My first Clay Work

Hi Everybody, First of all I am so sorry for not posting anything in a while. Been little busy with life lately. However I will try to post frequently from now on.

I have been exploring about clay decor pieces and came across stunning Indian clay murals which triggered my interest to learn this art. I kept searching for days online looking for tutorials, there are many tutorials on youtube that help you create awesome master pieces from clay but I had several doubts on how to stick them to wooden boards and create textures on board etc., . Finally one fine day, I came across a Free online 3D mural basics art course on facebook and without a second of delay I went ahead and registered myself. My sincere thanks to Mural guru Bharat Rawal ji for teaching me the basics that I needed badly to start off on this new art.

I decided to start with a small and simple art piece of god ganesha mural. And I am happy to share the procedure with you.

Materials Required:

• 9" inch round wooden board
• Saw tooth hanger or anything similar to hang final art piece on wall
• Air dry Clay
• Pottery plaster or plaster of paris
• Few disposable cups
• Elmer's glue all (any strong white glue will work)
• Metallic or acrylic small paint tubs
• Paint brushes
• X-acto Knife
• Small comb piece
• Your handmade clay ganesha idol OR small plastic or ceramic god idol that are available in Indian stores.

1. First attach the metal hanger to the back of wooden board.

2. Mix equal parts of white glue and pottery plaster powder together into a chocolate syrup consistency. Add water if necessary.

3. Spread the prepared plaster and glue paste on the wooden board evenly.

4. Create textures you want for the mural background. I used small comb piece in semi circular movements to obtain the texture shown in the picture. (This is a great tip I learnt from the online course)

5. Roll air dry clay into a thin and long straw and make a circle out of it. Let it dry completely and then place on wooden board with glue. ( Since air dry clay shrinks a little we need to let the closed ring dry and then stick on to board.)

6. Draw petal shape on to a cardboard piece and cut it out to use as a template.
7. Roll air dry clay into 1/4th inch thick sheet using any cylindrical rod (I used a hair spray bottle) and cut the clay with a X-acto knife using petal template. Mark lines on the petals by gently pressing with a paper or knife edge. Apply little glue on to board and stick the petal in place.
8. Repeat the step 7 to create enough petals to cover your wooden board around the clay circle we created earlier.

9. Skip this step if you have a store bought god's idol.
Make a ganesh idol using air dry clay. (Very sorry for not doing a detailed tutorial on this. I did not expect it to turn out good, as this is my first clay work. )
Draw a sketch of idol you like. Put it in a plastic cover ( to prevent paper from drying your clay) and start working with clay on the sketch.  I made mine following basics from this youtube video.

10. Then place the god idol in the center using glue.

11. Make a little mouse and diyas. Stick them on the board with glue.

12. Let your work piece dry completely. Paint the entire piece of work with black acrylic paint.

13. Paint it with your choice of colors using dry brush technique so that the black color still shows out in grooves and give that 3D effect. That's it :)

If you would like to learn this art from Bharat Rawal then be sure to join his upcoming free mural course on Dec 20 and 21.

Hope this post helps you incase you are hunting for a clay mural basics tutorial.

And I am still in a dilemma about changing the color of black border around my piece. Please let me know your color suggestions in comments below.

I love to hear your comments. Thank you for stopping by :)

Beautify a Dollar Store Candle Holder

I am obsessed with Candles this Festive season. So, here is another candle votive craft for you. My inspiration for this candle holder came from a google image when I was searching for Diwali Decor ideas. I fell in love with that pottery candle holder and wanted to recreate the look easy way. I like the way this candle votive turned out. Do you want to know how I did it? I love to share it with you.

Supplies needed:

• Glass candle holder (I got mine at dollar store)
• Adhesive Shelf liner or duck tape sheet
• Duck tape
• Scissors
• Marker
• Spray Paint
• Candle

Draw a pattern on a cardboard piece or cereal box carton and cut it out. (You can get creative and draw stars or hearts or anything you wish.)

Use the cardboard piece as template and trace it using marker on the backside of adhesive sheet or liner.

Cut out the traced pieces, peel the adhesive protective backing and stick on candle holder in whichever pattern you desire.

Close the top opening of candle holder using duck tape from inside. (I also covered opening with a coke tin piece I had on hand, to be sure that paint doesn't get inside. You can just cover with a cardboard piece on duck tape to get the job done.)
Prepare an area for spray painting, lay some newspapers or use a big carton. Spray the entire candle holder with even and thin coats.

