12 Lunar New Year Party Ideas

Our serving platter is tailored to the Tray of Togetherness, which traditionally is a sectional serving platter with eight compartments filled with candies, dried fruits, nuts, and other symbolic treats. Fill yours with your family's time-honored favorites or take after our modern-day finds: shimmery gold chocolates, candied kumquats, and sugared mandarin oranges, among other showstopping sweets.

Everyone can use a little extra luck. Citrus, the traditional token of Chinese New Year, symbolizes a fresh start, and a whole pomelo (a less tart, more perfume-y cousin of the grapefruit) signifies abundance and unity. Wrap one in auspicious red netting and tuck in a leaf tag.

Pearson Ranch pomelos, from $20 for 6, pearsonranch.com. Royal plastic mesh, in Red, $21 for 250 pieces, amazon.com.

Mixed in matte red and metallic gold, pile these handcrafted creations in a bowl as takeaway gifts for your house guests. What makes them extra sweet are the surprises that you tuck inside: lucky dollar bills, tiny tokens, and handwritten messages.

Try spinning a wheel of fortune! When it lands, children get to pick out a gift to take home with them.

Nine Cakes, in Brooklyn, baked a delicious four-tiered cake featuring all the Chinese zodiac animals. These adorable, edible marzipan cake toppers aren't too hard to make — simply combine marzipan with gel food coloring and let your imagination run wild.

The Lantern Festival signifies the end of the Chinese New Year celebration, falling on the 15th day of the first lunar month. They come in all colors, shapes, and sizes — making a spectacular backdrop for the festivities. Here, guests enjoy a traditional Chinese dance performance by Ling Tang.

Scrumptious dumplings are among the tasty treats. We also like to serve hand-carved fruit, bubble tea from Boba Guys, and rolled ice cream from 10Below.

Here, children paint with a plastic fork to embrace their inner artists and decorate a rooster.

Put together party favor bags filled with goodies, such as this adorable "Year of the Rooster" T-shirt.