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DIWALI – Series 1 – Felt Lantern Decor

Hello Friends,

Its is little less than 5 weeks for one of the biggest and brightest festivals of India 🙂

Yes DIWALI – festival of lights.

And I am so excited to come up with Diwali Series where I am going to share some DIY projects and tips to decorate your home or a simple yummy dessert to impress your guests 🙂

This is brightest day because the houses are illuminated and also the sky with fireworks/firecrackers 🙂

So, in my first series, I have a home decor that adds so much color. Yes the felt lanterns, and they cost a little.

It is an easy pattern that most of us have already made/know it and usually done with paper. But for me, felt lanterns have a better look. However, paper are very crisp and stay in shape. So, it is just personal choice to choose felt or paper.

So, lets get started:

Materials you need are felt sheets(20-30 cents each) in the colors of your choice, string/yarn/rope and scissors.

Each sheet of 9X12 inch dimension would make 8 lanterns.

Step 1 : Cut the sheet 8 equal parts

Step 2: Fold the piece to half lengthwise . Start cutting from the folded edge moving towards the end and leaving close to an inch. They should look like in the pic below. Unfold them and keep ready to glue the ends.

Step 3: Match the long ends of the lantern together and glue. Once the pieces are ready, use scrap yarn/string and they are ready to use. To make them hang like bunting make sure you use needle and embroidery floss thread and sew the lanterns together. That way it keeps them in place 🙂

Hope you enjoyed this simple, quick and an inexpensive tutorial to decor your home for this festival 🙂

Happy Friday and see you next in my Diwali Series – 2 🙂

DIY Wire and bead earrings

I wanted to buy a pair of copper earrings for long but they are very expensive. After my visit to Jerome ( the copper mining town) looking at the prices, I decided to leave poly clay jewelry for a while and get back to beads and wire 😉

I started looking online for some inspiration and found very cute bird nest and eggs earrings, pendants and rings 🙂 I loved them and wanted to make a pair. You can make out the process from the pictures. However, to get the perfect and cute look I looked up on youtube for tutorials and there are a ton 🙂

I couldn’t wait anymore and in jus 20 minutes I could do a pair(had the material on hand). Even otherwise, you don’t need a lot to get started.

And here are my copper earring n pendant set 🙂

Here are the links to make these cute sets 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUroGDn_zS0 – for a natural twig sort of look

Last year when I just started bead jewelry, found this multicolored wire @ Biglots for $3. I bought it but never used 😉 Finally, time has come 😉

Or you can use a 26 gauge Artistic wire like shown below:

And I have these 3 beautiful sets. Can’t wait to make more with rest of the colored wire spools 😉

Have a great day!!

DIY Necklace!!

My husband says I am into “Polydiction”. Hehe, yes, Polymer Clay addiction.

You can create beautiful pieces and when it comes to Jewelry, something that absolutely match your outfit.

So, if you are new to polymer clay and not confident yet, this easy tutorial will kick-start the fun 😉

All you need is a ball of matching clay, matching beads(plastic, acrylic, glass or anything on hand) and some fishing line(@Walmart)

If you are new to beading on fishing line this is a great tutorial on how to add clasp to the necklace

Lets get started:

Firstly, decide on the size of the necklace. I wanted a 28″ – 30″ necklace. Since this is a combination of bead and poly discs, you approx need an equal number of beads and poly clay discs.

Preparing the discs. Make tiny balls of clay(approx 40) and press gently between your thumb and index finger and you will have flattened clay(looks like disc). Then, using a tooth pick or a needle make an indent the center.

I use Sculpey, so baked it @ 275 F (130 C) for 20 mins.

Lastly, using fishing line, bead the baked discs and the beads and a pretty necklace is ready 🙂

Isn’t it super easy and fun to make??

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

TGIF n Happy weekend!!

Tip of the week!!

You know, when you buy clothes some of them come with an extra button. All of us save for the possible accident 🙂 There might be a case you never use and the button stock is growing 😉

Time to put them to use. One of the Pinterest users pinned it and mentioned “Earring storage for traveling”. Thought it is a cool idea to share 🙂

Happy Thursday!!

Cardboard Shelf!!

Isn’t it convenient to add a shelf in minutes?? Here is a really cool way to use a carton box.

All you need is some empty boxes that you might have collected from Costco or from any other purchase. IKEA boxes also work well!!

So, pick a box of desired size and cover it with some self adhesive/contact paper or using Elmers glue add some fancy scrapbook paper or even a gift wrap and you have a fancy shelf.

You can buy the wood like contact paper from dollar store(http://www.dollartree.com/household/storage-organization/Brown-Wood-Grain-Adhesive-Shelf-Liners-18-x1-5-yd-Rolls/500c541c541p312317/index.pro?method=search) or Biglots. And the best part is they are easy to place on the wall using a push pin or a tiny nail.

Here are some picture of the carton box shelves I placed in our half bathroom, laundry and guest bathroom 🙂

Have a great day!!

Tip of the week!!

When I saw this on Pinterest, found it totally cool.

All you do is stick a magnet to hammer with super glue and it is really handy.

Happy Thursday!!

Wine glass charms!!

