This post is a collection of some of the easiest and best DIY ideas to decorate your home this Diwali tastefully – mostly with items found around your home and garden. Fresh flowers. Nostalgic scents of sweets wafting from the kitchen. The fragrance from hand-poured scented candles dominating the air. Eye-catching rangolis at the entrance. Vibrant cushions. Opulent silverware. Corners decked with lacquered brassware. Polished copperware reused as vases. Shimmering candles alongside earthy diyas. Glittering festive wear. And an overload of memories from the yester years. It’s a date with divinity, and that pretty much sums up the season to indulge. Thanks to environment-conscious kids, what’s missing these days is the subtle hint of sulfur nitrate and nitrogen-di-oxide from the crackers in the air. Even though Diwali is…
(Updated in October ’22 with the latest designs) This post is a compilation of over 15 colouring ideas to decorate your earthen / clay/ terracotta diyas this Diwali in festive colours, some offbeat ones and some usual, bright ones. If you don’t have the time, you can click the link to buy. Last year, I asked my son to paint a terracotta urn. I let the glazing colors and his imagination flow uninhibited. True to my expectations, it was a riot of colors. We filled the urn as a centerpiece for diyas at the entrance, filled with water and floated some candles and flowers. It was amazing and every time someone commented it was beautiful, he beamed with joy. Then this summer, got him a…
Out with the old, in with the new. Isn’t that what Diwali is about? The festive season also sends many households into a cleaning frenzy. This was all new to me until I saw an adorable North Indian family that lived downstairs turn the house upside down over a week of Diwali cleaning: that’s where I learned about this ritual and even though we don’t do clean as rigorously during Diwali, the habit has stayed with me over the years. All the cleaning was quite stressful on the women with everything from fans to spoons getting a shine. when I first began to clean, I didn’t have a method to it. I just did whatever I felt like cleaning, sometimes for hours over the weekend…
[Updated in 2019 for relevancy] All that glitters is gold. In the festive season. Here’s a list of things you can shop online at Home Center if you don’t want to step out and brave the crowds. Last weekend, we dropped by at the new Home Centre outlet that opened up in the neighborhood. The store looked every bit festive, more than usual, with its colorful votives, glitzy lanterns, gilded vases, chrome platters, and shimmering candles. It’s a common practice among employers to give gift vouchers during the festive season. I saw two ladies at the counter wondering how to make the best use of their Rs.3000 Home Centre gift vouchers. They had picked up laundry basket, tray among other things and were doubting if…
I’m going to be honest. That assorted chocolate gift pack, the quartet of dry fruits, a box of Soan papdi or a dabba of motichoor laddu does get boring after a while. For years, we have been gifting/receiving neighbors and family these tried-and-tested standard gifts. Why not step out of the comfort zone, put some thought and love in to what you buy this year for the festive season? I’ve spent hours combing through various sites to put together this list for you to wish your friends and family this Diwali – they are budget-friendly with all of them under Rs. 1000. The one thing that strings these gifts together is the thought of wellness, the importance to feel good about oneself, and make the…
Last week, when I posted these pictures of brass lamps on my Instagram stories, I was overwhelmed by the queries from you all as to where these shops were. This post is a celebration and curation of where to find good quality brass diyas and hanging lamps online. Brass. Bronze. Bell metal. Copper. We identify with these. After ooh-aahing over the glittering candles and shining lanterns, our hearts finally find solace only in shining those antique brass and bronze lamps for the festive season, or floating marigolds in copper vessels with flowers.; that’s our identity, so why shy away from it. Last week, I was visiting my home town and neighboring places (Kumbakonam, Trichy) famous for their tall vilakkus (lamps). It is not uncommon to find…
Yesterday, in the first part of this series to make your home spotless just in time for Diwali, we looked at getting a sparkling living room and bedroom. Today, we move into one of the high traffic areas after the kitchen and which just gets messy no water what, if not tended to. What’s the one thing you love about any good hotel? Especially when someone else does the job for you to keep it dry. Yes, you guessed it right – bathrooms! And no matter how clean the rest of the home is, it’s the bathrooms that will make or break it. Most Indian bathrooms do not have clear segregation of shower area (wet vs dry area) which makes it tough to keep it…
Every site, magazine, blog is teeming with incredibly beautiful images of flowers, colorful rooms, and lights. But, there’s a lot to be done backstage to get the house look so beautiful, isn’t it? And not everything is a pleasant or easy job as the person getting your home in order will vouch for. So, this post is dedicated to all the hard work that goes behind those pretty pictures and if yours is already not there, don’t fret about it, just enjoy the season. As always, let’s begin with a story.
