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Pongal – Bommala Koluvu/Golu

Hello Friends,

Last 1 month has been very busy preparing for Doll display/Golu and I can’t wait to share the pics! This year I made some more handmade dolls out of polymer clay. I had friends over to view it and they were so happy to come and see and I was really flattered with all their kind words.

I shall publish tutorials for some of them in the coming posts!

Here is the link to view the dolls closer – click here

Tutorial for 3-step display stand – click here

Tutorial for clay musical instruments – click here

Some of my favorite handmade items of this year Golu/Kolu/Bommala Koluvu are –

Cheers!

Dollar store cake stand

Happy 2016!

I can’t wait to publish my first post of the year and share a fun project with you all 🙂

So, for my mini celebration cake I wanted a suitable size cake stand and decided to DIY. Pinterest has lot of ideas and the most favorite is the dollar tree cake stand. It is super easy and costs $2.

I love how you can use any size plate you desire and make a perfect stand.

To make this cutie – all you need is a glass candle stick, glass plate and glue.

To glue the pieces E-6000 is the perfect one!

It really bonds well and does a better work than many other strong glues 🙂

Just apply a ring of glue on top of the candle stick, center it and place the plate on top and press it firmly.

Let it dry overnight and you have an awesome little cake stand ready to use 🙂

I love how it turned and since they are inexpensive you can have them in multiple sizes 🙂

Cheers!!

Note : The mini Wilton cake tins are from here and followed this easy and quick recipe.

Thank you!

This is the last blog post for this year and I am so pleased to say it has been busy and a productive year.

I am very grateful to have you all as readers and followers of my blog page (124 countries and most visitors from USA, UK and India) and cannot thank enough for all the nice words and love you have shown!

Here is how 2015 in blogging looks 🙂

Most popular post of the year – Faux Marigold Decorations

Most attractive post of the year – DIY Diwali Diya

Most viewed post of the year – Dramatic Dahlia

Most useful post of the year – Bommala Koluvu/Golu/Kolu

Most viewed post of the year – Canvas wall art

Most referring sites – Facebook and Pinterest

I am very happy to end 2015 peacefully and contended about how we are and what we are doing:-) can’t wait for a fresh start!

Hoping the same with you all 🙂

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, joyful and prosperous new year – 2016!

Mason Jar spice storage

My love for mason jars continues. I love my kitchen pantry filled (re-organized in 2013) with mason jars and it looks perfect and organized. Here is a glimpse 😉

Well, now I decided to clean up my spice rack, organize and give it a better look. I decided to go with mason jars for all my Indian spices and started looking for right size containers and finally came across these Jelly Jars online for $8 box (12 jars).

These are good but a little small but i love how cute they look. An 8-ounce jar would be an absolute size for 100 gms Indian spice box 🙂

Once you have the jars it is pretty easy!

I got this Chalk paint and marker from Michaels and gave 2 coats and let it dry overnight.

Just to make sure I don’t have to unscrew or screw back on two things, I decided to glue the pieces with hot glue gun 🙂

And used a chalk marker to label and VIOLA!

If you are working on kitchen organization – mason jars are perfect for you! They come in multiple sizes and are great as storage containers.

Cheers!

Dollar Tree Pennant Banner

Sorry friends, its been a while I posted anything on my blog. Life has been little crazy( allergies, sickness etc) and finally feels good to get back to routine..:-)

So, for our Anniversary celebration (this weekend) I wanted to create a simple pennant banner and was looking for ideas. I was almost ready to get the material (scrapbook paper, twine and felt letters) from Hobby which would have costed me close to $8.

But then, I happened to stop by @ Dollar Store to get some stuff to make DIY cake stand (post coming soon). That’s when I saw this cute pennant banner and grabbed one right away…;-)

I couldn’t wait to make this “CELEBRATE” party banner and I love it. It is perfect for almost any occasion and I didn’t spend more than a $1 🙂

Trust me, it costs a lot more if you DIY from scratch….

To make this you need :

Plain Pennant Banner – Dollar Tree – $1

Stencil – Already on hand

Sharpie marker – Already on hand

All you have to do it trace the letter on to each pennant and fill it with some color. I used copper sharpie marker. It is that simple 🙂

And in less than 15 minutes you have it ready!

Isn’t that cool and you have a perfect looking Party Banner ready to hang!

Keep an open mind on your next visit to your local dollar store…;-)

Cheers!

Wrapped Diwali Laddo!!