 Let the paint completely dry and remove the stickers one by one. Tada!!! There you have it. A beautiful candle holder!

Place a candle inside, light it and enjoy ;)

Here is another pretty view for you :)

I love to hear your comments. Thank you for stopping by :)

Turn Coke tins into Beautiful Candle Votives

Be it Diwali or Christmas, this is a perfect craft for the coming up holiday season. Wouldn't it make a lovely gift for friends or family? Or how about just adding a little accent decor piece to any corner in your home? All you need to do is save some soft drink tins and get started. Before I begin on how I did it, let me tell you my inspiration for this one came from these Brass Candle holders when I was searching google images for Diwali decor ideas. Let's get started.

Supplies needed:

• 3Soft drink tins per votive
• X-Acto knife
• Scissors. (I used Micro Serrated Craft scissors like this one through out the process and had no problem of sharp edges in the end product)
• Marker
• Hot glue gun
• Gold color Spray paint 
• Thick rubber gloves for safety (Kitchen gloves or garden gloves will do)

 

Make holes next to the top and bottom rims with X-Acto knife. Insert Scissors into the hole and cut around. Cut in middle of the cylinder vertically and make a flat sheet. Straighten any pointed edges using scissors. Save the bottom closure part of coke tin for later.
 

Draw and cut a petal out of a cardboard piece or cereal box. Using the cut cardboard petal as template, trace petals on the straightened tin piece with a marker and cut them out.

 

If you are worried about sharp edges in end product prefer a blunt edge petal template instead of sharp one like mine.

 

Place the Petal template on the tin petals, use a blunt ball pen and run through once to curl the petal a little. It might not look great at this point but it sure adds details to the petals once we are done painting them.

Use hot glue gun and stick the petals to the bottom part of coke tin. You can stick petals in as many layers as you like. I stuck 6 petals per layer and did 3 layers. Doesn't it look beautiful already?

Use a old carton or newspapers and prepare the area to spray paint. Spray the coke tin flower with your choice of color all the way around. (Its always better to use spray paints outdoor.)

Here are few clicks to show you how mine turned out.

Here is a lovely shot at night :)

I love to hear your comments. Thank you for stopping by.

 

Have a Romantic Dinner At Home

Make that special Meal an Unforgettable Memory for just $4

 

We all cook favorite dishes for our spouses on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and such. But after a few months do any of you really remember or cherish it? Just adding a romantic presentation to your delicious dinner can make it memorable. Trust me on this, you just need $4 or 5 to make it happen. Hey!!! It worked for me, may be you can give a shot too :)

 Before buying our dining table, we had this simple table (from walmart) which served as both dining table and study table for many months. Since I was planning this dinner in our patio, the table worked perfectly for it.

I bought 2 plastic table covers (1 Red and 1 White) and Heart Shaped Candle Votives from Dollar Store. I had Red Paper crepe roll and a dozen tea light candles on hand. (You could buy them at dollar store too, so that is a total of $5.)

Let's get to the process. 

The table covers from dollar store are so long that I had to fold into half and then cover my table.  

For the chairs, I cut the white table cover into half and used each half to cover a chair.

I laid the table cover on the chair, adjusted the front and back, folded back the sides and stapled them in middle. (Adjust the front and staple near chair legs, if you feel its necessary.)

As I didn't have red ribbon at home, I used red paper crepe to tie around chairs. I tried tying bow like how we do on a ribbon but the paper crepe ended up wrinkled and looked ugly. So, I just wrapped it around and stapled leaving 2 tails. Then I made a bow separately and stapled it to the wrap.

Tada! I added few candles I already had at home and a floral plant. As the plant pot was looking too dull, I wrapped it with a scrapbook paper I had on hand. ( I assumed you would anyway buy flowers for your spouse on a special occasion, which is why I dint add it in the total. )

 I got that Birdie little Lantern for $3 long back in Michales, just in case you want to know :)

And here is a pic of delicious Indian dinner served :) I made an Onion Lotus and Tomato Rose for Garnishing :) The Tiramisu is store bought, I just added Birthday message to it like they do in restaurants ;) 

I hope you will give it a try and enjoy the romantic date with your spouse just staying home :)

I love to read your comments. Thank you for stopping by :)

Liebster Award

I have been nominated for Liebster Award! If you don't know what it is? Hi Fi! Even I did not, until Katie from It's a Ginger Snap nominated me. After little google search, I understood that it started way back in 2010 and that the award rules were little different then. Based on Katie's post, the current rules for the liebster award are:

1. You have to link back to the person who nominated you.
2. You must answer 11 questions given to you by the person that nominated you.
3. After completing these questions you must nominate 11 bloggers with under 200 followers, and give them 11 questions of your choice.
4. You must not nominate the person who nominated you.
5. You must let your nominees know that they have been nominated and provide a link to your post for them so that they can learn about the nomination.