Not so long ago, we lived in Pune in a rented bungalow in a lovely, quiet, lush-green, open neighborhood. The owners, a Marwari family, lived downstairs. There are so many simple things about life and relationships I learned from the beautiful lady who always smiled no matter how many house guests she had, the warmth with which she talked to people, and selflessness when it came to helping others. But, there is one other BIG thing I learned – lessons in housekeeping and how to keep a home clean. Not a spotless one, but clean. Every year, the Diwali cleaning akin to spring cleaning would start a month in advance in her house.
Now, having lived in the South for the better part of my life, this was new to me. The houses don’t turn upside down for Diwali or any festival for that matter – ok, maybe a bit for Pongal. I mean who takes down the fans and cleans the blades, rummages an organized cupboard to reorganize, and a time when every bottle in the kitchen counters shine. The first year I watched with astonishment and it repeated the next year. I’m not quite sure when the transformation turned from astonishment to something I started doing every Diwali. Well, not to that extreme as cleaning is a year round thing but it has become a ritual. You know what, it does feel good to see a shining home with fresh curtains, new bed linen, spotless bathroom floors yaada yaada.
The curtains, fans, floors take a shine now every year during Diwali. And to be honest, it not doesn’t take a month to do it. I have a small checklist for every room that I tick off once the job is done. So, if you’re game for some cleaning three days before Diwali, then now’s the time to get it done and let in some fresh scents and sights. Here’s my checklist that’ll come in three parts – today, tomorrow and Monday just in time.
I rely on my bucket of magic tools aka cleaners to get the job done. I’m not promoting any of these products just the ones I use. It takes me about an hour to run down the list and have divided them into bedroom, bathroom and finally kitchen.
Hi folks! It’s late Friday night but I wanted to post Friday favorites before the weekend is upon us. It’s going to be one busy weekend of cleaning, shopping, making sweets and having fun. Some of my favorite picks, of course focusing on tea lights, from some of the sites I’ve long wanted to feature and will hopefully in the coming days. Have a great weekend. Image courtesy: 1. Modak Candles from Tappu Ki Dukaan 2. Shot Glass candles from Tappu Ki Dukaan 3. Colorful buckets from Yellow Button – I have no idea how much these colorful buckets cost. But, I thought they were cute and had to be included. 4. Lotus collection from Crazy Daisy
Hello everyone! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Is decorating for diwali on top of your mind these days? Well, you are not alone given that Diwali is exactly a week away.
Often on weekends, the three of us set out on mindless bike rides with no particular destination in mind. On one such trip Sunday evening, I saw this beautiful shop called Templetree on Varthur Road in Bangalore. The shop was closed but dressed well and intriguing enough for me to find out what was inside. And, I’m pleased to see their FB page and it warrants a visit again – a planned one this time. They create unique stationery products, birth announcements (didn’t know there was one like this), custom design wedding cards, gift bags, personalised envelopes, bookmarks, wine bottle bags in an array of colors, shapes and ethnic designs – you get the drift, don’t you seeing these pictures?
They have an exquisite collection of wedding cards in the most fascinating aquas, fuchsias and oranges adorned with jewelled paisleys. Loved the tea light collection as well.