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Kids Christmas Ornament Craft!!

Yayy!!! 50 days until christmas.

Last year was first time, I have set up the tree with store-bought ornaments/decorations. We had friends over for dinner for almost all through December. Since it was our first time, we were too excited and had multiple photo sessions 😉

Here is a picture of us – Christmas 2013 🙂

This year, I definitely need more ornaments for my 6 FT Faux Christmas tree 🙂

I came across some really fancy ornaments and holiday decorations, sadly they cost a pretty penny.

So, this year it is going to be D.I.Y ornaments and I am super excited to start my series with some amazing projects.

Well, in my first series it is going to be a kids chirstmas Ornament craft.

Pipe cleaner/Chennile Stem Ornaments

I loveee them 🙂

So all you need is a scale and some white and red stems from dollar store/walmart.

Star

Measure the stems ( mine are 30 cms). Divide the stem to 5 equal parts ( 6 cm each side) and form 3 v’s and join the ends.

Snowflake

Measure the white stem and cut 6 equal parts(10 cms each – total 2 stems). Bind 2 together which makes 3 stems. Now form “V” shape at each end and join together with a white piece of stem.

Candy Cane

Take each of white and red stem and twist. Bend it into half and further twist and shape it. You can add a bow too with green stem.

And, you now have the pretty ornaments ready to decorate it any way you choose 🙂

See you in my next series 🙂

Rangoli – Diwali S9

Rangoli is a folk art from India in which patterns are created on the floor. It is an integral part of Indian festivals. They are meant to be sacred welcoming areas of Hindu deities. The purpose of this colorful art is decoration and also considered that it brings good luck.

So, how about making some colored filling for rangoli patterns?

Well, in my Diwali – Series 9, I have dyed/colored rice recipe(from pinterest).

You can use sooji/semolina/farina for finer look 🙂

Let’s see what you need:

Rice/Sooji

Vinegar

Ziplock

Food colors(gel)

To dye them:

Step 1: Fill ziplock with 2 cups of rice/sooji

Step 2: Add 2 tsp of vinegar

Step 3: Add the food color

Step 4: Lock it and mix it well.

Step 5: Dry them overnight or in the sun(20 minutes)

To use these, pick a rangoli pattern and draw with chalk.

Fill dyed/colored rice and use a paint brush to spread the grains evenly.

For finer look fill the pattern with colored Sooji.

And here is the final look. Isn’t that beautiful?? It did enhance the simple pattern.

Here are some of my other free hand rangoli designs.

DIY Diwali Diya

The earthen oil diya is most important thing for the festival of lights( Diwali). Diya is an oil lamp, usually made from clay, with a cotton wick dipped in vegetable oil or ghee(clarified butter). They are native of India and are lighted for all festivals and auspicious occasions.

The process might sound tedious but as a kid, I always loved doing it and after lightening them it looks beautiful and festive.

Lately, we use candles for multiple reasons but the authentic feel diyas give cannot be replaced. If you are living outside India, the price and supply might limit the use of these traditional lamps.

So today, for my Diwali – Series 8, I have something to share where you don’t have to compromise on using the traditional ones and still remain within budget 🙂

Aren’t they beautiful? And yes, you are right, they are pot saucers. Don’t they almost look like the ones we get in India. And the best part is you can get multiple sizes and yet pay less.

The large ones can be found @ nursery section of any home improvement store for 60c-80c. I got mine @ Lowes during sale. The small one’s are from hobby lobby or can be found at any craft store(Jo ann/Micheals) for $1.50 (6 pieces) with 40% off coupon.

The other thing I enjoyed as kid is soaking them in water. It was fun watching the changing colors as they soak water, air bubbles popping from the diyas and the earthy smell 🙂

Soak for 30 minutes and dry. To paint them use regular or metallic acrylic paints and to further decorate you can use sequins/beads/ or any other embellishments. I love the combination of natural terra-cotta and colors.

For few saucers, I used painters tape to create design. They dry within an hour and don’t need lot of tools.

You can light them up with oil and cotton wicks and they look like traditional clay lamps 🙂

Cheers!

See you in my next post.

Tip of the week – Diwali S7

Candles are great when it comes to decoration, because they instantly set the mood. And they are inexpensive and suitable for any occasion.

For Diwali – festival of lights I want to customize and use them in every creative way. So, in my search I found really cool way to turn any glass/bowl into a beautiful candle holder.

Yes, and it works great. I got the candle floating wicks kit @ Hobby lobby for less than $2 😉 The kit has 3 reusable floats and a lot of wicks.

So, all you need is a container wide enough to fit the plastic floats, food color/pebbles or anything that you use for regular floating candles.

Fill the glass bowl with water and add food color.

Add vegetable oil making sure there aren’t any air bubbles. Use a spoon to avoid so.

Insert wick to the float and leave it carefully.

Use a wine glass, glass bowl or used candle containers and enjoy the beautiful and radiant flickers of these candles 🙂

Happy Thursday !!

