Mandal word comes from the Sanskrit word “मंडल” the literal meaning of which is circle. The word circle also means completeness or wholeness. Its a spiritual and religious symbol in many Vedic based religions representing universe. Usually its a complex abstract design that is in circular form with one identifiable center point from which emanates patterned symbols and shapes.

A Mandal is considered to have healing properties too, for many just looking at the circular pattern brings calm and contentment, hence its used as focal point for meditation or introspection. It also depicts essence of life , our relation to the infinity and single unit of unity within us which is our “mind”. It also represents material world which includes our circle of family, friends ,society and the non-material world our solar system and its components , the planets and the sun. Its believed to be a stress buster too, try it out sometime when you are tired or stressed just simply start drawing the concentration and trying to find patterns that assimilate well to create the mandal will channelize your energy and bring your focus to the constructive thoughts and soon you will realize the feeling of calmness within you.

In many parts of India, mandal have become base for creating Rangoli’s(designs done on the floor with colored sand) .

Try out this art form and do give the feedback !!!

Gond is the second largest tribal group in India located mostly in the central part of India.Gonds are considered to be of Dravidian origin.

The Gond Paintings are traditional art form of Gond Community mostly done on the walls and floors of the homes of the people.The major belief in doing so is that the Gonds believe that looking at beautiful stuff brings good luck and also wards off evil. The Gonds are very close to nature hence nature plays an important role in their paintings. Most of their paintings depict flora and fauna of local areas and Gods and Goddess. The colors used in Gond Paintings are Natural colores or dyes mostly made of colored soil, leaves,flowers etc. The speciality of Gond Paintings is the bright colors used , simple designs, double borders and if you look carefully  the paintings are just made of lines,dashes and dots. Its the Gond Tribe that is depicted in the The Jungle Book By Rudyard Kipling.

Although this art form is getting extinct but the government, various NGO’s and artist groups are trying hard to revive this artform. My little dedication to this beautiful art form is through this handmade GOND PAINTING.

Do try out this fascinating art form and introduce the younger generations with the rich art forms of the world.

Happy Painting !!!

Birthdays are always special but for some people its Suupeerrrrrr special…My little one is one such person. Her back counting for her birthday starts from the very next day of her birthday and this year she wanted a Nail spa Party.Her desire my Command 🙂 Thats what mommies are for right.

Below is the glimpse of our spa party room.

A little Nail spa station is set up in the corner of the room from where the kids could pickup the colors thet wanted. There were base colors to pick first , then there were varios options like sparklers, rhinestones,stickers, accent colors etc..they could choose what they want.

The munchies in the food items went with the party theme and  included pink marshmallows as they look alike cotton balls (needed for nail spa),strawberry sparkles drink, pretzels, other colorful munchies that go with nail colors theme etc..

The table where the nail paint was being done had a fun flowery theme with coolorful flowers and beads decorated to give it a girlie and festive look.

I made a flower tiara that matched with my daughter’s birthday dress and then every girl got to wear the tiara while getting their nails done.Believe me they all felt so special and gave the best pose for the pictures 🙂 . They all loved the floral tiaras. These are also a great gift ideas for little girls and ladies.

For return gifts I did hand painted bottles with all the goodies related to Nail spa.The bottles had Candy bracelet,foam nail separator, nail cutter,nail filer, a nail paint bottle, nail cleaner brush , pumice stone, a big hand and feet lotion. The girls were so happy with these goodies. They could use the goodies inside and then the hand painted bottles could be used at home for decoration or other endless options.

These return gifts can be also used as gifts during festivals like Navratri Kanjak pooja or Golu gifts, Christmas gifts, Gifts for girl friends in Bridal showers.

Coming back to the party -The smiles and wonderful comments plus all those tiny nail painted fingers made every single effort worth . Add a few games and movie with popcorns and you will see the brightest eyes and widest smiles I promise 🙂

Happy Partying and Happy gifting 🙂

Floral Tiara’s are a new trend this season and loved by the girls of all age group. Like all the other girls my LO was also fascinated by this beautiful accessory and wanted it for her birthday. I decided to make a craft activity with her and the joy of having one custom built with the colors she likes and satisfaction of “made by me” was good enough for her to cherish this tiara. Try making this craft with your girls this summer, or have a Girls night out with your friends and have this as a party activity, I am sure each one will enjoy as not only its a beautiful accessory but also a great prop for the photo shoots.You can use flowers of different colors or even different sizes.These are perfect return gifts too for birthdays or for any bridal shower give aways or even the religious functions(Like kanya pooja in Navratri) . Use them for the preggy mom’s photo shoot. I am sure it will brighten that smile even more 🙂

Enjoy this summer with this craft and don’t forget to give feedback …Happy Crafting

Wreath making is another interest of mine. Those welcoming wreath hanging on the door not only look beautiful but also display the taste and mood of the home owner.

