Diwali Snippets: Shashwatee Raut

Diwali is over, I know but still lot of visitors are visiting my blog for Diwali Decor Ideas. So today I am sharing some lovely and very beautiful Diwali snippets that one of my very creative readers sent me. You must have seen Shashwatee Raut's beautifully done balcony garden earlier on my blog, today you will see few nooks and corners of her home bathed in warm light during Diwali. Here's how she explains about her Diwali decor.

"I am a research scholar of Economics….art, craft and cooking are my passion. A week before Diwali I tried to at least dedicate an hour daily for Diwali preparation and some DIY projects. I made some candle diyas…these are super easy to make and super easy to light up."

I love to decorate but prefer those items which are not too expensive.

Tray in red and beige is made out of thermocol sheet and gift wrapping paper. Tray with rose petals is also handmade it was a dry fruits tray of brown colour, gave it a new look with some work using white Portland cement, golden acrylic paint and few Kundans.

Hand painted Diyas & some floating tea lights!!

Homemade Chocolates as Diwali gifts and some homemade sweets and Namkeens to tickle the taste buds of guests. 

Diwali is incomplete without these delicacies. I think she has done a great job. From handmade decor stuff to homemade sweets everything needs a big round of applause. Well done Shashwatee!!

Dear readers stay tuned as you will be meeting with an extraordinary talent in my next post. For post about 'Garden Winter Care' you have to wait a little more :)

Thank you for being patient !!

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MN Home Feature: Framed memories.

A guessing game ensued on my facebook page after I posted the photograph of this hot pink package that came from India last fall.

Now for the story…
Do Rang Decor readers remember the 'A tea party for three...' post about the creative get-together with the super-talented artists Aarohi Singh & Priya Sebastian before I left Bangalore in 2012.

Aarohi Singh gifted me her signature tea kettle with my favourite Frangipani flowers and Chai painted on it.

Priya Sebastian brought me the most beautiful yellow Liliums that day and she being the amazing illustrator that she is, she went ahead and illustrated the tea party in her bold artistic style!

I was blown away by this artistic rendition of our tea party. 

I wanted her work along with Aarohi's kettle to be part of our home here in Minnesota. 

So wrapped in her signature colour of hot pink paper came four vibrant prints of the illustrations of the tea party. 

A cosy corner in our Minnesota home is now a space that displays framed memories of the beautiful afternoon spent with friends.

The work of two artists I admire forms a lovely composition on this wall. 

Side view of the paintings and a vintage cast iron holder for the kettle.

A space dedicated to friends, chai, frangipanis and the warm memories…

Many quiet afternoons have been spent on this rocking chair, with a cup of hot tea, looking at the vibrant colours enveloping me:-)

Thank you Aarohi & Priya. Your art is a blessing and is deeply appreciated in our humble abode.

(Images by Archana Srinivas. Please do not use without permission)

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Word Art Tutorial on Vintage Breadboard

Just in time for



Thanksgiving...















And,

Making "useful and decor",,, merge!

First, I started with a rather large old breadboard. These can be pricey, but I picked up mine cheap at a garage sale.
Using my Silhouette Electronic Cutting machine, I designed and cut out a 'stencil' using clear contact paper. (If you don't have one, you could still do this on your computer and

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Engrave And Cherish Your Memories

We don't remember days, we remember moments, we make memories. Memories are timeless treasures of the heart. 

"Memory is a way of holding onto 

the things you Love,

the things you are,

the things you never want to lose."

                                               Kevin Arnold

We make memories with our loved ones but how do you immortalize them, how do you cherish them. Want to know how I immortalize them. I engrave and cherish!! Let me introduce you to an amazing online store that helps you in cherishing memories that last forever, it's Engrave.in. 

Engrave gives you option to personalize and engrave your photos in various ways. Choose your picture, add a message/quote in your choice of fonts, add beautiful corners to enhance the look of engraved plaque (you can even choose different kind of plaques too, wooden, cherry red silver leaf, brown silver leaf and many other options) and you are done!! Just check out their website once and I bet you will be exploring everything you see there. In a few simple steps you can personalize your picture, artwork, quotes and lot more. 

There is everything for everyone. See what I chose from Engrave. This beautiful elephant canvas print is adorning my living room. It's majestic.

Canvas print quality is excellent. Colours and patterns are just beautiful.

Closer look of the canvas print to give you idea how beautiful it is. Click on the picture for better view,

And what else....yes I got one more thing. This is something I am going to cherish all my life. I got my family picture engraved with a message that says our story :) Isn't it beautiful. I know now you can't resist and want to personalize and engrave your picture. Go on dear and get it done. Believe me you will going to love it. 

