DIY Paisley Key holder

Hello my dear reader....welcome back!!
Today I am about to tell you about a craft that happened by chance....
I was seeing paisley prints and designs all around me this summer, and I wanted to do something with this beautiful shape.....
I've grown up wearing paisley printed clothes, making paisley rangolis and henna mehendi's and much more....but I had a block while thinking about a paisley craft....
I was going through my craft supplies, when my sons broken taekwondo board fell down...It was a square soft wood board....and then the idea struck....a key holder!!!

See what came out of my idea into reality....

Paisley Key holder

I was so excited, I forgot to take step by step photos, but I'll walk you through the process...

Materials used:

• Soft wood board
• Green handmade paper
• J- hooks
• Rhinestones
• Golden bead string
• 3d glitter- gold, green
• Frame hanger hook

I covered the wooden base with green handmade paper (I love the thickness and textures of handmade papers). Then I attached the frame hanger hook behind it with a small screw.

Next, I drew a paisley on the desired place and filled it up by gluing rhinestones,  golden bead string and 3D glitter. 

When I was satisfied with the design, I let it dry completely for a few hours and the screwed in the J-hooks to hang the keys.

I found out one more use for it...a necklace holder...

Now, why don't you start making your own key holder/ necklace holder...Link back to my blog (and credit me) when you make one....and you can also post pictures of what you made, in my comment box to help me see your creations.....

Thanks for visiting and see you soon.....

Diwali Decorations 2013

Hello again, hope you had fun this Diwali.....
I had my share of fun and happiness this year with my family....
The cleaning, cooking and decorating made me feel at home....The only thing missing were the fireworks!!
I made some things for Diwali this year that I had never made before...a lamp, a lantern and a garland :)
Let me start telling you all about them......I'll start with the lamp first.....
I made a Lotus Lamp by recycling a plastic bottle and some florescent paper....
This is how it looks.....

Lotus Lamp

Paper Lamp

I fitted a blinking LED light under the base and it got transformed into a lamp....
Here's how it looks at night with the light on....

Diwali Lotus Lamp

Hope you liked it...I'll give the details on how to make this lamp very soon.....

Now, let me tell you about the lantern.....We call it "Akash- Kandil" in India.....
I made this lantern with skewer sticks and tissue paper....

Paper Lantern

This is how the lantern looks when it is lit up....

Diwali Lantern

I'll try and put up the instructions for making the lantern at the earliest....so keep checking...

I also made a marigold garland this year....Hanging a marigold garland with mango leaves, on the main door is considered very auspicious....I wasn't going to find any here, in US, so I decided to make one myself......I made the garland using orange and yellow tissue paper, green construction paper, floral wire and some beads......
This is how it looks....

Paper Marigold Flowers

Marigold Lantern

Hope you liked what I made......I would love to hear from you what you did this Diwali.....
Thank you for visiting, and keep coming back for more!!!

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 :)

My Very First Show in the U.S.

I know my friends, this is a bit late, but as the saying goes," Better Late than Never!!"
I recently put up my creations at a local show (exhibition).....
It was my very first exhibition after moving here in the U.S.....
I was very excited and nervous to put up an Indo-western fare, but the response I got was beyond my expectations....
People loved the colors and the fine handwork too....
I even did a pretty good business :D
A big Thank You to my dear customers, and tons of  thanks to my dearest hubby and my friends who stood by me the whole day....Love you guys!!!!
Here are some pictures for you.....

Exhibition Table

 Here are some Magnets that I made......They were a big hit!!

Glass Magnets

These are some of the Thank you cards :)

Thank You Cards

Thank You Cards

These are some of my handmade earrings.....Thanks to my dear sis-in-law for the beads :)

Handmade earrings

This is one of the many hand painted totes (One-stroke Painting) on display.....

One stroke painting Tote

This is one of the Coaster sets I made.....Sold a few :)

Tile Coasters

I even made some handmade Floating Diyas (which people loved and bought), Wooden decoupage trays (my friend bought one and she is loving it!!) , Meenakari mirrors, Decoupaged mirrors, Acrylic on Canvas paintings, paintings on wood and handmade bookmarks too.
I will upload them in the upcoming posts...... 

And this is a sneak preview of my next post coming very soon!!......Keep watching the blog.....

Meenakari- Enamel Work 

If you wish to buy any of this gorgeous stuff, or even just wanna talk about it, leave me a comment below or email me at amber.art@2012.com
I'll be glad to answer!!!
Thanks for visiting :) and come again for more.....

DIY Kids Nursery Wall Art

Hi.....

I am a newbie to the "blog" world, having entered the scene only a few months back,

and still learning......

But, I am not new to making something beautiful.....

This applies to my crafts, but also to my little angel whom I "made" almost 6 years back..... :)

I was just browsing through his baby photos when I came accross this one....

How time flies!!!....I had even forgotten about this.....as the room looks so different after the renovations we did few years back....

Anyways, I wanted my son to enjoy his early life looking at something pretty....

Don't all moms think so???

Well, I decided to do something that would not take much time...you know how a newborn keeps the mommy on her toes!!!

I soooo wanted to paint the wall :(

But, the time crunch made me use another option.....paper decoupage!!!

With help(lots!!!)  from my little sister, I was able to finish this in two days..

