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Lunar New Year souvenirs

by Amy Chen (RSS feed) on Feb 9th 2010 at 11:30AM

Lunar New Year falls on Valentine's Day this year.

While hunting for souvenirs in Seattle's Chinatown last month, I spotted these cute tote bags that feature the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac ($20).

I caught up with the designer Joyce Wan at New York City's International Gift Fair last week to learn more about Wanart, her five-year-old collection of greeting cards, infant apparel, and canvas totes that are still screen-printed by hand.

It turns out that Wanart's Zodiac Zoo line is not just a lucky Chinatown find, but is actually carried in several museum shops nationwide, including the Field Museum in Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

"It's exciting to have my products in the museum that I visited as a kid," said Wan, who was born and raised in Boston. With a studio and workshop now in Union City, N.J., Wan recently expanded her collection to include a kids' book based on some of her travels around the world (Chronicle Books, $13).

For the Year of the Tiger, Wan has also created infant bodysuits cleverly packaged in a clear Chinese take-out container (from $24). Can you say adorable?

If a museum near you doesn't carry Zodiac Zoo products, you can order everything at Wanart.com.

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