Paper Fortune Cookies

With Chinese New Year coming up this weekend, I thought it would be fun to make some fortune cookies. I know you can buy them at our local Chinese supermarket, but there’s so much plastic packaging involved and I can’t eat them anyway as they are full of wheat. So instead, we’ve made some out of paper and written out our own fortunes!

We’re having a dinner party with friends at the weekend, to celebrate Burns Night which falls on the same day as Chinese New Year this year, so we are going to bring the fortune cookies along to that. Cultural fusion at it’s best.

I recorded a short video to show you how to make the fortune cookies. It’s easier to show how it’s done, than to try to explain in photos. But if you prefer photos to video, just scroll down for step-by-step instructions. Here’s the video:

Step-by-Step Instructions

You will need:

• Coloured paper
• White paper
• Scissors
• A pen
• Glue (in the photo I have a glue stick, but then I found some spare glue dots which actually worked even better)

Also, something round to draw around that’s about 8cm – 10cm across, like a lid or a glass.

Step 1: Cut the coloured paper in to circles approx. 8cm to 10cm in diameter. I used a lid to draw round.

Step 2: Cut the white paper in to little strips approx. 1cm wide and just a little longer than your coloured circles, so since our circles were 8cm we made our fortune strips 8.5cm. Then write out a fortune on to each strip of paper (see our suggestions at the end of this post).

Step 3: Take a paper circle and fold it in half, pressing down only in the middle of the fold.

Step 4: Unfold the circle again, and add some glue – either a glue dot or a dab of other strong glue – alongside the crease you just made.

Step 5: Roll the circle back to make a little ‘tube’, with the glue side pointing outwards, and insert a fortune strip. On the back, the sides of the circle should be overlapping like so…

And the front should look like this…

Step 6: Gently nudge the rolled up circle inwards, where the crease you made is. The two ends should start to fold towards the middle.

When they meet, the glue will hold them in place. Depending on what kind of glue you used, you might have to hold it for a moment while the glue dries. With the glue dots, you can pretty much let go immediately.

Now make more fortune cookies until you have enough for everyone!

Here are 20 ideas for the fortunes, that are short enough to fit on a small strip of paper:

• You can create your own happiness.
• All things are difficult before they are easy.
• When one door closes, another opens.
• Everyone agrees. You are the best.
• Now is the time to try something new.
• Sometimes you just need to lay on the floor.
• The greatest risk is not taking one.
• Stop wishing. Start doing.
• You are very talented in many ways.
• You must try, or hate yourself for not trying.
• It’s better to be alone sometimes.
• A thrilling time is in your immediate future.
• Laugh long, loud and often.
• You will bring sunshine into someone’s life.
• Sun always shines after a downpour
• Good things take time.
• Just be yourself. You are wonderful.
• When nothing goes right, go left.
• Good things take time.
• Something wonderful is about to happen.

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