China Garden Flower Tutorial!

I have seen some whimsical garden flowers made out of various dishes and fun glass items.




It's easy and simple to do.






Here's how...



Gather old dishes of various shapes and sizes...


You will also need an old silver spoon for the back of each flower. I flattened it out using a hammer since it will be glued to the back of the plate. A great place to get this stuff is

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Homemade Rain Chain

Do you ever come across cheap, old silver spoons at thrift stores and garage sales and wonder what you can do with them? In the past I have made hooks out of them like these...
Well, I came across a bag of spoons for $2 at a garage sale and thought I would make a homemade rain chain out of them. Here is a short tutorial on how I did it.



Collect old spoons and some wire.
Drill a small hole in

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INDeco Hotels Swamimalai, 1896 Tanjore Village.

I had posted about this serene place near Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu way back in 2007 when I had just started the blog, it was called Sterling Swamimalai. 

Since then it has evolved into a even more beautiful heritage resort and has been rechristened INDeco Hotels, Swamimalai, 1896 Tanjore Village.

INDeco Hotels Swamimalai, 1896 Tanjore Village is a heritage resort which consists of a painstakingly restored main village home built in the late 1896 and many other heritage structures which have been restored to create an ambience of a Tanjore Village.

 Terracotta figurines and idols compliment the heritage space with pops of burnt red.

Painted prayers~ Kolams adorn the brick paths and entrances to the rooms. 

My daughter learning to make little kolams on a little chalkboard...

Kolams are drawn every morning after a generous sprinkling of water on the paths.

The swimming pool has been designed like the village temple tank with niches for earthen lamps that I imagine would create magic on special days and festivals...

White-washed terra-cotta 'yalis' guard the dining hall which is tucked amidst thick banana plantation.

Beautifully designed entrances to various rooms in the resort.

Few walls are painted red and white reminiscent of South Indian temples with beautiful sculptures of Gods & Goddesses.

The trees in the resorts have faces! The Cannonball tree (Nagalingam) seem to come alive with a terra-cotta face and floral hairdo. So delightful!

The Cannonball flower has such a mesmerizing fragrance.

 The terra-cotta Gods are omnipresent:-) 

The resort has been conceived and designed by Steve Borgia. It also houses the Steve Borgia Indian Heritage Museum where you can see a beautiful collection of antiques and collectables. 

Lovely geometrical patterns created by Mr. Sun.

A huge Lord Shiva face in the museum open courtyard.

 The sun-bathed courtyard in the 1896 village home.

 A peacock enjoys the morning sunlight...

Hope you enjoyed the tour of the stunning South Indian village style, heritage resort. So next time you are on a South Temple trip in Tanjore District, do check out INDeco Hotels Swamimalai, 1896 Tanjore Village.

Have a great day with a stainless steel tumbler of the famous frothy Kumbakonam Degree Coffee:-)

(Images by Arch)

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The Rest Of The Story...on our Pillars!

As you may have read my previous, The Pillar Story...if not you can go HERE.

We have SEVEN vintage columns and enjoy every one of them.

That was until our Kansas trip!


My grown son lives in Kansas and we go out yearly for a visit. He knows our taste and surprised us with this...


Yes, four more, truly awesome pillars on stand bases, capitals and with globes!




My son and me at my

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Budhha Painting Revealed

I wanted to make a Buddha painting since ages. Reason that kept me away from this was some laziness and of-course lack of confidence. I had a fear of it wouldn't turn out the way I had thought. Would I be able to give proper shade and brush strokes??? endless questions...........

So I decided to polish my hands before starting this buddha painting. I made few painting using different mediums, effects and styles. One you can see here and some I'll show you later. 

 I was afraid of using oil colors so I chose water colors. It took me 2 days (approx. 8-9 hrs)  to complete this painting. As you can see the head part of Buddha was the most difficult thing and it took 2 hrs to be completed. Making curls was very interesting and fun part and when I was done with this particular part it was wonderful feeling looking at it. 

Shaping, coloring and shading eyes was not that tough, though gradual change in shading from eyebrows to nose was a little tricky.

I am not completely satisfied with the upper lip part. It was almost spoilt but somehow I managed to correct it. 

Then I wanted a peaceful smile on Buddha's face and some shading on either sides of the lips worked wonder. Painting complete background with water color was not a good idea so I opted for soft pastels. Though I'm not very happy with the final look but it gave me great satisfaction that my own artwork will going to be hung in my living room........don't you feel the same after doing some DIY projects or after some before and after projects or after making some art-piece  with your own creative hands.

Wishing you very happy and creative weekend!!

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A Living Fence!

Several years ago, we planted some honeysuckle next to our back fence row. We purchased it from Lowes and it's called Hall's Honeysuckle and it's known for it's wonderful old-fashioned smell.






Hubby has made it his stress-releaving hobby to guide the vines in each direction.


And even built a way for the honeysuckle to arch over a gate and cute log cabin.


It smells so good when the

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Indian Art: Dhokra Art (Eastern and Central India)

Dhokra also known as the Dokra art form is very ancient indian art form dated back to 4000-5000 yrs. The art form originated from the Bastar in Chhattisgarh(India).Name Dhokra is derived from the tribes(Dokra) who are  metal workers of tribal community in Bastar. The tribe extends from Jharkhand to West Bengal and Orissa.

Image Source: Click Here

Image Source: Click Here

Process of making Dokra art piece is even more interesting. Dhokra metal crafts follow the traditional method of lost or vanishing wax technique. First the clay core is designed  and then is layered by wax, resin and nut oil. Wax is then carved and every fine detail is given again this is covered by clay it works as a mould for metal art piece. Clay is then cooked and wax comes out from the drain ducts. Molten metal (that is mainly brass and bronze scraps) is poured inside the mould. After the metal has taken shape and as cooled down, outer clay layer is chipped off. Metal art piece is then polished and finished. Thus this method has a big disadvantage that mould can be used only once and hence two art pieces will not be exactly the same.....interesting isn't it!!
Inspiration is from environment, trees, birds, animals and rituals also.

Image Source: Click Here

Image Source: Click Here

Intricate design and every fine detail on each article holds its unique and distinct identity. This art form is indeed the most beautiful art form among ancient Indian arts.

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