( the two hour nap break, once a day :O)

My sister and I drew free- hand  figures of  Pooh, Tigger and Piglet on florescent paper to make them look more brighter and vibrant.....

Surprisingly, Piglet was the toughest to draw....I just couldn't get his "Happy Face" right

 :(  .....But, persistence always pays and finally I got Piglet as I've always known him...happy and adorable :) He still is my favorite ........

Kids Nursery Wall Art

We cut the figures across their outlines and finished them with some poster colors 

and a black marker.....

I also folded a long strip ( made by joining a few smaller strips) of green paper and cut it to look like grass.....Some leftover paper from Piglet, got transformed into a few gorgeous flowers.....

I wanted the trio to look as if they were playing in a garden.....but that scene somehow looked a bit empty.....

Then, I thought of giving them some balloons to play, to fill up the area.....

Suddenly, an idea struck.....Why not make this a picture wall???

We first glued the grass and then glued Pooh, Tigger and Piglet.....

After that, we glued down the flowers, the balloon strings and the balloons.....

The bright balloons became the base for the baby pictures.....

We glued the baby pictures and then, put a fancy printed fabric border around them.....

My nursery mural was now complete....

My baby couldn't take his eyes off the wall for a long time.....

That told me- Mission Accomplished !!!!

There we were....a happy mom and a very happy baby.....

I have blurred the pictures for privacy reasons.....Sorry about that!!!

Hope you enjoyed the post.....I had fun going back to those memories again......

Have fun and thanks for visiting :)

DIY Instant Wall Art- Shoe Box Lid Upcycling

Hi....

Good to see you.....

This is an Instant Wall Art that I made......

They say, "Necessity is the mother of Invention".....

Wow, thats so true!!!!

I had guests coming over to our house in which we moved recently.....

So, my house isn't done sprucing up (read putting artwork) yet :)

And, I did not have time to go buy any.....so I made this!!!!!

This wall art is made from an old shoebox lid, I had lying around....

So, its a shoe box upcycling of sorts!!!

Instant Wall Art

Here's what I did....

I dusted up the cardboard box lid and then cut a scrapbook paper according to the box's 

dimensions.....

The picture shows the paper cut to size....

Shoebox Lid Upcycling

Then I glued the paper to the box using regular PVA glue......

I had to take care to align the edges properly......

I let the lid dry for around 30 minutes.......

Shoebox Upcycling

After the paper dried, I colored the edges of the lid black......

The black color gives the lid a solid framed look.....

You can see it for yourself here......

Shoebox Lid Wall Art

This is how the artwork looks on the wall.....
Cool....isn't it....
Very easy to make and much easier on the pocket too ;)

Instant Wall Art

Hope you found it interesting......

You can also visit my post on DIY Instant Wall Art-2 here.....

Let me know through your comments.....

Thanks for visiting and come back soon for more!!!

Madhubani Painting....Birds in Love

Madhubani Painting

Hi and welcome to my post on Madhubani Painting.....

Madhubani painting or Mithila painting is a style of Indian Painting, practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state.

Madhubani painting has been done traditionally by the women women of villages around the present town of Madhubani (the literal meaning of which is forests of honey) and other areas of  Mithila. 

Madhubani Painting is characterized by eye-catching geometrical patterns.

The paintings were traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts with rice powder, but now they are also done on cloth, hand-made paper and canvas with a variety of colors. 

I have used a traditional Madhubani design for my painting....

This painting is made on Paper (12"x16"), with poster colors......

Here, the vibrancy of the colors and the geometric  patterns looks very refreshing to the eye.....

Planning to make some more of these......

Hope you enjoyed the post....

I can make a custom painting for you too....

You can contact me at amber.art2012@gmail.com

'Like' my Facebook page Amber art creations....

You can also leave a comment here to let me know if you liked the painting :)

DIY Punch Craft- Inspirational Plaque

Punch Craft

Hi and welcome to my post on punch craft .......
Its been a little busy for the last few days and hence the delay :(
But, I have made quite a few new things this week, which I'll be uploading in the next few days :)
This plaque was made at the spur of the moment for a friend who was visiting us.....
I used cardboard as the base, which was covered with a light colored paper.....
Then, I made various colored flowers and leaves with flower punch and leaf punch respectively......

I also made some spiral roses...just love them ...
Finally, came the fun part..... assembly !!!
I assembled the leaves and flowers in a L-shaped border along the left.......
Then I used 3D outliners to make the centers of the flowers.......
I cut a small rectangle from blue colored felt as the base for the message and glued it to the board....
Then, I wrote a message with 3d outliner/ puffy paint on the felt base......
A last ribbon border on the side of the message and, my plaque was ready.....
The myriad of colors and the message sure made our friend happy !!!
Hope you liked it too :)

punch craft

DIY Easter Wreath

Wishing all my readers and fellow bloggers a very Happy Easter.....

Today I am posting how I made this Easter Wreath for my house....

Easter Wreath

I recycled an old grocery bag, styrofoam eggs and my son's old bunny toy to make this wreath..........

Watch the video tutorial below to know how......

The wreath now hangs daintily on my door, with the cute bunny smiling at all :)

Here's the tutorial....Enjoy !!!