DIY Diwali Lantern

Achooo....Achoo.....Chooooooooo......

Oops Sorry for that.

Oh No, its not the runny nose bcoz of the current bangalore weather. It's just that I was dusting the long unused space here in my blog which gave me the sneeze :)Too many cobwebs here!

Home is where the Heart is! 

Whats more fun than celebrating Diwali at home. The lights, the food, the laughter, the decorations, the people around, the family..it's the spirit and love that's enchanting about this festival.

This diwali I tried making a lantern at home. I used things lying around at home. 

Thermocol, crepe sheets, fancy silver sheets, stationary such as glue, scissors etc.

How I Made them are explained in the pictures below.

I had saved the thermocols from a package earlier and I now used them 

as a top hanger.

I then made holes 4 sides and run a string through 

it to use it as a hanger . Also a big hole is made in the centre to suspend lights inside.

I then took thick sheets of paper or thin sheet of cardboard which can bend you could say. Made 8 1" strips and stuck 2 each side and then stapled it all in a form of square

After that I used crepe papers to cover the lantern.

Last step is to stick crepe ribbons to hang down from the lantern.

And then hanged it. Lights could be suspended inside.

Hope you had a fab Diwali! And make them next time.
Watch this space for more such DIY's.

DIY Twig Craft

Oscar Wilde said, "No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist"

Oh ,What truth did this great man speak! Creativity needs an illusionistic and an experimental mind. A mind that can see beyond the regularities and similarities between the colossal things around us. Ahem, just like how you see a big fat chicken and imagine a dish of hot & steamy chicken tikka masala crossing the road..yeah..that's also the work of a ingenious brain. 

Everyone is creative in their own way. Small children are creative in ways that we adults cannot imagine. An unperturbed mind of a child is so full of ideas and imagination that it could lift a big barrel of water with its weight, shoot it in the crisp air and pour it down in its rainbow colors of rain even shying away the rain gods. Observe an ant, and you will see how creative it is in kidnapping those small droppings of food in the kitchen to its ant haven. 

The twig craft?? 

                                                     
  O.K let's come to this.

 Getting natural elements into the interior of a house gives a splendid and earthly look.

 I tried to inculcate a lot if twigs into crafting. 

Here are the things that I did.

A swarm of tiny twigs with woolen Pom Poms
in a vase that looks like , ....I guess a duck!
 Makes a good centerpiece for a table.

A hanging wall art made with twigs, leftover mount boards of used photo frames and lace. 

Another hanging wall art made with twigs and woolen. I then painted the silhouette of birds perched on it.

Branches of a tree festooned with beads adorned the huge vases. 

Note: No tree or plant was harmed or broken or felled during the making of these crafts. And if you wanna try these crafts, please do wash the twigs and stuff ,with water and drying it before working on them. 

Ok, all you ladybugs, before I hit the trundle and snore to wake up my neighbors, wish me goodnight!

DIYs for my New Home

Like empty vessels, they made noises. They cried, they cribbed, they vowed to denounce the greedy, mean and the selfish.

But alas, what a shame! When it came the time to show off our power to dethrone the bad, they kicked up a fuss, they partied, they vacationed, they slept and they just forgot about it!

This is the state of our country! 

Social responsibility is like the wrapper of a candy thrown on the streets in our country. Eat all the goodness our country has to offer and don't bother to clean up the wrapper when the time comes. 

Change can only come when people allow the good changes to come. 

Moving on!

Here's a big show off of all the DIYs I did for my new home;)

Canvas wall art in the photo gallery

Bead hangings

Art on a wood piece

Sewing Machine cover with old clothes and jeans

Paintings in acrylic

Art in embroidery loops.

Chandelier made with beads on a fruit basket.

Above is mirror frame art, below is kids room decor on door

Thats's all the Diy for now. 

Those of you who still in India and still have  a chance to vote, plz VOTE!

Take care.

Hello there and DIY tiny planter

Hello there, all you lovely people. I know I know , it's been such a loooooooong time that you almost forgot this small space of mine on the internet, right? 