I can’t wait to share a cute and pretty way to dress up Laddos(round sweet balls) for Diwali! They look super cool and are a memorable way to share with family and friends 🙂

All you need is fancy/color tissue paper ( I found mine @ dollar store), a thin ribbon (floral section of Hobby Lobby) , cling wrap or small cellophane bags (baking section of Michaels)

Start by wrapping the Laddos in a cling wrap or small candy bags and seal with a tiny piece of cello tape.

Now, cut a rectangle piece of tissue. It should be big enough to completely cover it almost twice. Roll it and twist the ends gently. Add gold ribbon to the ends.

Use a fancy box or a favor box(this one from dollar tree) and a candle holder. That’s it, you have absolutely pretty sweet and gift box ready 🙂

These gift/favor boxes make great return gifts for Indian festivals and weddings too.

Cheers and Happy Diwali!

Diwali candle holders…

I have a bit of an obsession when it comes to Diwali decorations, and that leads to some fun and awesome projects…;-) I am going to share one such last minute project for Diwali, that is quick, easy and costs less than $5.

These flower shaped clay candle holders are my new favorite ❤

Gather your material and get ready to make these cuties 🙂

Air dry clay

Flower cookie cutter

Rolling pin

A small glass bowl ( base should fit a tea light candle)

Step 1: Knead the clay and roll out to a smooth 1/4 inch thick sheet

step 2: With the cookie cutter make some flowers.

Step 3: Gently roll the flowers with rolling pin.Then, turn the bowl upside down and place them on to the bowl and press the edges .

Step 4: Let it dry overnight. They pop out easily and place them the right side up for complete drying.

Step 5 : Once dry paint the flower holders with the color of your choice and you have beautiful candle holders ready for this Diwali!

They can also be used to create some floor patterns/rangoli with faux flowers and LED candles like here 🙂

Cheers!

Diwali Paper Luminaries..

It is just a week left for Diwali and I always have the feeling that I do not have enough decorations..;-) hehe.

Anyways, if you agree with me and are looking for last minute ideas here is a cool idea found on pinterest!

I love these paper luminaries and are super easy, quick and practical.

They are punched with thumbtacks and here is complete tutorial.

Since, I am not good @ free hand drawing – took a printout of stencil pattern and punched all along the design 🙂 (stencil patterns)

All you need is glass candle holders/LED candles

Cardstock

Foam/cork board

Thumb tack/pushpin

Printout of the pattern

Double sided tape

Place the card stock onto a piece of cork or foam sheet and lay the stencil pattern on top.

Take a pushpin/thumb tack and start punching holes making sure they are not too close

Once done, wrap it around the candle and you have pretty luminaire ready…:-)

See you in my next Diwali post!

Cheers!

Halloween Pennant !

Isn’t it fun to make your own Halloween pennant/flag post for your garden or front yard.

This easy flag post is super inexpensive and takes 15 minutes to make them! Here are the details and get ready to take up a new DIY project..;-)

Let’s see what you need :

Felt Pennants – Black or Orange ($1.99 for 2) – Hobby Lobby

Curtain trims – 1/4 yard – 50 cents – Hobby Lobby

Dowel rods – 59 cents each – Hobby Lobby

Free printables of pumpkin and bats (printed on card stock)

Word document of your favorite quote (printed on card stock)

School glue or hot glue gun

Googly eyes (optional)

So let’s make it –

Step 1: Create the flag post – glue the felt pennant onto dowel rod using hot glue gun.

Step 2 : Now add pumpkin and bat paper cutouts, the paper letter cut outs of your favorite qu0te. I also added little green trim and goggly eyes 🙂

Step 3: Do the other pennant and you have a fun decor ready!

Cheers!

DIY Crepe Paper Garland / Toran

Hand made home decor are very special and beautiful. Specially, for Indian festivals like Diwali we need a lot of decorations and variety too.;-)

And I am sure you will all agree that it is never early to have Diwali decor. So, here is a budget friendly project made with paper streamers to festoon your home.

This garland/toran can be made for less than $3.

Toran is a decorative door hanging in Hinduism, usually decorated with marigolds and mango leaves, or a string that is tied on the door with the flower on it as a part of traditional Hindu culture on the occasion of festivals and weddings.

If you want to make one too – follow this easy youtube tutorial 🙂

For this project the money spent is less, skill levels are super easy, however, you need to have a lot of patience and time to finish it.

All I did was – picked red and yellow paper streamers ( comes in pack of 2) from dollar store and with 1 red and yellow roll you can make a 7 ft garland (approx 85 inches ). To make it look Indian and traditional, I added 2 gold bells found @ Hobby Lobby.