Christmas rangolis

So my love for rangolis is not unknown to you right? Here's presenting the last of rangolis for this year. And what better than Christmas special rangolis. Yea that's right Christmas special rangolis.

Rangolis drawn by yours truly

Do write to me. I would love to hear from you. 

Santaz Coming to town .....

Ho Ho Ho

Yea its that's time of the year when its all Ho Ho Ho. The old man with a pot belly and a large heart is coming to town to spread joy, love and laughter. Its none other than apna pyara Santa from the North pole. So how have you planned to welcome him?

This time around like I said before I was bursting with ideas and execution of these ideas took up a lot of time. I am running a little late for my Christmas decor. Slowly reaching there. Here are some glimpses.

Do write in to me with your santa story. You know I love hearing from you. So long. 

Wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. May the father of Christmas ensure no kid goes to sleep hungry, cold and sick ever. May the new year shower mankind with happiness, love, joy, peace. 

Christmas DIY Part III

Hello friends!! we have just another day before Christmas and I am bursting with ideas and unfortunately do not have enough time for execution. Frankly I had not planned the part III, but it just happened.

My son wanted to make something for his teachers for Christmas and I wanted him to help in the creation [as usual]. One of my favourite gifting option is the bookmark and hence I got a brainwave!!!

Christmas DIY part II

Hello!! you beautiful people. I hope the last month of the year is treating you well. I know a lot of you the Christmas DIY part I. I do hope you have tried them. Do send me pictures of your trials. As promised I am back with the second part of the Christmas DIY. This post is a savior for all those running late for their Christmas decorations. As always my DIYs are simple, easy and quick to make.

I had visited Ooty during one of summer vacations. I saw pine cone tree for the first time and was elated. I went overboard collecting pine cones. I have a heap of them to say the least. I decided to use them for christmas decor in many ways. Below is the DIY to a ornament.


Pine Cone ornament:

1. Take two equal sized pine cone, tie them together
2. Tie a decorative cord through them, to this cord tie bows [green and gold in below pic]
3. Tan to dan.... the ornament is ready! either use it on the christmas tree or hang it from the ceiling or windows or door etc..

 above ornament made and clicked by yours truly

The snowman has fascinated me ever since I was a kid. Untill I finally experienced snow as an adult and well it wasn't exactly great. I still like the 'thought' of snowman from my memory! I decided to bring that snowman to reality. Below are the steps to making one.

Snowman:

1. Take a used ketchup bottle with an existing red lid [clean it before use], draw eyes, lips and buttons [shown in picture below]
2. Take kids clay[orange colour] and make his nose
3. Tie a bow, red satin ribbon to separate the face from the rest of the body

Here you go the snow man is ready, and looks much better than what I made with real snow :). This is one of the fastest DIY i ever made. It took me less than five minutes to make this one and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Picture of snowman made and clicked by yours truly

I had fun making these decor elements. I want to know if you liked them. Now come on drop a line, I am waiting. If you do get inspired to make any of these, do send me a picture and a line. 

Meals for kids

I am a self proclaimed lazy cook. However I cannot compromise on the nutritive aspect of meals. I shudder to think of chips and chocolates as meals. Home cooked meals, vegetables and fruits are a major component of my sons daily intake. Yes it gets stressful a lot of times. But I have slowly learnt various ways to cheat and yet include all these components in his daily meal ;) Sharing a couple of ways to include vegetables in the meals. These are my personal short cuts.

Dosa:
Yes this simple unsuspecting meal gets fortified with vegetables. This is how...........

1. To the existing batter add grated raw carrots, and finely chopped spinach, coriander and methi leaves, mix the batter well. [see picture 2 below]
2. Spread the batter on a hot non stick tawa and cook as usual [see picture 3 below]
3. Tadda!! a new look colourful dosa is ready for consumption with chutney or curd.

Picture of the fortified dosa, pic 2 close up of grated carrot and finely chopped spinach. Clicked by yours truly.

Besan Chila:

Oh yes the humble besan chila too isn't spared :). This is how......

1. Add water to the desired besan. To this mixture add salt, turmeric, finely chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander and spinach. [See picture 1 below] Ensure the consistency is thinner than that of the Dosa.
2. Spread the batter on the hot non-stick tawa [since the consistency is thin, it gets difficult to make a perfect circle]. Cook on both sides and serve with curd or ketchup.

Picture of the Besan chila. Clicked by yours truly.

In my house the kids and elders love it equally. Do let me know if you like the recipe and are motivated to try it. Also if you have any more twist in the recipe ideas do share. Love to hear from you.

