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 :)