip: You can use low sodium soy sauce and skip the sugar for this recipe.



Prior to writing this post, I didn't know very much about Chinese New Year, but I know I love so many things about Chinese culture, design and cuisine.  So, I've also decided to share 10 Things to Know about Chinese New Year.




10 Things to Know about Chinese New Year



Red and gold are common colors used through the holiday and are symbols of good fortune and prosperity.

Clementines are often given as gifts of good fortune.

Fireworks are used to scare evil spirits.

Dumplings are a main food item in most Lunar New Year celebrations.

Chinese New Year is a time to start things new and sometimes called Spring Festival....people will use this time to make amends, reconcile and clean house (but only after the 5th day - otherwise cleaning/sweeping is considered moving out the good luck!)

The holiday is actually celebrated in many of Asian countries like, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia!

Chinese new year lasts 15 days lasting from the new moon to the full moon.

The last day of the Chinese New Year ends with the Lantern Festival.

Red Envelopes are passed out as  a way to pass on good luck and a typically handed out to young children.

The world's largest travel migration happens during Chinese New Year.




Don't forget to send your guests home with Chinese take out boxes filled with fortune cookies or chocolate coins- and don't forget to pass out red envelopes to children, they are perfect Chinese New Year Gifts.  I made these take out boxes and envelopes using my Cricut machine.  

Visit your local Cost Plus World Market for your holiday entertaining needs.  Find your local shop here: 
 http://stores.worldmarket.com/index.html





LET'S GET SOCIAL!
Follow me @cwbdparties on InstagramFacebookTwitter and Pinterest and tag me when share your best holiday entertaining moments using ideas from my site! 

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