When I saw this item on etsy, I was very impressed on the how well the bottle caps were used. I couldn’t wait and wanted to make something similar. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the material(flattened bottle caps,epoxy,stamps etc) used to make these beautiful and unique charms.

I looked for some alternatives and thought why not use the left out polymer clay pieces. I couldn’t wait to try and made some cute wine glass charms with polymer clay and beer caps.

All you need is some beer caps, polymer clay scrap, hammer and nail, floral wire or jewelry eye pins and wine glass hoop.

Step 1 : Using nail and hammer create a hole to the beer cap. Most of the bottle caps have plastic sealer/liner, you need to take it off as we would be baking these with polymer clay. It takes little time but don’t worry if you are not able to get all of it out.

Step 2: You can use a jewelry eye pin. I used floral wire, cut into aprox 5 inch length and using round nose pliers made similar to eye pin and insert to the cap. Cut off any excess wire. If you don’t have nose pliers, you can use skewers or toothpick.

Step 3: Using the scrap polymer clay fill the caps making sure it is covered well without any gaps. To remove fingerprints and to get a texture I used a kitchen towel and rubbed over it.

Step 4: Bake for 20 minutes @ 270 F(130 C). Let them cool completely and they are ready to decorate with sharpie markers or acrylic paints. I kept them simple.

And you have these cute and unique wine glass charms/markers ready to use for your next party!!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

It can be a great handmade gift for Christmas or a friend who loves to wine!!

Have a great day!!

DIY Ganesha (Elephant God) Clay Idol!!

Ganesha Chaturthi, one of my favorite festival, also known as ‘Vinayak Chaturthi’ or ‘Vinayaka Chavithi’ is celebrated by Hindus around the world as the birthday of Lord Ganesha (Elephant God). Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles.

The story behind elephant head has many versions. The most common of these stories is that Ganesha was created by Parvati (Mother of Ganesha) using clay to protect her and Shiva(Father of Ganesha) unknowingly beheaded him when Ganesha came between Shiva and Parvathi. Shiva then replaced Ganesha’s original head with that of an elephant.

He is also called as Ekadanta (One Tusked), referring to his single whole tusk, the other being broken. You will notice it in all of the ganesha idols and pictures.

So, it is our 4th year of pooja, post our wedding. The first year I got a pure clay idol(Singapore) and added some colors. And last 2 years I was attending “Make your own Ganesha” workshop conducted by Mahaganapti Temple of Arizona.

This year I was very excited to make an idol. There are many videos on youtube. My sister and I did it together(virtually on Skype) and thought it would be easy to share the video we followed. We have chosen a theme and she did a ganesha on Veena (Indian musical instrument) and I did mine with tablas(indian musical instruments). Since it is in regional Indian language(Telugu) sharing couple of other versions too.

Video I followed – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZgSH_kp-cQ

The other videos – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV-A6ID5OLA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbT6UP2DBUc

And this is our Ganesha look 🙂

In India you don’t have to worry about clay, and if you are in US, you have couple of options of clay to use. I used Das Terracota Air dry modeling clay. However, you can also use Mexican pottery clay available @ craft stores like HobbyLobby n Michaels.

Hope you make a cute Ganesha idol and have a happy Ganesh Pooja in advance.

Thank you.

Silverware holder!!

Today’s DIY project is

a. Free ( I loveeee free stuff)

b. Unique

c. Repurpose

d. Easy

And the results are stunning, here is the proof 😛

The silverware/cutlery holder is repurposed Mortan salt containers.

If you remember my previous project DIY Mason Jar Dispenser, I used the top part of the containers. After using it I didn’t feel like throwing away the rest. They were lying in the garage from very long time, some of them were used , rest were desperate for attention 😉

So, for this project all I used is a hemp cord that matches the dinner placemats(DIY Dinner Placemats)and some Elmers all purpose glue and covered it with patience. It took little long as the hemp cord is thin, however if you use jute rope twine it would be quick.

So,here is the pictorial tutorial:

You can use a copy paper and cover the inside part or leave it natural.

There are few other ways you can use them.

1. The very first container saved was converted into toothbrush holder for our guest bathroom. I covered the cardboard container with self adhesive sheet and put a plastic cover. And it looks perfect 🙂

2. And then, after few months, I saw a tutorial on how to convert a food can using scrap fabric. So, this time I covered it with fabric agin using Elmers glue and use it as pen holder for our office/craft desk. I love it too 🙂

3. The other way I used is covering it with scrap yarn and made a multipurpose holder for my dresser.

Isn’t it a fun project to use up things that would otherwise be thrown away. And also easy to customize and match to any occasion and trust me your guests will be impressed 🙂

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and have a great day 🙂

DIY Paper Candle holders

Are u looking for a fun project for this Diwali (Indian festival of lights)??

Why not using a piece of card stock or a construction paper or even a copy sheet to make candle holders? Place an LED flameless candle and illuminate instantly.

I can’t wait to share an easy peasy way of making a bunch.

Let’s see how you can make too.

Take an copy sheet/cardstock/construction paper and fold twice.

Cut it and time to draw a design. Either you can do free hand or trace an image. Using a sharp blade or craft knife cut the design like shown below and roll into a cylinder(inside out so that you can hide any pencil marks). Either you can staple the ends or use a double sided tape or glue runner to join. And now gently open the cut design.