'twas a big change in our lives. We moved back to india, getting settled here, setting up the house, school, office, work , that and this, and oh you know how it is when we have to accommodate such a big change. 

So that was all going on and so this past year I was inactive in here.

Its joke time;
Hubby while watching cricket :yes its a six
My son: Appa not six,its seven;)

Moving on...

Now lets do a tiny planter. I'm in really love with those tiny white planter which succulents available in the market these days. So I thought of making one in my own style. 

What u need:

Rope or any thicker thread of your choice

Yellow and green felt clothes / artificial flowers

String

Sand/ pebbles to fill in the container

Any small container or an old box

Glue , scissor

How to:

I had this small thing that looks like a container. It's about the height of my index finger. 

Apply fevicol or any glue you have and start applying it from the bottom and simultaneously take a rope and start taping it from bottom up until you cover the whole container.

Next, time to make few felt flowers. I just made 3 of them .

Like see in these pics above, you have to make a small circle on a thick paper or cardboard and put the string around it, wrap green felt on string for the stem.

Cut  a long yellow felt ribbon, make tiny cuts along its length for the petals or just leave it plain and just roll it and paste it on one side of the cardboard. Cover the other exposed side of cardboard(that's the behind of flower with felt).

Now all you have to do is fill the container with pebbles or sand, place the felt flowers in it. I also placed tiny store bought white flowers ( or make your own ) along with it. 

Voila done! 

Now you can place it on your window sill like me or put it wherever , whatever place you want to adorn it with. 

Rain or Shine, it will make you Smile!

Happy crafting until next time.

Easy Peasy Method for Jowar/Sorghum roti and Green Apple Tokku recipe

I have always loved north karnataka food. My husband being from north karnataka ,helped me to explore their cuisine to a whole different dimension. Everytime I'm in my in-laws house, I enjoy the variety of flavours I get to taste. The main staple dish in north karnataka cuisine is Jowar/Sorghum flour roti. Making this roti is itself a talent which I don't seem to possess. It requires a lot of patience and practice to acquire the traditional art of flattening the roti with the palm.
So I came up with this idea of making this roti after a few trial and errors. It's an easy way to learn for all beginners.
Ingredients:
Jowar flour, salt, hot hot water to mix the flour , wax sheets or any other  non stick sheets.

Procedure:
Follow the four step video.(Sorry for the bad quality videos!)

Step 1: Pour enough hot(water needs to be really hot) water slowly into the flour(mixed with salt to taste) mixing it until everything is moistened. I usually eyeball it and don't follow any measurements. Cover bowl with a lid.

(Link on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mAhSDWUQtM)

Step 2: When flour is cool enough to touch but still hot, knead it properly like you would mix chapathi dough.    Take a min or 2 to properly knead the dough. This step is important. Ofcourse I haven't covered the whole kneading process in the video.In this step you can add a little water if required. Cover it and leave it for 5 mins. In the meantime heat your pan(needs to be hot, keep the setting to more than medium heat) and get out your wax sheets.

(Link on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le33ZEicTK8 )

Step 3: Place a ball of dough between 2 sheets of wax paper having dusted it with wheat flour/jowar flour generously and lightly flattening it with your palms. Roll it with a rolling pin, dusting it after every few rolls and tossing it over and making sure it's not sticking to the paper. Dust flour if it feels sticky. 

(Link on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csaaxBKc_20 )

Step 4: Your pan must be now hot enough to make roti's. Place rolled dough on pan, take a paper towel/thin cloth dipped in water. Pat the roti with the wet towel. Once you see bubbles, flip it and pat it with wet towel again. Cook  both sides until done.

(Link on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8topZpaJkc )

It's now ready to serve with a curry and sliced onions.

Green Apple Tokku:

This tokku is a green apple version of the yummy mango tokku my mom prepares.I really love the tangy flavor of this recipe. This recipe could also be done with raw mangoes.

To all those who don't know what a tokku is- it's very similar to pickle but different . You can use it just like how you use a pickle and is also lasts for a few weeks.