Christmas DIY part I

We are in the second week of December and for some reason it just doesn't feel like Christmas. In my part of the world even the proverbial 'nip in the air' is missing. Tried surrounding myself with the colour of the season, but sigh! not much use. Was going through some old pictures. Came across simple Christmas DIY I made last year. This immediately lifted my spirits. Hence I decided to share it on the post here.

Christmas Bells:

One of the important association with Christmas is the Christmas bells. I decided to make them myself. 

1. Picked thermocol glasses and painted them in red and gold as shown below.
2. Then I made a hole at the base of the glasses and inserted a decorative thread across each glass. 
3. At the base of the thread I hung tiny bells [as shown in the right hand side picture below]. 
4. I then completed the look with a golden lace bow. 

 These bells are ready to be hung from the ceiling of the room or on the Christmas tree, or from the door etc...

Cherry:

Another association with Christmas are the cherries. I didn't really like the ones readily available in the market hence decided to make it myself. I used epoxy bond for the purpose. 

1. Handcrafted tiny balls for cherry and coloured them red
2. Next I made the leaves and coloured them green. I decided to make the veins on the leaf with 3D glitter
3. Tadda its ready [picture below]

These can be either put up on the christmas tree or many such can be made and put at the base of a candle.

I sure had fun making these Christmas decorations. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much. Do drop a line to describe how you liked it. If it inspires you to copy the DIY please do send across a picture of your work, I would love to see it.

Standby for the part II ...

P.S.: Please note, when I made the christmas bells I wasn't aware of the side effects of thermocol on our planet. Please avoid using thermocol for any decoration at all.

Upscaling used plastic containers

Much against our wishes we all use the dreaded 'plastic' in various forms - carry bags, tiffin boxes, storage boxes, readymade food containers, cosmetic bottles, etc... We throw these containers once their utility ends. I thought of trying and upscaling these containers or atleast some of them. Besides I like to facelift old things to enable them new use. 

Below are pictures of some of the upscaled old plastic containers, they are simple self explanatory DIYs. 

In the below picture I have used a curd container. 

• Cleant it and decorated it with a decorative tape at the base and 3D outliner on the body. 
• This can be used as a planter or as a container to hold the TV/music system remote controllers or to hold mobile chargers etc...

In the below picture I have re-purposed old moisturiser bottle. The bottle is cleant cut and decorated as per desire. These could be used as mobile charger holder.

I got a brainwave and thought of using the same container as a notepad holder. It can hold a few cut blank paper and a pen.

I am ofcourse very thrilled with my work. I had fun crafting these. Do write to me if this inspires you to follow. 

Click here for some more recycled designs.

My Mehandi designs ...

Mehandi is the traditional art of painting the hands, feet or body with a paste made from the powdered, dried leaves of the henna plant. Coffee, lemon, tea, and essential oils are sometimes added to help get darker colours.  In the ancient times it was applied to cool down the body, usually a large dot was applied to the palms and feet. Slowly I guess someone with an artistic bent of mind tried out various shapes and patterns. As a child I remember mehandi was applied using thin sticks. Now the paste is put in cones and applied.

In different cultures and regions different type of mehandi prevails e.g. traditionally the rajasthani mehandi is different from the gujarati mehandi or the arabic mehandi. I guess with the advent of means of communications the typcial regional designs have given way to more contemporary designs.

Mehandi are applied during wedding ceremonies, baby shower, festivals like karwa chauth, teej, diwali etc...

I am completely mehandi crazy, I need no reason or season to adorn my palms. Unfortunately I can't use my left hand as well I use my right, hence its usually the left palm that gets the design on it.

Below are pictures of designs made by me on my palms. 

I am at a nascent stage of applying mehandi on my feet. As and when I get better with it, I will post those pictures. Do write in to me if you liked my trials with this beautiful ancient art and the original Tatto. Incase you have any mehandi tales do write to me.

Kids activity

Its a tough job to keep the child off screens, given the variety of screens we have in this generation. So, one evening my son was in that irritable mood for no rhyme or reason. Didn't want to colour/write/read books etc... I kept on wondering what I should do other than whack him.

Remembered I had some stickers in my craft box. Pulled it out. Then picked up an old used curd container [clean one].

Tissue paper holder

.........and the child friendly home saga continues. In the same spirit I decided to make a tissue paper holder. Yes my beautiful ceramic tissue paper holders have broken in the past and I cant go through this pain again, not to even get to the cleaning of the mess part.

Here is my beautiful tissue paper basket woven with old newspaper.

Clearly I am in love with my work hence clicked it from different angles.... :)

In case this interests you, below are pictures of the DIY in a nutshell.