And here are my answers for Katie's Questions:

1. How long have you been blogging?
    3 Months

2. What is the most important thing that you have learned about blogging so far?
    Work Hard and Party Harder! (I mean at link parties ;))

3. What is your favorite project/blog post that you have done?
   DIY Star Burst Mirror and Sew faux Leather base Tote Bag 

4. What is your favorite movie and why?
    Twilight. I just love the book series and so do the movie.

5. How do you blog? Where and what kind of stuff do you have to have?
     All I need is a Laptop with my craft photos in it and an internet connection.
   
6. When you’re feeling stressed, what’s the best way to calm down?
    Crafting is the best medicine that worked for my brain till date. I just get so involved with it that I forget everything else.

7. If you could change one thing in your house, what would it be?
    Our front porch. Its just too boring.

8. What was your first car?
    Lol :) Sorry I don't remember the name, but it was one awesome remote control car that I and my brother use to drive crazy :)

9. When you have free time with your family, what’s your favorite activity?
    Chatting and cooking.

10. If you could see any important event from the past, what would it be and why?
    Falling in love with my husband. The most wonderful thing I decided to do was to share my life and heart with him.

11. If there was a movie made about your life, what actor/actress would you want to play you?
    Jennifer Aniston, in her 20's ofcourse! :)

Now that I have done my part of answering questions. Here is a list of 11 blogs I nominated for Liebster Award. Go check these wonderful blogs: (The list is random.)

• Vikalpah. I am sure you will be surprised with her creativity.
• Priyam Simple Joys.A blog with great collection of paper crafts and tutorials.
• Two Keck Girls. I love her beautiful nail art tutorials.
• Life With Lorelai. Aahhhh, she has great talent of pumpkin carving. You will be thrilled.
• Hooked On Homes. Visit her blog for great tips on decorating your home.
• DIY Beautify. She does create beauty from ordinary.
• Crochet by CED Designs. As I am starting to try my hands at crocheting, I am just loving her blog.  
• Busy Being Jen. Organizing, Fitness, Beauty and Crafts, she has got everything on her blog.
• Night Owl Corner. I cannot tell you enough about this blog. I just love love love every post in it sooo much. 
• Edea Smith. If you are planning to reclaim some wood, go check her blog for some great inspiration.
• The Little Farm Diary. Do you like vintage style homes like me, then her home will just look like heaven to you.

And here are questions for the nominees:

1. Why and how long ago did you start blogging?
2. What is your favorite craft or home decor store?
3. Is there something you learnt late in your blog journey that you wished you knew before?
4. What is your favorite pass time other than blogging?
5. How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog?
6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?
7. Where does your blog inspiration come from?
8. What is you favorite post that you have written?
9. Is there any post that you have been planning to do but kept postponing for a while now?
10. How did your friends and family react when you first started your blog and what do they think about it now?
11. Which blog post of mine do you like the most?

Finally, Once again thank you Katie, for nominating me.  My dear nominees, now its your turn to accept the award and most importantly "Have Fun!" :)

With Love,
Roopini

DIY Round Corded Bag Handles the Easiest Way Ever

       

When I started making my Faux Leather Base Tote Bag, I wanted to make it as close to the store bought bags as possible. I felt like I can really do it, until I reached the final part "Adding Handles". I really had no idea how to make round handles, except that I need to use some kind of stuffing to make them round.

When I searched Pinterest for Making Round Corded handles, I found these two awesome tutorials, Rolled Handbag Handles and Making Faux-Leather Handles. Unlike me, if you have good sewing skills, these tutorials will work beautifully for you. After few trials, I understood its not an easy job for a beginner like me to sew a perfect looking handles. But these tutorials gave me enough inspiration that I didn't want to give up so easily. 

         

The thoughts of making corded handles kept rolling in my mind and then I finally discovered an easy way. Do you know how to re-string a drawstring pants? Hurrah!!! You got this then :) Are you wondering how? Let's get started then.