Ingredients:
Oil
Mustard - 2 tsp
Green Apple - 4
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp + 2 tsp
Jaggery - around half a cup
salt

Procedure:

Grate the green apple. You can leave the skin on.

Heat oil in a pan. Oil needs to be a little more than normally necessary. 

When oil heats up, add mustard seeds.

When mustard seeds crackle, add grated apple and saute it. 

When half cooked add chilli powder, jaggery, salt. Keep sauteing it until properly cooked and excess oil left out. 

Store in an airtight bottle. Can be kept in refrigerator to make it last really long. 

Note: 

*Adjust salt, chilli powder and jaggery according to your taste and preferences.

*If excess oil doesn't ooze out, it means the oil was less. Do not fret. Just saute it until properly cooked.

Enjoy it!

Until next time, Chao!

Refashioned 2 - It's all in the Jeans!

2 proverbs I totally believe in:

1) Tiny drops of water combine to make a mighty ocean

I so much believe in this one and truly have implemented in our lives whether it's saving money, water or learning, giving..almost in every aspect of our lives. And it has truly helped me.

2) Only stretch your leg so much that the mat allows you to. (This one is a literal translation of the kannada proverb "chapey iddashtu kaalu chachu")

I believe we should live our lives knowing our limitations to stretch our luxury/materialistic needs. Luxury should only be so much as to keep ourselves happy but not to do it to create an impression to others or in common terms -'Do Showoff'. !!

Coming to the topic refasioned. I refashioned few of my old jeans. Jeans could be easily turned into a skirt(among others ) , that too in different patterns. All you need is a sewing machine and of course sewing skills(Intermediate sewing skills are more than enough to do these). I you don't have any of the one, always look for a good tailor who can do it for you. But it's worth trying it with your old jeans rather than thrashing it.

Here are quick few looks of my refashioned jeans.

This particular one has a jeans turned into a skirt and have given a bottom frill with my old salwar.

With this one, I turned the jean pant to a skirt with a different pattern and combining it with crochet patterns.I hand sew the crochet onto the skirt .

In this one I turned my jeans and an old kurti top(which I got bored of wearing and whose material was still good ) into a new top/blouse. You can use jeans as frill also.

Old jeans could also be used to make wallets, kids dress, hand purse and many things more.
Check out my another skirt with jeans here.

A Reuse Tip:
While presenting gifts to others in a gift bag, it will be helpful if you write the name or wishes on a small card rather than writing it on the bag itself. This way the person who receives the gift can reuse the gift bag by just removing the card safely without damaging the bag.  Don't you think so?

Hope these tips help you and encourage you to reuse items at home.

Have fun until next post.

DIY Refrigerator Clay Magnets

Me and my friend were travelling in the bus back home. We just felt like being a little naughty that day. Don't remember whose silly idea was it but we removed our water bottles from our bags.

No, we did not drink the water, neither used it to clean our seats nor did we use it to clean the bus.
Ok, why would we clean the bus?? Never mind. Lets move on.

We then did the inevitable !! Yes.

We sprayed the water on people passing by next to our moving bus! People on scooter, pedestrians, cycle..etc. We could see that the people were getting pissed but by the time they could react the bus moved forward. Most of them had no idea from where the water came from on that summer evening. But after a few minutes of our indulgence in fun and frolic of menacing all the oblivious people, the whole act came to a crashing end.

No, we still had water left in our bottles , enough to piss off probably a few more.

Two of the very infuriated passerbys on a scootor ,overtook our bus, stopped it, got into the bus , explained to our driver what had happened. I had never been so scared in my life before. I thought we were gonna be spending the rest of our lives in jail. They then started their investigation. They scanned each face on the bus but to our good fortune he couldn't recognize the poker face that we had. Neither did the back benchers in the bus who knew of our silly act admitted it.

They then walked away after shouting a mouthful of warnings! But we swore to ourselves we would never , ever, ever again do it .

