DIY Hand Painted Diyas

Hi...Today's post is about the most fun I had doing something special for this Diwali....I painted so many diyas this year that I am going to share with you today.

You must have seen some of them in my previous blogpost Diwali 2014 

I have used the following materials:

•  Terracotta Diyas- varied sizes.
•  Acrylic colors- Regular and Pearl finish.
• Rhinestones- Different colors, shapes and sizes.
• 3D Outliners/ Puffy paints.
• Glue- Any strong glue will do.
•  Paintbrushes.
• Water- for cleaning the brushes.
• Rag cloth.

I soaked the diyas in water for 15-20 mins, then rinsed them and let them dry completely....

When they were dry, I used acrylic colors in different combinations to paint them....

When the paints were completely dry, I further decorated them with 3D Outliners....

After it dried, I glued the rhinestones to the diyas...It was a backbreaking project, but the final output washed away the pain....I was very happy with the way they turned out...

Let me show you some pictures now....Here, I have used big Diyas, approximately 6 inches in diameter.....I have tried to give them an Antique look....

Antique look diya

Hand painted diya

Diya

Terracotta diya

Antique look diya

This is the diya that I am really proud of.....This is a big diya too....I spent nearly 6 hours for making a pair of these.....

Peacock diya

These are the regular sized diyas that have been painted in different combinations....

Krishna diya

Flower diya

Flower diya

Flower diya

Flower diya

Flower diya

Flower diya

Flower diya

Hand Painted Diya

Terracotta diya

Hope you liked these hand painted diyas.....If you paint some, feel free to share their pictures in the comment box....Thanks for visiting....See you soon again...

Diwali 2014

Happy Diwali and a Happy New Year my dear friend...
Hope you had a very fun filled Diwali this year...
I had so much fun decorating and beautifying my house for Diwali this year...
Let me walk you through how I decorated my house for this festive season....

This was my center table decor...

Diwali decor

This was a small floral arrangement with a floating LED diya....

Floating diya

I tried something different with a diya this time...I painted a big diya and instead of just putting a tea light inside, I lit a tea light inside a mosaic glass, which I then put inside the diya....The light filtered through the colored mosaic casting its glow on the whole interior of the diya...I loved the dramatic effect this combination gave....What do you think?

I also made this string lantern for this Diwali...I kinda wanted to make a non traditional 'Kandil' this year.....So, I experimented with this technique and it came out beautifully.....
I filled it up with battery operated string lights and hung it outside my front door...
Not bad for the first time, eh?....Will be posting the tutorial soon....

String Lantern

I was so pumped up after seeing the result of the Kandil, that I thought of making votive holders too...
These are those two string votive holders that I made for the first time....Glad to see how they turned out :)

String votive holders

Finding rangoli is next to impossible in the US, so I made these two rangoli's, one out of foam and the other out of a wooden (MDF) board, both of which I had on hand....I'll post the tutorials for these two rangoli's very soon....So , keep visiting !!

Rangoli

I also put some LED lights in small diyas and lined them up on the stairs....Cute, huh ?

This is a readymade marigold Toran I put up outside my front door....

Hope you liked my Diwali decor....If you make something like this, please don't forget to mention and link this post....And, feel free to share your pictures in my comment box....

Thanks for visiting...see you again soon....

A little more Diwali

Hi….I hope you had a lovely Diwali….
In my last post “Diwali Decorations 2013”, I told you about how I made some stuff to make our Diwali a little extra special…..Today I’ll tell you about some articles I made last year for my Diwali workshop…..I had conducted my first Diwali workshop for kids and adults, where we made a bunch of items, about which I’ll tell you now….

Every Diwali begins with the installation of an “Akash-Kandil” or a lantern as we call it…..So, we started by making a lantern…We used handmade paper which was quite translucent…..We cut it according to our template, and then assembled it….We left an opening on top for passing a lightbulb in it…..We also stuck small shiny punched flower on each piece…..This was the final product…..

Paper Lantern

And, this is how it looked when it was lit….

Akash Kandil

We then proceeded to our Rangoli…..Rangoli is traditionally used to adorn the doorstep, as it is considered very auspicious….It was traditionally done with rice flour and some natural dyes…But, with the availability of various commercially available colored powders, rangoli has become an art……What we made in our workshop was a rangoli with a twist…..We made a permanent rangoli using some cardboard, Rainbow/ Iris paper and some rhinestones……We made a 6 piece rangoli which can be used in various ways……This was our fruit of labor…..

Rangoli

Then, we started with our “Toran” aka garland…..We used a gold ribbon, construction paper, rhinestones, 3D glitter and key rings to make our Toran…..We made leaves and flowers and glued them alternately on the ribbon and put key rings on either ends to hang them……This is how our Toran looked…..

Flower Garland

Toran

Finally we moved on to the last item in our workshop, the integral part of Diwali- a “Diya” or the Lamp…..Rows of oil lamps are lit and placed outside the doors and windows during Diwali….How could we forget those….I gave a choice of two designs to my class and each participant made one as per their liking….We used paper, terracotta lamps and acrylic colors to make these….This is how they turned out…..

Terracotta Lamps

Festive Diya

Hand-painted Diya

And, this is the whole package!!

Diwali workshop

Hope you had a good time reading about this…..Don’t forget to let me know your opinions and feel free to contact me through the comment box if you have any questions…..Till then, keep crafting and come back soon for more !!!

Diwali Decorations

Diwali was celebrated last week, and we had lots of fun at home.....

Celebrating Diwali in US is a different experience altogether, but we tried to bring in

the spirit home, at our level best....

And, what is Diwali without its decorations???

Let me show you what I did....

Traditionally, clay lamps filled with oil line the doors and windows during the festival...

The picture below is a "Diya" ( Lamp) hand painted by me on our glass door....

This is how the painted surface looks.....its the inside!!

Diya Painting on the Door

And, this is how it looks to a person watching it from outside :)

Diya Painting

Marigold "Toran" ( string garland) is also traditionally put on the main entrance 

with 5 mango leaves in the centre....

You know how impossible it is to find one such 'Toran' in US :(

So, I decided to paint one instead.....

This is how it looks from inside......

Marigold Toran Painting

And, this is the outside view......

Hand Painted Toran

This is how the whole combo looks on the door......

Diwali Decoration

What is Diwali without some diyas right???

I had a terracotta plate with me which I painted golden....

Then I placed a LED candle on it....

Thus I made my American Diya :))

The main reason for making this one was my 5 year old whose 'active' presence made it impossible for me to light any real diyas !!

But the effect was so nice!!!

Decorative Diya

This is another assembly.....

The base is metal with rhinestones which I had bought from India......

Just painted the top of a LED candle and put it in the base to make this Diya....

Fancy Diya

One more type of assembly is the one I made below...

I have placed hand painted terra-cotta diyas in a row with LED candles on top.....

I know there are too many diyas.....but 'Diwali' literally means 'Row of Lights'.....

This is a floating diya handmade by me.....

It has a metal centre and is decorated with green and red festive colored rhinestones.....

Its usually used with a votive.....

I gifted this to a friend for Diwali....

Floating Diya

Hope you enjoyed viewing my decoration and diyas......
Happy Diwali to you and your family....
Comment below if you liked the decorations and Thanks for visiting :)