Kids Craft – Diwali S6

Kids are on fall break and you must be wondering how to keep them occupied, while you are busy with Diwali preparations? Then look no further 🙂

Here is an easy peasy way to make collage Diyas from card stock or scrapbook paper 🙂 Kids will absolutely enjoy making these colorful diya’s and can be used in multiple ways.

So, lets get started :

Step 1: Take a card stock/scrapbook/glitter paper and cut into circles. For each diya you need 3 circles(1 can be a little larger).

Step 2: Fold in half twice, with the wrong sides together. That makes 4 equal parts. Mark petal shape at one corner of the folding and cut as marked. Open the circles and lay flat.

Step 3: Glue 3 pieces together to form the base of diya like shown below.

Step 4: For the flame part, you can either cut shapes or use the petal cut outs and glue the pieces.

Step 5: Use painters tape to avoid glue marks and they stick very well on almost all surfaces.

And you have beautiful and colorful collage Diya pieces to decorate your kids room, entry door or accent wall, and don’t forget to make Diwali cards 😉

Have fun!!

DIY Return Gifts!!

Return gifts are special and always remain as memory. There are a ton of ideas however, traditional ones are unique looking.

I have one such item to share that you can make from Polymer Clay. When I first saw on FB page – It’s clay world, I was really impressed and wanted to make something similar. And the time was perfect, just before Varamahalakshmi Pooja 2014.

So, I couldn’t wait and made couple of sets for friends and was very overwhelmed by the compliments 🙂 This is how my poly clay thamboolam set look 🙂

These fridge magnets are amazing and I lovveeee them!!

For each set there is a blouse piece(blue color), flowers, haldi n kumkum, beetal nut and leaves, flowers, bangle, muruku, choc barfi, banana and one half of coconut.

To make the miniature banana, followed a miniature fruit tutorial on youtube and made flowers with a fondant flower plunger.

The technique used to make the coconut is:

Step 1 : Take equal proportions of brown and white clay and roll it flat.

Step 2: To shape, use a marble or bake scrap clay into a tiny ball. Dip the clay ball or marble into corn/rice flour and lay the white rolled clay and cover with brown clay. Shape it as shown below.

Step 3: Use a toothpick to create the coconut texture and make 3 hollows. If needed refrigerate for few mins to hold the shape.

Step 4: Bake the pieces for 10 minutes @ 275F /130 C. Once cool trim off the edges with a sharp blade.

Step 5: To get more realistic look, use gloss varnish or clear nail polish to glaze the white part.

Rest pieces are handmade.

Lastly, to assemble, I picked dipping sauce cups from Vietnamese store and glued with super glue 🙂

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and please don’t forget to leave your thoughts.

Coconutty!!

Finally, I have an yummy recipe and super excited to add to my Diwali series -5.

Well, I didn’t want to compromise on my gluten-free diet and have been looking for a while that is simple, quick yet delicious. And most important gluten and grain free.

So, here is a new version of Coconut Ladoo (snack balls).

Don’t they look deliciious!!

The main ingredients that make these ladoos unique is Coconut flour and Coconut Sugar. The flour has natural flavor and also extraordinarily absorbent. Awesome thing is a little flour makes a lot 😉

All you need is 5 ingredients and 15 minutes – Makes 8 small ladoos

Coconut Flour – 1/4 cup

Coconut Sugar – 1/4 cup

Almond & Cashew -1/4 cup (Grounded) or your choice of nuts

Butter/Clairifed Butter – 2 tbsps

Poppy seeds, clove & Cardomon – 2 tbsps (grounded) or spices of your choice

How you make:

Step 1: Heat a pan on medium flame, add butter and the spice mix(poppyseed,C & C) and let it fry for a min or so.

Step 2 : Add coconut flour and the grounded nuts. Mix well and roast until brown for 5-7 minutes.

Step 3: Switch off the flame and add sugar and mix it well.

Step 4 : Leave it aside until you can handle it and also helps the sugar to bind well.

Step 5: If you find it dry add 1-2 tsp of cold milk and form into laddos.

These laddo’s are totally unique in taste and will be gone before you know it 😉

Variety is always good, so share with your friends and family this Diwali and make it little extra special.

See you soon in my next post 🙂

Dramatic Dahlia – Diwali S4

Gaint paper Dahlias are my new love and I can’t stop staring at them.

Dahlias are my favorite flower. Making with paper is fun because, there is no green thumb required 😉 and you can make any color, any size. They are so amazing that I couldn’t wait to add to my Diwali Decor list.

Most of the projects on internet are wreaths or wall decor. I’ve been itching to do something beyond.

And Tadaahhh!! This is a great to project to create a bright and colorful center piece.

Aren’t they wonderful!! I am sure you are staring at them too 😉

I’m jus posting a few step-by-step photos and details because you can find a great video tutorial by HGTV crafters here.

I picked card stock from Hobby lobby @ 50% sale.

And for the base of flowers repurposed a sturdy milk carton box that has a nice open space for holding, which I think is perfect because you can use that gap to hang, especially if you ever want to use it as Wreath.