Applying a primer before coloring helps in giving it an even finish. Do drop in a line to tell me what you think of my work, love to hear from you.

Handmade coaster basket

Having a child proof home is a tough job and takes forever to do so. Simple things like the beautiful coaster stands and cruet sets have a life of couple of hours in a house with a child living in it.

Talking of coaster stands, I have had my share of many broken ones. Hence I decided to make a child proof coaster basket. I decided to use the newspaper weaving method for this.

Below are picture of steps involved in its making. Make the skeleton for the desired shape, weave to form the shape, prime the finished product and colour of your choice. Simple! 

Below is a picture of the finished product. I am very happy with the result. What do you think?

Coloring the newspaper weaved products are tricky. The crevices somehow don't take well to coloring. In case someone has any tips/tricks please do share for the benefit of other readers. I would love to hear from you.

Pretty handmade utility items

I like the idea of creating things from scratch. I have made many pretty handmade utility items. This post displays these.

Below is a picture of an Udbatti stand made from epoxy compound, decorated with sequins. 

I liked the white and blue effect and made another set of Udbatti stand [shaped like a modak] and paper weight [coiled]. Below is the picture that displays it

Happy with my work I thought I should gift it to someone. But needed something equally beautiful to wrap the gift. Decorated a plain white plastic glass. Put the paperweight and Udbattistand in it, covered with transparent wrapping paper and gifted to a friend with love. Below is a picture of the plastic decorated glass. 

Unfortunately I do not have the picture of the wrapped gift. But do drop me a line with your comments. I would like to hear from you.

Post Diwali

Hello lovely people. How have you been. I've been missing the colours, diyas and all festivities of Diwali. Decided to overcome my withdrawal symptoms by bringing some colours indoor. Below are pictures of what I did.

Feeling happy happy now :) Flowers really do have the potential to lift up spirits. What do you think? Do drop your comments below. Love to hear from you.

Tulasi puja rangoli 2014

Hello everyone am sure you are enjoying the last batch of sweets and savories of the festive season. Yeah last because its just a couple of days for the Diwali season to end officially. Tulasi Puja this year can be celebrated anyday between Nov 3 to Nov 6 2014. I Celebrated it today. 

The space challenge in the metros does not permit one a luxury of having a proper Tulasi madan. The Tulasi is placed in the grill space outside the windows. Therefore an elaborate do is pretty restrictive. But like you know by now I am not going to let this challenge spoil the fun. Look below how I seek divine blessing...........

I painted my prayers on a small card sheet and offered it to the holy plant.
Made an elaborate Tulasi madan rangoli outside my house. 

I am sure in love with my work.... clicked it from different angles, lit and non-lit

Am feeling happy happy with my work. So what you think of it? Do drop me a line, I would love to hear from you.

Do drop me a line as to how you faced any other festive challenge.

Diwali 2014 vignettes Part II

Welcome back. Yea yeah I know many asked me about my rangolis this year and I haven't responded. The part II is all about Diwali Rangolis!!

This year I tried something new. I tried the underwater rangoli. Below are pictures of my underwater rangoli alongside shoeflowers and brass diyas.

Below are pictures of the floor rangolis. I drew lotus, butterfly, peacock, abstracts etc.. 

I wanted to bring rangolis indoors, but it runs the risk of being stamped. So I painted my prayers all around the house. On the floors, kitchen window, all window sills and also behind the curtains. Yeah I did go berserk with the rangolis this year. Rangolis just lift up the spirits, bring positive energy and are oh so festive!!

Do drop a line, I would love to hear from you. How was your diwali, do share some pictures.

Click here for the part I. Click here for Diwali Inspiration.

Diwali 2014 vignettes - Part I

Hey you lovely people, how was Diwali?? I had a lot of fun and went berserk this Diwali decorating my house. So much so that it takes two posts to present my diwali vignettes. This post is part one.

Below is a picture of decorated door and window. Yes yes you can see my handmade toran and wall hangings here. Of course I used them ;). Dont miss the gold lace on my curtains.

Here is a picture of my festival centerpiece. Brass and Marigold are absolutely killer combination isn’t it. It just sets the right tone for the festival. I loved the idea of paint your prayers. Kolam on pebbles are an inspiration from Archana Srinivas of Rang-Decor. Thank you Archana!

Below is a picture of my Kandeel, floral arrangement and handmade kundan rangoli [made by yours truly]

 

And here's appeasing the goddess of wealth!! 

The valley between haves and havenots is much much deeper than meets the eyes, may the goddess of wealth fill it with abundance.....

Standby for the part II of my Diwali vignettes.............. any guesses what its about?

