Spreading light and happiness...

I have a little ritual of picking up new diyas every Diwali. 
A pair of whatever catches my fancy. 
So when I saw these ceramic sunflower diyas flooding the markets in Bangalore last year, I bought a few.

They sat snug in one of the cartons that transported them to Minnesota, until I rediscovered them and decided to do something with them. So that forms the first part of the story.

During our various travels across India, we also have a quirky ritual of checking out hardware stores in small towns. 
Yes, hardware stores:-)
For ceramic tiles. The local hardware store will always have some interesting local, folk, cultural design  representative of the state or region.
So during our last trip to Kutch, Gujarat. We picked up few tiles in Bhuj.

 Some pretty peacock motifs on tiles.

Shubh-Labh written in Gujarati, Devnagari script.  Shubh- Labh along with Swastika symbol denotes auspiciousness, profit and prosperity. 
So it just felt so appropriate to use it for my Diwali decoration.

Some fresh Chrysanthemums snipped from my birthday bouquet. Some lovely cylindrical candles.

The real and the ceramic flower combination works well for me:-) 

Pulled out a cane placemat that seemed to compliment the browns of the ceramic diyas, played around with the composition.

The peacocks seemed very happy to be in the company of fresh flowers and candles. 

These would make an interesting setting on a table where you plan to entertain guests during Diwali or at the entrance to usher your guests in.

So let your creativity flow, spread loads of happiness and light this Diwali season!

Wishing all of you a very Happy, Prosperous & Safe Diwali.

(Images and Styling by Arch)

Check out the complete compilation of Diwali Decorating Ideas & Inspiration on 
Rang Decor Facebook Page.

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Wool Pumpkin Tutorial

 It has been a while since I did a tutorial for you to enjoy...and even make if you wanted to. I also have been crazy over wool lately and decided to play with various kinds. Sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy the tutorial!


Materials that I used:

1 old wool sweater, washed and dried to felt or shrink



1 old plastic pumpkin, purchased at a thrift store

2 wool flowers, premade

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Three Tier Table Transformed

A new antique table has entered my life and invaded my living room! I fell in love with it upon first sight even though it didn't look it's best...




The best part, other than bringing it home and transforming it was it's price...at 70% off, Yeah! (Here you can see I was gluing the loose veneer back on when I took the before picture.)
I decided on Annie Sloan's Old White

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Diwali Craft & Home Decor Inspiration- II

Diwali is just around the corner and you all decor enthusiast must be thinking of some nice table arrangements for this festive season.  Sometimes we get bored of using same things again and again for all the occasions. So this time I come up with the idea of using some mundane household objects for some pleasing and not so expensive tablescape. 

First thing you need is some nice table runner. Forget about those table runners you already have used number of times. Try to use dupatta or rich textile as table runner, idea is to add bling and luxury to your decor. Now that you are done with table runner part comes the next step of arranging things those are going to be part of your tablescape.

Put your mundane household objects to good use. Hunt for things that can serve as a candle or diya holder like I used frame of my broken tea cups as diya holder.

Then I put small clay pots that I have painted some time back on top of the cup frames and on table runner.

I plucked a palm leaf and then cut the fronds(Smaller leaf structures that grow on stem) in same size and then arranged them in clay pot as shown in picture. Now put tealight or diya on it and see the magical effect.

Now leaving you with some pictures. Take a look and let me know what do you think.

If you have an awesome Diwali decor idea to share with us then go on and send me on designdecoeanddisha@gmail.com

In case you have missed my earlier post on Diwali inspiration then click here.

Have a lovely weekend and stay creative!!!

P.S : All images are mine please don't copy or reuse them without my permission.

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Two cool Tables!

Crazy story but true,

As hubby and I were on our way home from our daughter's new house across town, a guy was putting these two tables out on the street corner!

The curbside picker that I have known to be, had hubby stop and I asked what he was doing with them. He told me that he was moving and didn't have room for them and that I could have them. He even loaded them in the pickup!





As

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Before It's Too Late!

Happy Halloween, everyone!  Can you believe it's already here?  I canNOT!

 

If you saw my house right now, you'd laugh because it's suffering a serious identity crisis!  The outside is decorated for Halloween ... the kitchen has the beginnings of Christmas ... and, the sitting room has Fall splashed around.  I almost feel sorry for it (and, me, lol)!

 

Before the leaves and pumpkins are put back into the Fall bins for another year, I snapped a few pics of our sitting room, dressed in blues, creams and pops of vibrant orange.

 

 



Glass cloches are often my BFF when it comes to styling ... they're the perfect way to showcase ANYthing, aren't they?

When I spotted "Mr. Owl" at Michael's, I just *knew* he had to come home with me ... esPECIALLY since he was on sale (40% off)!

 

Once again ... another glass cloche to the rescue.

 

 

I still can't wait to change out our chandelier!

Behind the loveseat, I added a sofa table recently picked up from a consignment shop.  You know I love having another place to add a few goodies:

 

More pieces of orange found its way to our accent chest, too. 

 

 

My favorite part of the day is when the afternoon sun shines in:

 

 

So, tell me ... is your house suffering an identity crisis right now, too?

 

I'm joinging:

 

Savvy Southern Style/WUW

Kristen's Creations/Share Your Creations

French Country Cottage/Feathered Nest Friday

At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday



 

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Diwali Craft & Home Decor Inspiration- I

Do you have those plain white tea lights and wanted to make them a bit more interesting. Here are some easy and interesting ideas to add some drama to your decor and I am sure you all will going to love it. I made these tea light candles (in picture below) in different colors but wasn't happy with the way they turned out. So I decided to spice them up. There are few ideas I am sharing though you can go wild with your imaginations and creativity.

1. Stick designer stones around the tea light let them dry and then glitter them. This is the simplest thing to transform plain tea light candles into glamorous one and looks fabulous.

2. Make a motif or design of your choice with different colors, stick stones and then add some glitter. That's it your tea lights have turned into elegant piece of decor.

3. One more simple idea is to paint the tea light in linear gradient color and mark the color separation with glitter.

4. We all love satin ribbons don't we. Stick one lovely satin ribbon around the tea light and it's done. You can add glitter on tea light's rim to give it a festive look.

Now lets talk about how to decorate your home with tea lights:
1. To make a table centerpiece: take any tray put some pebbles with flowers or petals then put tea lights in any fashion linear, circular or random then put some pearls around each tea light. You are ready to greet your guests :)

2. For decorating walkways or entrance: Place the tea lights on entrance or on walkways put petals around each of them and then make rangoli around petals.

3. Floating tea lights: Float them in water with flower/ petals, shells, pebbles or glittered thermocol balls. You can use wine glass also to float them.

4. Make a cluster of pillar candles and tea lights put one decorative mirror behind the arrangement. This setting will double up the charm and glow of your space.


Hope you liked the inspirations and please do share your ideas and inspirations also. I would love to showcase your work here on my blog.
Stay tuned for more on Diwali crafts and home decor inspirations.


Word of caution: After lighting diyas and candles treat them with great caution don't leave them unattended, keep them out of reach of children.

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