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.