Do drop a line, happy to hear from you.
Click here for Diwali inspiration.

Happy Diwali 2014

Happy Diwali

Light from my home to yours.
May your diwali be filled with light, love, abundance and
all things good.

Diwali inspiration

Diwali the festival of lights, is here!! I love the rows of diyas, kandeel, sweets and everything associated with diwali. Just thought of posting some diwali inspiration pictures from last year. 

Below are pictures of the Diwali decor. Have used brass, silver, plants, dried flowers etc...

 Diwali decor pictures from diwali '13

In my case no festival is complete without my favourite rangoli art. Below are pictures of some of the rangolis drawn during diwali '13

Rangoli pictures from diwali '13

Do drop a line I would love to hear from you.

DIY Diwali Toran

Toran also called Bandanwaars has a very important place in every Indian Hindu household. Its a decorative hanging over the entrance. Torans are made of many materials viz: Flowers, Mango leaves, Rudraksha, Beads, Wool, Thread work and now the more contemporary acrylic and what not!

Mango leaves are considered to be very very important part of a Toran. These leaves signify freshness, prosperity and an incident free year with the hope of a good harvest [almost forgotten in our urban existence]. For most festivals we do have a fresh flowers and mango toran. 

In addition, I have been looking out for interesting decorative Torans. I have been seeing the same kinds of Toran in the market for many years. Besides being expensive every other person seems to have it. Hence I decided to make one myself.

Used the following materials to do so.

Materials used for making my Toran

Procedure:

1. Make a paper cutout as shown in the above pic. Place it over a swede or any material and cut out as many mango leaves as needed. 
2. Next decorate the leaves to make the veins and add flowers to them. [As shown in the picture below]
3. String all decorative materials together. I have used a golden lace here. [As shown in the picture below]

Close up of the Toran, check the veins, flowers and the golden lace

The final product

And the Toran is ready!! Hang it at the entrance of the main door or on to any entrance or window!

Do drop a line, I would love to hear from you. Incase this post inspires to try it for yourself do post a pic here. It will be great to see your work.

DIY wall hanging

I have gotten into a great Diwali mood after making this pretty hangings. This DIY is from old newspaper. Do let me know what you think of it. Make it yourself in four easy steps!

 Picture of the wall hanging made by yours truly

Procedure:

Sorry I didn’t remember to click pics at the time of making this piece, but its very easy am sure the instructions will help.

1.  Make newspaper rolls and then coils [many tutorials available on the net to do so]
2. Prime and colour the coiled pieces with desired colours
3. Decorate them with mirrors/kundans/etc [picture shown below]
4. String them together [close up picture shown below]

 picture of the decoration materials used

Close up of the wall hanging strung together

Use them as wall hangings, window or door hangings. Do drop a line I would love to hear from you.

More Diwali decor and inspiration coming soon!

Contemporary Rangoli for small spaces

This post continues to answer the saga of small spaces in the metros and therefore no space to keep the tradition of Rangoli alive. 

This is also just in time for the festival of lights. Trust this will give you a few design ideas. Given below are some of my own Rangoli designs drawn on a tile of about 12 X 12 inch. 

I hope I have demonstrated compelling possibilities of keeping up the Rangoli tradition in the cities with little space! Do drop a line if this inspires you.

Craft

I tried my hand at some craft. These are done using mixed mediums namely foam, cardboard, velvet paper, sequins, mirrors, lace, ribbons etc..

These can be used indoors or outdoors as re-arrangable reusable rangolis, coasters or wall art.

9 ratri, 9 raas, 9 rang.............

And the festival of colours is here! I am so excited. It means many things to many people in my country. For some bringing home durga ma, for some kali maa pandal visits, garba, gollu, Ravan dahan, feast etc.. All these excite and interest me. It is a time when generally people are happy and high!

• I love the gollu. I am not a Tamilian hence do not know the rules of the set up. Nonetheless I will not let it dampen my spirit. In keeping with my tradition of having a center piece for every festival in my house, I have made a representation of the gollu. Many things like the kalaash, Marapacchi, Chettiar dolls, Ashta Laxmi, Dash avaatar, lit deepa etc.. are conspicuous by its absence. I have included the kolam by drawing it on a chart paper. Below are pictures of my dolls display.

Pictures of the dolls display at my house this year

• And last but not the least the Garba. For these nine nights my gujju blood surfaces. And I get into a frenzy of the garba raas. Haaalo re!

My Garba outfit and accessories
So ladies and gentlemen enjoy this beautiful festival. Allow the shakti and the demon within ourselves to battle and may the shakti win over our inner demons.