So, I started making 4 circles (4 tier) in different diameters. It was random as I wasn’t sure on the results. Made the 1st flower, then next size little small, making sure it shows up some of the colors beneath and continued to do the rest.

For the purpose of tutorial, I measured them and here are the details of the total diameter of the flower, diameter of the base cardboard circle and the measurements of the cut paper for petals.

1st and the base flower – I used Fall colors and added a Diya. You can also use this as “Diwali Wreath”

Diameter of the flower – 20 inches

Diameter of the base cardboard circle – 11 inches

Petals- 5 each of 4 colors of card stock, cut into 4X4 pieces.

So for each color you will have 20 pieces that are sufficient to cover the diameter mentioned above. Now turn them into cones/petals. And the inner most layer 3×3 inches from left over orange shade card stock.

Once the 5 rows of petals are glued, covered the inside part of circle with a contrasting piece of card stock and with the left over pieces a DIYA cut out 🙂 ______________________________________________________________________________________________

2nd Dahlia – I was really excited, but by the time the first one is done, I was very confused on the colors 😉 I tried on green shades and it worked perfect 🙂

Diameter of the flower – 15.5 inches

Diameter of the base cardboard circle – 6.5 inches

Petals – The base you need 5 sheets each of 2 lighter shades of green (4X4 inches) and for the dark green 3 sheets of 3×3 inches pieces.

So, total you will use approx 18-20 cones for the bottom 2 rows and the top most row 12 cones.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

3rd Dahlia – I kept this flower simple because the more you fill, it gets difficult to add the 4th flower. Or you can make a complete Dahlia at this stage and skip the 4th flower.

Diameter of the flower – 13 inches

Diameter of the base cardboard circle – 4.5 inches

Petals – I picked 4 sheets of 2 colors, cut 4×4 inch pieces of dark pink and light pink 3×3 inch pieces. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

4th n Final one – The smallest flower filled in 3 layers of petals and glued on a candle holder to place a LED candle.

Diameter of the flower – 7 inches

Diameter of the base cardboard circle – 2.8-3 inches

Petals – Red color 2 sheets and make 2×2 inch pieces and make cones.

Yayyy!! Flowers are ready 🙂

To assemble, I tried to repurpose old salt boxes and couple of candle stick holders from Dollar tree.

Supplies needed are:

To assemble :

Place the big cardboard cylinder shaped block as base of the center piece like show below :

Next glue the candle stick holders to each of the flowers and add to the 1st tier.

Now add the small cylinder shaped ring and place the final Dahlia and the LED Candle. Since it is paper, using a real candle can be fire hazardous.

And here is another view of the Tiered Paper Dahlia Center Piece

The other ways of decorating these Gaint Paper Dahlias are

1. Cute Dahlia Tealight Holders in solid or multiple colors. Place a real or LED candle.

2. Table center piece (Console table/coffee table/dining table) or for any special occasions.

4. Another way is to hang the pieces individually on a narrow wall and they look gorgeous.

5. The last and most common way is Wreath. Wreath is not our tradition but the Diya cut out is convincing 🙂

Isn’t it cool to make a project that can be used in multiple ways 😉

Hope you enjoyed it and please don’t forget to leave your thoughts.

Tip of the week!

Here are couple of tips on how to decorate your home this Diwali and make it really pop.

Diwali – Series 3

Easy Washi tape Candles or candle holders

You can buy the small tea light holders or clear cup candles @ IKEA and to make them simply wrap a piece of tape around the outside of candle or the holder and that’s it 🙂

Long Drinking Glasses & Floating Candles

Long glasses or Wine glasses are great to use with candles. You can buy them @ dollar store or Walmart.

Fill the glass with water and put the floating candles on it 🙂

For more chic look throw in some pebbles, colored sand, fake or real rose petals, gold or colored glitter, some leaves or flowers from your garden or even some food color.

Happy Thursday!!

Fabulously Floral!!

Here is Diwali – Series 2, a fun project on Carnations.

Many people don’t like carnations, but I love them despite the fact that they don’t have fragrance. May be because I haven’t seen many in my life. The best ones usually are from North-east part of India.

Anyways, they are my favorite and today I have a tutorial on how you can make them with Kitchen paper towels.

They can be used to decorate as table center-piece with Diwali thali and diyas, Diwali wreath with some paper diya cut outs and LED tea lights or jus stick them on to your home accent wall. They would be perfect and add style to any room 🙂

Aren’t they gorgeous!!

So lets get started and see what you need :

Kitchen paper towels (VIVA/Scott brand) for 1 flower=2 towels

Water colors of your choice

Normal or design edge scissors

Stapler and a pencil

Step 1 : Take 2 kitchen paper towels, fold them twice and staple together(in the center)

Step 2 : Lay a grocery/plastic bag and place the folded paper towels. Mix watercolor of your choice with water(1/10 ratio). Use a brush or a spoon and start from center. Pour enough, making sure it bleeds through all layers.

Step 3: Let them dry overnight( close to 6 hours). Use a bowl or any other object that helps in drawing a circle. I used a design edge scissors to get the natural look of petals.Starting from center crumple up the first layer and repeat with each layer(16 times).