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.