 Supplies needed:

• 2 Vinyl (Faux Leather) Pieces of 27x3.4 inches
• Sew witchery (optional)
• 0.5 inch thickness filling cord
• Walking Pressure foot for your machine (Teflon Foot might work too)
• Sewing Notions (I used 100% Polyester Thread and 100/16 Needle as we got to sew through vinyl.)
• A wooden dowel of 0.47cm thickness (I had few left over from my DIY Star Burst Mirror Project)
• Strong and thin Jute Twine rope of 32 inches. ( Go for a strong twine. I failed several times using light to medium strength threads.)

The idea is to first sew flat handles and then insert the cording through your handles.

1. Fold about 1/2 inch inside on both long sides of 27x3.4inches vinyl pieces and press with iron. I used 1/4 inch Stitch witchery to help hold the vinyl layers together. (Always use a press cloth on vinyl before ironing.)

 An easy way to determine how much width will work best for your cord is just to fold the long edges in, place cord in middle and wrap around. Don't forget to include seam allowance before you measure.

 2. Again fold the vinyl piece into half, use binder clips (do not use sew pins as they can leave holes in Vinyl) to hold together and sew close with 1/8th inch seam allowance. This is where my walking pressure foot helped me get a good stitch on layers of vinyl.  Leave 2 inches on each end of the handles open.

3. Now, lets get our magic wand ready!!! Take the twine and join it to one end of filling cord. ( I used a big fat needle I had on hand to get twine through filling cord and then secured it with a knot.)

4. Tie the other end of  twine to one end of wooden dowel and secure with duck tape.

 5. Insert the free end of wooden dowel (the end which is not attached to twine) through the middle of our vinyl flat handle. Pull the wooden dowel out, this will drag the twine into handle and then the cord.

6. Once the cord gets in place, cut the twine from cord.

7. Sew close the 2 inch open edges on either sides of handles.
That is it!!! The magic is done :)

If you are here following my Faux Leather Base Tote Bag tutorial, then measure and mark where you want to position your handles on the bag. Sew the handles in marked positions and Tada!!! You are done.

Now show off your bag to your friends, family and ofcourse to me :)

Isn't making perfect corded handles easy this way? Now you can get creative and make colorful handles to coordinate with your bag colors. Enjoy!

I hope this tutorial was helpful for you. I was very excited when this trick worked for me, after almost an hour of trials. Thanks for stopping by :) Love to hear your comments.

Adding Hard Base, Bag feet and Magnetic Closure to a Bag

  
Inserting Bag feet:

1. Make a small slit in the bag base where you want to insert bag feet. Get the bag feet prongs together and insert through slit.
2. Create small gap between bag feet prongs.
3. Insert washer, through the prongs.
4. Press prongs on to the washer to lock the bag feet in place.

Hard Base and Bag feet:

1. There are 2 options here, either to use corrugated plastic cardboard sheet or a normal paper based cardboard. Measure the base of your bag and cut your cardboard sheet.

My Faux Leather base Tote Bag has a base of 11x4 inches. I upcycled a carton box I had at home for the hard base. (Since the carton is not strong enough i took 2 pieces of 11x4 size of the carton, layered them and stuck them together with duck tape all around.)

2. Through the opening in your bag lining, place the cardboard piece in between bag exterior and lining.

3. Secure the cardboard in place with binder clips.
4. Mark the 4 spots on your base where you want your bag feet to go. Its better to place them atleast 1 inch inside from bag base corners.

5. Using your seam ripper or sharp craft knife, make small slits on the marked places through both exterior fabric and cardboard piece. Be very careful not to slit too much. You just need a slit size little less than your bag feet prongs.

6. Now add your bag feet and secure cardboard in place.

Adding Magnetic Closure:

  
1. Separate your magnetic snaps from washers.
2. Place the magnetic snap where you want it on the bag and mark the prongs positions.
3. Make a small slit (about little less than prongs width) with sharp craft knife or seam ripper.
4. Insert the magnetic snap prongs into the slits made.
5. On backside, add the washer through Prongs.
6. Press the prongs towards each other to secure the snap in place. (Usually you need something hard to press these prongs. I used my metal ruler I had on hand.)

 If you are following my Faux Leather base Tote bag tutorial, then you need to insert the magnetic snaps to the fusible fleece we added at the top of our lining pieces. (Use the opening left in lining to reach there.)

Now bring the lining outside and close the opening.

Isn't it cool? Simple additions can get our handmade bags to next level ;)

In my next post I will share with you an easiest way ever to make faux leather corded hand bag handles.

Do you like sewing? Have you ever tried making a tote bag? If yes, I would love to see them. Leave a picture or link in your comments. Thank you for stopping by :)