DIY Torana

My first attempt at a Torana. This also happens to be the first diy in this new home. 

Traditionally Toran - a sting of leaves tied at the top of the main entrance door to home, (most likely leaves from mango or neem trees) were meant to block insects and other germs because of their medicinal properties. But is this practice relevant anymore? But this tradition like so many others gives me a chance to make my home colorful and vibrant. So my twist on Torana will not repel insects but it sure does bring me joy, adding color and a tad bling to the entryway.

Very simple project. Here is what I used:
- Card stock various colors
- paint chips - various colors
- rhine stones - variety of them
- glue and scissors

Above is the template of each leaf in the torana. This is roughly measured and cut by hand.

Then I marked out the leaves on card stock and cut them up.

Then once I had all the card stock leaves cut out - I scored the top edge leaving about half an inch. This is to help fold them over the string easily.

Then I randomly picked colored paint chips and cut up rectangles and pasted them on top of the leaves.

Then just decorate with rhine stones.

There he is little Mr. D at my work station.

He are all the leaves stung together.

I love the colors.

Tied to the door :)

What do you think?

Starting to feel like home again...

Its been a break for me from the blogging world. Not just blogging but all things art and craft too.
We recently moved homes - moved back to our home country and has it been a long long journey. Why we moved back is a story I will save for another day. December last year we took the flight to India and now we hope to stay here for good.

Its been a mix of good and challenging experiences so far. Good thing is that the apartment community we moved into is self sufficient and has a lot of open space with plenty of play areas for D. And the home is starting to look like a place where we like to come back home to :)

Biggest challenge so far has been that the traffic is a very real problem! We still have to learn how to get things done in spite of traffic.

Back to our home shaping up :)
The gallery wall we had in our old apartment is now split across 2 walls - but all photos could be accommodated! Yay!

There are still some boxes waiting to be unpacked!

Most of the decor we had back there have found their place here - but some had to be retired! :( And some new ones have found their way in.

This Torana bordering the main entrance is a latest DIY and details on it will follow in the next post.

I am happy about curtains - this home needs a whole lot of curtains. There are quite a few windows and doors to patios which came with zero window treatments. I have been busy looking up places for nice curtains. Its a challenge that most of the fabrics here are mostly floral and feminine - I miss the nice geometric prints available back in the states. But I have been able to find some really beautiful cottons - Thanks Fab India!

D's play room is all set and he is liking it. It is the brightest room in the house and I am thinking of yellow curtains for this room - will update the pictures as I go.

So this is home for now. Oh! and I found this funny sign on pinterest saying "Home is where your wifi connects automatically" - I think this will be my next DIY. May be I will paint in on canvas and hang it on the bare wall next to the tele. Lets see..
Did I mention how glad I am, to be back crafting and blogging again :)