Ganpati Decoration 2013

Hi dear reader!!!
I know I’ve been missing from the blogging circuit for quite some time, but I had a very good reason.....
I was on a vacation :D .....to INDIA!!!!!!
I had so much fun there meeting up with my family and my husbands family.......
But, I had the most fun during Ganpati festival that was celebrated from 9th September....
Ganpati Festival is a huge thing in India....
People in India worship Lord Ganesh (Ganpati) as their prime deity....
This festival is celebrated for 10 days, and people bring a Ganpati idol at home and worship it for 1 and a half days, 5 days, 7days or 10 days as per their wish......
After the certain number of days, the idol is immersed in a water body, usually a lake or the sea......
Ganpati festival is one of the most eagerly awaited festivals in India......
Worshipping Ganpati whole heartedly, making “Naivedya”- a platter of assorted home cooked vegeterian meal as an offering, singing aartis and bhajans (hymns and praising songs), welcoming guests who come to seek blessings, meeting up with the family, and the whole pious atmosphere in the house brings immense happiness to me and my family......
And the most fun part of all this is the decor we do around the idol to complement our beautiful God.....And, I am lucky to be the one doing it!!!!
I do the decorations every year, and I am very much a fan of eco-friendly materials....
And, I make new decorations every year.....
I usually pre-determine the theme, but this year I was completely at a loss for ideas.....
I was thinking of many different themes, but nothing was striking a chord!!
At last, just four days before the festival, I finalised on “Roses”......
We have a custom made table on which we place the idol....
It is a five feet wide table with an arch on the back.......
This is what I made......

Ganpati Decoration 

Now let me tell you how my idea came to life....
I began with making red and yellow colored paper roses.....
I made spiral roses which you have seen previously in my post “ DIY Rose Branches”....

Spiral Paper Roses

I made a lot of them...And, I also made approximately four leaves for each flower.....
I spent almost a whole day just cutting and folding  the roses and the leaves.....believe me, my fingers were swollen by the time I finished, with the cutting and folding!!!
The next day, I lined the edges of each flower with golden glitter to add a little pizzaz!!!
By the time they were drying, I got to making the backdrop.....
I glued Red Iris paper on the arch on the back....This paper changes its color in different lights and at different angles.......Its funky!!!!
Then I lined and glued red and yellow roses in a double row, interspersing with the leaves......
I also glued a 6 inch strip of golden cloth along the edge of the arch in a pleated fashion......
It kinda made the roses pop!!!
I also made a circular arrangement of roses to be placed behind Lord Ganpati’s head......

Circular Flower Arrangement

My arch was now complete......

Ganpati Decoration

Then I moved my attention to the table.....
I covered the table base and the table legs with a green sparkly cloth.....
I also glued red and yellow roses alternatively along the border of the table......
Then, I made two circular flower arrangements lined with golden cloth and glued them to the table legs......

The center stairs were covered with green paper.....these stairs are retractable like a drawer....
Finally I added the finishing touch by entwining multicolored LED lights throughout the flowers on the arch and along the table border.......
This was the final result....with Lord Ganpati Proudly sitting on it....

Ganpati Decoration

Ganesh

Ganpati Decoration

I was pretty glad with the outcome.....Let me know what you think of it......
I’ll try to include my previous years decorations in the upcoming posts....
Till then keep crafting and keep visiting.......
See you again soon :)