A closer look. My husband who is not very fond of art and decor :( found this piece amazing and unique. Now he wants to take this plaque to his office to place it on his table because he truly loved it. Message etched on to the wooden plaque is very clear and easily readable.

Text I added on plaque has our (my family members') name hidden in it. Now you got some guessing work here :)
Engrave has a nice collection of plaques, canvas prints, name plates, clocks, vinyl decals, kitchenware, lamps, coasters and what not. I know dear readers now have got a place where you can easily choose gifts for everyone, for every occasion.  

I can't take my eyes off this beauty. It has lovely message, beautiful corners and image of my loved ones. The feeling is inexplicable. Big thanks to Engrave for helping me immortalize my memories.

And to let you all know, this lovely orange watering can is a gift from my dear friend and fellow blogger Vandana. Thanks Vandana, it's beautiful:)

P.S. : All the images and views expressed here are mine though complementary gifts are provided by Engrave.in 

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DIY Square Wreath

I have thought for some time how much I like the look of Square Wreaths. They are different and this is one of those projects that I dragged my feet on.



1) I didn't need yet another wreath to store away when it wasn't season for it to be on display.

2) I must force myself to learn to admire from afar, or risk being called a hoarder.

3) And, how many Fall wreaths can I really find places

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DIY 3-Tier Stand

Who knew

that this pile of 

JUNK 

could turn out

to be a

fun and useful

3-tier stand!






I saw these made by Angie at Knick of Time and knew that I loved them so much, that I would try my hand at making one. Sure enough, it was an easy and fun project. If you don't want to make one, just watch for them on Knick of Time's Etsy account. Angie sells a lot of these.


I went to garage

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Home Tour: Ruma Ghosh

Many of my readers wanted me to showcase beautiful ethnic Indian homes in my blog. So today I am showcasing a very beautiful eclectic home of Ruma Ghosh. You must have seen an image of this home earlier in my Youtube video: Yeh Mera Ghar. Now lets take a tour of this soulful home without any delay. 

In Ruma's own words...

"At present, we live in a 5000sq ft penthouse in Greater Noida. 
I guess people from North-east have some aesthetic DNA, and I am no different. I say so because if you travel through the states of North-east you will find very few houses which do not have flower plants lining their front. You will find blood red begonias growing out of rusted tins & jars yet placed beautifully in front of a thatched house. Its a common sight to see local forest orchids hanging out of trees or stumps of a tree adorning houses in quaint little villages of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Assam to name a few". 

Below is the image of her living room. The painting in the background depicts The Pushkar Mela done by her friend, Sagarika Sen.

Now take a look of other side of her living room....

"I get inspiration from all sorts of things, it could be a distressed old wooden bench a queer looking pot or a beautiful plant. To me it is immaterial whether I am living in a rented accommodation or a place of my own, the house which shelters me and my family of three boys and a wonderful husband from wind, rain and scorching sun has to be loved and taken care of. Decorating my home is my way of saying " I love you Home".

In below image vintage "Time" Magazines' cover page covers wall in the dining room, photo frame kept near table lamp was a DIY project by one of my sons. I immortalized it by putting a toddler snap of my husband, Arnab & the painting in the last is wedding gift from a very dear friend, painter who is quite a household name in Singapore now. This is one of her initial paintings when she had just started.

Her love for paintings and framed pictures is clearly visible in all these images.
Some more gallery walls....

"Born a midst the pristine green and gentle rolling hills of a tea garden I guess my first vision through the windows of our bungalow was of the well manicured and lovingly laid garden of my mother. Those days furniture were minimalist mostly consists of cane and other beautiful woods procured locally. However, even without the designer furniture,at a glance everything around us was balanced and beautiful. I guess that laid the foundation of my love for decorating home".

"Flowers that I have grown in different point of time".

Marriage boosted this feeling as my hubby Arnab is blessed with a keen sense of art and does a neat job of painting and and fixing a lot of my stuff at home. As luck would have we had to shift home many a times and together we have always ended up creating new look for all the places that we have lived in. I guess that too helped in coming up with new ideas.

Below is a picture collage of this year's Diwali celebration.

I am totally in love with her decor style and beautifully done up home. What about you dear readers, what do you think of this beautiful home...tell me...I am all ears :) I hope you enjoyed this home tour as much as I did.

Stay tuned and I will be showing you something very special. Have a wonderful weekend ahead!!

P.S. All the images are provided by Ruma Ghosh and subject to copyright. Please do not copy any picture without her permission.

Design Decor & Disha: An Indian Decor Blog

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