Diwali 2013

This year we celebrated D's first Diwali. Im sure for him, it was just about meeting a lot of people that he likes, all in one day and eating new tasty food for the first time. As for us, we had a lot of fun introducing him to fireworks, lights and our tradition :)

I knew it would be a good Diwali with D around, but it surprised me how much, the addition of one tiny person to the family, can recharge the festival spirit and make it a bit more meaningful. Even S said, introducing D to Diwali made him relive so many fond diwali memories from his childhood :) There are so many dimensions added to one's life after one becomes a parent!

Here is an assimilation of all the decorations that we had at our home for this diwali.

More pictures coming as and when I get some more time to collect pictures and upload.

Rangoli for Diwali

We had this colorful Rangoli at the entrance of our home for Diwali. In fact it is still there at our door step, I dont have the heart to clean it up :(
Enjoyed drawing this and filling it up with colors.

I have designed and colored rangolis before. But, it has always been with others - like ma, sis or aunt. Those good old days! On the other hand D has never seen a colorful rangoli before and he sure was excited when he saw this :D

Not more to say other than enjoy the colors :)

Dressed up tea lights.

Inching towards diwali - the last leg!
The mood is set :) Potluck at work today, potluck with friends tomorrow... Lovely times.
Most blogs I visit are all so bright and beaming with ideas for diwali decorations - Oh! such a pleasure to see all beautiful creations :)

I have had dressing up the tea lights in mind for a while now. Again, thanks Pinterest!
All you need for this is - washi tape, gift wrapping ribbon, regular glue, glitter glue, rhinestones. Wrap the tea lights on wahi tape or ribbon, stick your rhinestones and design away with glitter glue :) Done! 30 minutes and you can easily dress up a dozen tea lights.
One of those quick, simple, satisfying crafts.

Washi tape - Great potential for this product. I discovered it only recently and I love it so far. I can think of so many many projects with washi tape! Oh! just thinking about them makes me so excited..

Back to the tea lights, this is how they look when finished.

The line up... Haven't decided a place for their display yet... But they are stationed in the living room for now, next to the DIY pot.

This entertainment center is the tallest place in the living room now. That makes it the safest place for things, away from His Naughtiness Mr. D. It has been overworking for the past few months! :)

A close up...

I like the gingham washi tape...

Lamp shades for Diwali.

Completed the wine glass lamp shade today. Made 4 of them.
Few days ago you all had a sneak peek here.

These are so simple and satisfying! I like such projects - they are quick and they look good - satisfaction of having completed something. In between some involved projects its good to have some of these.

So I looked up online for the template and I found lots and lots. Scalloped edges, straight edges and various holiday themed printables. All you need to do is search and pick what you like. One such template can be found here.

I traced out the shape on my card stock and cut them out (seen below in purple and green). I wanted to add a trim with the damask paper and so I used the same template but made it much much shorter and cut it out. You can see the damask trims in the picture too.

These are the 4 colors I had picked. I glued the damask trim onto each of them.

I had some glitter glue on hand. I ran the glue tube on the top edge of the shade. I used Gold colored glitter.

Another look at the glitter glue edge.

Then I applied glue on one of the inside edges of the shade and attached it to the other edge giving it the conical shape.

I went ahead to add some faux kundan - which is very similar to rhine stones - in Indian markets they sell them as Kundan. They are available in a variety of shapes and colors.

I have wine glasses with a gold shaded stem, which works well with these shades.
I am debating between real tea lights and led ones. May be I will end up dropping led tea lights in the glasses, lets see.
Plan is - on Diwali evening - to have a 2 of these lamps on the dinner table and 2 more around the home. Or if its not too crowded, all 4 on the dinner table.

And now for the link parties:

craftomaniac

madebyyoumondays

sunday showcase

Sneak peek - lamp shade

Earlier I found a good idea at the blog all things beautiful. Block printed paper lamp shade for a wine glass lamp.
Drop a tea light in you wine glass (the lamp) and make a lamp shade using block paper.

I was not able to find block printed paper in the usual 2-3 places that I shop - so I settled for these scrap book loose papers that found at Michael's.

I like how earthy the color combination looks. The plan is to have the lamp shade done in the solids and each shade will have a damask border. Here's hoping this turns out well.

This is how allthingsbeautiful's lamp shade looks:

And then I looked up online for a lamp shade template and I found some really pretty completed lamp shade projects. Looks like this lamp is pretty popular for parties such as wedding and birthdays. Here are some pictures of projects that I thought were really pretty.

 

Cant wait for Diwali! :)

Diwali Ahead!

Diwali Ahead!

Sunday Nov 3 is Diwali this time. Amma will be back in India by then but it will be the first time that we will be celebrating Diwali with D!

Have been stumbling upon some lovely ideas to decorate the home for Diwali.

Here are some pictures.

Paste washi tape on tea lights and they are good for display.

Block printed paper lamp shades. The lamps are simple. Just place a tea light in a wine glass.

Definitely float some flowers and tea lights in a shallow bowl like so...

Images courtesy allthingsbeautiful

Also make a beautiful Rangoli with Kundan on hand - decorate it with tealights and flower petals.

Thanks Patricia for the image!

And here are some pictures from diwali at home in 2008 - totally beautiful... With Amma Autnty and M..

Lets see how Diwali turns out this year!