Moral of the story:
Never Ever throw water on passers by from a school bus when you are in 3rd grade:))

Yes, it happened when I was in 3rd grade.That's probably the naughtiest thing I've ever did when I was in my primary school! That was the last for a few more years!


So coming to these refrigerator/fridge magnets.

Note:

* Use waste papers to do this project on as it is messy.

*Preferably buy magnets which as some kind of adhesive to stick it on. The adhesive side sticks to the clay.

* Amount of clay used should be small, check if the magnet can hold the weight of clay once you place the magnet on the clay. You can resize it but do it before you let it to dry.

* The magnet should be sealed properly after placing it on the clay, so that it holds the clay together.

*You can make different designs like you can see in the last pic! Use your own creativity. 

* I used air dry clay, but you could also try this project with other kinds of clay.

Gather your kid and you could have fun doing this project with them!

Yeah but tell them not to spray water on strangers.

My Guest post in Eve Of Reduction

Folks,
Check out my guest blog in EveofReduction: http://eveofreduction.blogspot.com/2013/02/guest-post-diy-decorative-clock-with.html


Plz do check out all the awesome DIY craft tutorials she has on her blog! Her makeover furnitures truly inspires one to  makeover our old furniture instead of tossing them over. Have fun cruising through her blog.


Enjoy!

DIY Owl Halloween Costume

We had a fun Halloween day yesterday. It was the first time we were actually part of the celebration. I was absolutely flabbergasted the first time I saw the halloween day. Everyone would be out in the streets / malls in their own costumes, doing their trick-or-treat thing. We would see someone wearing these costumes in India only on fancy dress competitions in our schools whereas here in US , everyone participate flaunting their costumes from day to night which is kinda fun to watch.

I made an owl costume for my son. I would say it's more a basic idea how to do an owl costume. My 2 yr old son is extremely fussy about wearing any accessory whether on head or like a chain or anything. So I wanted to keep it as simple as possible and hence did this basic idea of an owl. This costume could be improvised in many ways to fit your child's needs and look.

Materials needed:

Sewing Machine
Thread
Cloth Materials to stitch the owl(I reused all my son's old clothes in this project. It would be nice to actually find some fur materials)
Scissors
Glue

Procedure:

This costume is simple in means of wearing it. Simply stitch the pattern on a pant and a t-shirt and wear it directly without any hassle. I used my son's old pajama and t shirt. The pant has the lower portion of an owl, the t-shirt has the head of an owl.

Lay the pant on any piece of material the pattern could be stitched on.Draw an outline of the pant, cut it like shown in this below pic. We need 2 such pieces. Lets name this piece as AF (front piece) and AB (behind piece).

Next cut out  feather looking pieces like this from preferably white material. Use fur if available. We might need enough to cover the piece we cut earlier.

Starting from bottom of AF , arrange the feather pieces side by side and stitch using a sewing machine onto AF. Go from bottom to up until the whole AF is covered.

Coming to the wings. Cut 2 pieces like the one in the right side of the pic.Cut out long feather like pieces from shades of brown like this pic. 

       

You could use 2 methods here. One secure all feathers onto the wing using pins like this and stitch under a machine. Run lines on it . Second, just glue everything together to form 2 wings like this below.

Place the wings on AF, place under a machine and stitch along yellow lines.It's optional to stitch the whole length. Stitch half way and it gives a different look.

  

For AB, I covered the major portion  with light brown and stitch dark brown feather pieces around it.



Place AB and AF on 2 sides of the pant, stitch each on top joining the pant, then stitch AB and AF together half way through.

For the head portion of owl, Cut yellow/orange piece to cover the middle portion of t-shirt in the shape as shown and 2 big circles of black for the eyes and place and glue everything together. 

Cut 2 ears in the shape of a half pointed oval and glue this in the top extreme ends of the body of t shirt.Cut feathers and glue them all over the t shirt. Your t-shirt is now done and So is your Owl costume.

Now make your dress creatively using this idea, using your own style and materials. Have fun. Sorry for the late tutorial by the way. You can try it out next time.

Oh! Trick or Treat!!