Making Your Own (faux) Haft Seen
As the Persian New Year approaches, also known as Eideh Nowrouz, on March 20th, many Iranians will be gathering the seven items needed for their Hasft Seen otherwise known as Haft Sīn, or seven seen. This wonderful holiday is like the Persian version of Christmas. Younger children get money and get to wear new clothes on Eid, and the adults visit friends and family and eat a lot of Persian food!
The table is a traditional setting for Nowrouz and includes seven items all of which starting with the letter sīn. The seven seen’s all represent something different such as love, light, rebirth, prosperity and health.
I decided to do this fun (faux) Haft Seen because we won’t be home during Eid and I won’t be able to keep the table kept clean and pretty.
I started with some construction paper, bling stickers and my homemade trays that I hand painted and decorated myself.
I looked up all the items I needed on Wikipedia and what they look like and coordinated with the colors. My favorite colors are gold and brown, with a little bit of red and orange thrown into the mix. You can have any color sequence that you want use what ever you want to decorate your Haft Seen. Last year I used a lot of pink and included peach, blue and green butterflies, to match the spring season.
Another item you will need are decorated eggs, so I bought glittered eggs from Walmart and then went to Michael’s Craft Store to buy place card for each item. I printed out the words as well as the Persian meanings and cut and pasted using double-sided tape.
So now you’re ready to celebrate Eid! If you have any Persian friends, make sure to call or text them and say “Saleh No Mabarak!” this Friday, March 20th at 3:45 pm to wish them a happy new year. If you’re curious, why at 3:45 pm, then let me explain that, that is when spring solstice occurs, the real time is 3:45:11 pm (the seconds do count!), right when the earth shifts and spring occurs.
This wonderful holiday lasts 13 days long, and in Iran I hear, for 13 days everything is closed, so it’s kind of like a mandatory holiday!
Saleh No Mabarak!
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