Diwali Decor : Crepe Paper Marigolds

Festivals in India are incomplete without Marigolds. These saffron and yellow colored flowers has been one of my all time favorite for their beauty and pungent scent. Today I am sharing with you a tutorial on making the marigold flowers.  Off course they do not match the fresh and real flowers completely but they can be incorporated in your décor. You can use them at the tables, or simple string them to make Toran.
Please note that since these are paper flowers, do not place them near the candles or your wicker lamps.

Gather the items that are required to make the flowers. Please note here that I have taken a thick and strong thread not the regular embroidery floss. I felt that while tying the ends together the regular thread easily slips and you will not be able to form a tight loop.

Using craft scissor with zig-zag shaped blade, cut the crepe paper about 2 and 1/5 inch width.

Taking a thread and a needle, start stringing these strips. Use a running stich along the center of the strip.

When you feel they are of enough volume, tie the two ends of the threads tightly.

For the center part of the flower, create a 1/2 inch wide and three inch length strip. Make fringes. Twist a small piece of crepe paper for a stalk. Glue the fringe to this stalk. Note that the stalk is very small here about two inches but thick enough to get inside the flower.

Insert this into the center of the flower, gluing to the flower.

For the base part, twist the base part of the flower as much as possible, to make it pointed at the bottom. Glue them with a floral tape.

 

 

 

Book Review : Panchatantra by VishnuSharma, retold by Vrinda Varma

 

I bought this book recently for myself and to read it to my younger son. The Panchatantra as most of us know, is collection of stories written by Pandit VishnuSharma around 200 B.C.  They are one of the most sought after book for children and many Indians like me would have listened from our elders. These are one of the oldest fables written to inculcate moral values, kindness, wisdom among children. These stories have been told and passed on from generations to generations.

 

About the book : These stories were written by VishnuSharma to educate the there sons of king Amarashakti.  The name "Panchatantra" means Five("Pancha") Stratergy(Tantra).The book is divided into five sections each one dealing with ways and strategies to live and lead a prosperous life in this world. The stories are written as stories within stories, however you can read any of the story randomly. These stories are accompanied  by beautiful illustrations by K.R.Raji keeps you mesmerized. The language is simple enough to understand by young kids, each story having a moral at the end. This book is published by Mangobooks.

Post celebrations of Ganesh Chathurthi

Bangalore is the only place in India where the festival of Ganesh Chathurthi is celebrated at people's(our) convenience. You can see various pendals/mandaps sprouting here and there throughout the month of Ganesh Chathurthi. The same thing happened in our residential layout too. Our reason for celebrating off time that we wanted the weekends, so that working people can freely participate in the celebrations. The last few days were hectic for me and few residents in organizing the cultural and sports events for our community. In the end we were applauded for our efforts and volunteering. We were felicitated with the bouquet of roses. Aren't they cute? They are there in most possible corners of my home. Don't think that I am going gaga over the roses, it's just that they are just perfect after engrossing celebrations.

 

I don't want to part away with them even though they have dried..