DIY Files - Part II

The festive season has already started in full flow. This time around, there is more time to clean, decorate and thus prepare home for the biggest festival in India, which is Deepawali. As the name suggests, Deepawali is all about a line of lights, and that is what exactly is the theme for this time's DIY  - Rangoli for the naive.

For anyone who may not know what Rangoli is, this is at your service.

If you are like me, which in this context means very naive at creating anything artsy, and have not got the art of Rangoli making in your genes, this post is for you. You will need these - 

• Make a slightly viscous paste with vermilion and water.

• Mix rice well into it, so that rice is uniformly colored red. I choose red because I <3 red. You may choose any color, or even many different colors.  Turmeric for Yellow color, or Indigo powder for blue color are the ones easily available at home.

• Spread the rice on a newspaper and let it rest until the rice is totally dry.

• Make a grid on the designated area with the help of rice, something like a grid of the tic-tac -toe game. You can draw the grid and then place rice over the line. Or make a line directly with the rice.

• Place the nine tea lights in each of the nine grids. Use tea lights as they're uniform in shape and size - take the colored variety for a brighter Rangoli.

• In the day, let the tea lights be unlighted. Light the candles at night for a wonderful effect.

DIY Files - Part I

Starting today, the blog will boast of a new series called the DIY (the DIY files from now on)

The first DIY starts with a Craft Idea to make a Paper Bouquet at Home. You would need these - 

• Take colored paper and cut it in the shape of a flower you love. 
• Add some glitter to this paper.
• Punch in a hole at the center of the flower using the punching machine.
• Take the bendable straw and poke it in the hole, with smaller side on front. 
• Using the scissor, cut small streams out of the lower end of the straw and bend them to get them to lie down parallel with the paper
• Make as many flowers as you like  and tie them up together with a ribbon 

Your homemade bouquet is ready - use it as a Mother's day surprise, or to brighten up a special day for anyone you love. In this era when all one craves from another is time, a gift on which genuine effort and thought has been spent is sure to be appreciated.