This wreath made with balloons is perfect for summer , hang it from Holi time ,it goes well with Easter theme too and then keep it till whole summer, the fun colours add the zing and the balloons makes this wreath quiet whimsical too. I love this one because you can use it as backdrop decor on your kids birthday , just customize it by adding the number of age of your kid on his/her birthday in the middle and there you go 🙂

Another one of my creation that is close to my heart is

This  attempt of mine is based on EAST MEETS WEST concept…HOLI is an Indian festival of Colors and EASTER is about eggs so here are the Colorful eggs to wish you all a very Happy Holi and Easter…

होली त्यौहार है रंगों का, और ईस्टर त्यौहार है अंडों का
ये रंगीले अंडे समन्वय हैं, होली और ईस्टर के त्यौहार का
जीवन में आपके रंग रहे सदा, ख़ुशी और प्यार का
साथ रहे सदा आपके प्यार, दोस्तों और परिवार का
यही मूल है इस बार इस त्यौहार , हमारी शुभकामनाओं का..

Depending on if you want vibrant summer or pastels pick any of these ideas and if you want to mix the two.. go with either the pastel balloons or bright eggs, Enjoy the creations and don’t forget to share the pictures of your creations here in the comments below.

Kids ready for Christmas Break and are you wondering what to do with them during this holiday break.Well don’t go too far . Here are two nice activities that you can do with kids.

1) Elf on the shelf with Pine cone : Choose a nice pine cone, few felt sheets , some glue, and an wooden ball and you are all set to make an elf with your little elves 🙂 .

2) Rudolph the Reindeer with Pine cone : Pick a pine cone, pompoms,few pipe cleaners,few felt sheets, Wiggle eyes, and Ribbon (if you want to hang it as Christmas ornament on your tree.

You can make different templates and keep different variety of supplies and this can be your Christmas party activity. Attached are the pictures for you to get an idea. Feel free if you have any questions to make the same.

Diwali or Deepavali is the time of the year when all the Indians make an extra effort to clean up the house ,apart from decorating it and making savouries etc. The First step in Cleaning is Purging, and now a days with growing technology, we have so many CD’s that are of no use as they get corrupted or data in it is no more needed or you just have an extra copy of the same stuff or it might be even a blank CD. Collect all those CD’s, gather some beads,rhinestones and let your kids make wonderful Diwali diya’s out of it. Want to go out of box, use the 3-D paints, Glitters,felt cloth , if the kids are too small just use the fancy colorful stickers. You have happy kids , guilt less parents (guilty of letting them watch too much electronics, while you are busy doing all the cooking and cleaning) and a Beautiful piece of art to decorate your home with LIGHTS of LOVE.Not to mention those little cute faces will beam with pride when those diya’s are lit by Mommy.

Fall represents not only the crisp winter mornings, the pumpkins, the chrysanthemums,Orange,yellow,red,brown colors,the perfect pumpkin spice latte etc. But also, a lot of fun filled activities with the beginning of festivities both on the East and West side of the world. Loads of ways to involve the kids and do fun activities with them and make beautiful memories.

Pumpkin carving is one such activity , but what if you don’t have the time to get the pumpkins or what if you have little ones who are not yet old enough to do such activity.Don’t let these things dampen your fall spirit … Lets do some Halloween Activity without pumpkins Yes you read right “no pumpkins” but as the picture suggests with “Milk Can”.

Enjoy this fall/Halloween with milk cans…save a few and then let your little ones put their imaginations on cans..You can use the Sharpie pens or the Construction papers.Yes the milk can also can give the same spooky effect :-)).

With the rainy and gloomy weather outside today and no classes for kids this evening ..here is a spooky peek of what we did …Hope you got some ideas and can do something similar. Don’t forget to share pictures of your spooky work.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN