Blushing Pinks and Sparkling Silver this Diwali.

In India, weeks leading to Diwali: The festival of Lights I would spend looking for interesting diyas ( earthen or ceramic oil lamps) flooding the local markets.

Back here in Minnesota what do I do?

I visit estate sales. 

They are treasure trove for people like me who are on the look out for unique finds.

I love combining vintage with the new. Styling classic with a bit of kitsch.

So this Diwali I decided to put together some colourful vignettes with things collected, gifted, bought and inherited.

I picked up some vintage white & cream doilies at a church sale recently and the hot pink & orange ones were leftovers from a sewing project my mother was working on when she visited us in Spring.

A palette of hot pink, orange and white. A pair of floral silver-plated tealight holders from the estate sale gets teamed up with a Good Earth Silver cup with parrots engraved gifted by a dear friend.

The warm glow of sesame oil lamps. A divine photo card engulfed by dried rose buds and placed in a silver plated hinged box with painted roses...

The silver cup with engraved parrots transforms into a vase holding a bunch of blushing roses…

Single blushing rose buds in my favourite 'chai gilaas' adds fun element to the arrangement.

A closer look at the the floral tea light holder…


The sparkling bokeh sets the mood for Diwali festivities...

Add loads of fragrant candles and scattered some delicate metallic flowers...

The silver tea light holders standing out against the hot pink doilies…


A closer look at the silver-plated hinged box with painted roses…

A side view of the photo card…


This is a simple but charming piece, I took a 'chai-gilaas' filled it with a handful of dried rose buds. Placed a floating oil lamp on the rim of the glass. Voila!

While I was shooting this vignette I realised that  the colours in the frame were Rang Decor's masthead colours!

This is a simple Diwali vignette that can be created on your coffee table or a hallway table. It's all about combining different elements & textures, vintage & contemporary and most of all going with your heart!

Hope all of you have a wonderful Diwali surrounded by beauty, happiness, family and friends!

( Images styled and photographed by Archana Srinivas. They are copyrighted. Please do not use without permission)

Read More

Diwali Decor Ideas- Part II

Thank you so much dear readers for overwhelming response to Diwali Decor Ideas-  Part I

With your encouragement and support here I am bringing to you some more video tutorials on how to make Paper Flowers for Diwali in an easy-peasy way. You must have seen my Diwali Wall Hanging video tutorial, if not then click here.
Sorry for the delay in publishing this post. As I tried several times to upload video on Youtube using my laptop and every time something wrong happened and it failed to upload, then I picked up my Venue tab and believe me it was quick and easy to do it using Venue. Now lets start.............

See this picture collage I made using my venue tab.

Diwali Decor Ideas

In this post we'll learn to make some easy flowers that can enhance the beauty of your space and definitely your Diwali will be special and memorable one. 

Tissue Paper Marigold Flower:  

Tissue Paper Marigold 

This is the easiest paper flower that anyone can make, even small kids too. My Mum taught me this flower when I was around 8 yr old. I Enjoyed making it so much that I made a bouquet of it and I still enjoy making it. Below is the Tissue Paper Marigold Flower video tutorial. Sorry I used white tissue paper and not yellow as I was running short of time and used whatever I had with me. You please use yellow tissue paper for making perfect marigold flower. 

Tissue Paper China Rose Flower: 

Tissue Paper Flower

One more quickest and easiest way to add charm to your space this Diwali is decorate your home with these tissue paper China Rose Flowers. Making them is not a hassle at all. Just two steps and you are done. One tip from my side- use different colour of tissue papers and make lots of colorful flowers. You can use two shades of same colour for making a flower and put them around rangoli or around any decor piece. Below is a video tutorial:

Diwali Hanging: 

Diwali Flower Hanging

This can be little tricky but not difficult at all. It looks beautiful if you make it large. You can use craft paper/ chart paper/ handmade paper to make this flower. First make petals and then stick them. Stick 3 petals or 4 petals or may be you can stick different colour petals in a single flower. Below is a video tutorial:

All thanks to Venue tab that I could publish this post in time, before leaving for Diwali celebration at my in-laws place. Yes dear readers now I'll be on short vacation and wouldn't be able to reply your mails and queries. Please be patient and after coming back I'll answer each one of you.

Now lets have a look of some gorgeous pictures that one of my dear reader Vipula Bhagtani has sent me. She has done up her space very beautifully!! She has a lovely Facebook page too "Kundan Rangolis & Diya". Like her page to stay updated about her amazing work.

Some more Diwali inspirations you can find on my blog. Click the links below:
Diwali Decor: My Home
Diwali Decor Ideas Part-I
Diwali Craft Tutorial: Lantern DIY
Diwali Wall Hanging Tutorial
Diwali Gifting Ideas
Diwali DIY Tea Lights
Diwali Decor Inspiration
Diwali DIY: Silver Plant
Diwali Decor Inspiration: My Home

I wish you all wonderful readers a very happy, prosperous and safe Diwali!!!

Read More

Empire Dresser Reveal

This is probably the 
most intense
and hardest
DIY project 
that I have 
worked on...


in a long time!

Here's the story...

I found this old Empire dresser for only $15.  It stunk and had a missing drawer.


I thought I could save it from the dump.


I brought it home to Hubby saying that it should go in the burn pile! I had a feeling that he might be right on that statement!



I washed

Read More

Our New Kitchen!

Greetings, friends!

So, here we are in the kitchen right before we moved in ... beautiful wood floors, pretty birch cabinets and tile backsplash.  

And, then THIS happened.  Oops.

I know some of you may be gasping that I took a paint brush to brand new cabinets and tile backsplash.  Trust me, for a moment, I did, too.

But ... then I reminded myself that, while I love the dark floors, cabinets and backsplash separately, I didn't care for them all together.  To me, they blended into each other, not allowing one or the other to stand out.  Plus, knowing how much I loved the kitchen in our old home ... to have this one resemble it would make this house feel more like *home.*  

So, I continued to get busy! 

I sanded/primed the cabinets and then added three coats of Ben Moore's "White Dove" to each one.

To break up the white a bit, I painted the pantry, garage and storage doors Rustoleum's Semi-Gloss Black.

I also dug out a can of Chateaux Grey and painted our island, adding the same farmhouse legs that I did to the island in our home in SC.

SOMEday, we'll replace its granite countertop with butcher block.

With ample storage in here, I didn't feel *too* guilty when I asked my husband if he'd consider taking down one of the cabinets so that I could put up a few open shelves like we had in our old home.  With the help of our neighbor (and his crow bar) down it came,

and up went the shelves!  

An inexpensive project (shelves and corbels from Home Depot), which makes for a great display area!

Our Wal-Mart canisters made a return appearance, too ... an easy way to display seasonal or day-to-day items:

Yes, I "give thanks" alright ... every time I use the gas stove without causing a fire.  I admit it, gas scares me!

On the other side of the kitchen is our "walk in from the garage dropping zone."

Yes, keys, phones, mail and book bags are plopped here, especially while a scoop of a Fall mix is inhaled.

I thought this cute mug tree would be a nice addition to the coffee/tea "station," so, I clicked "add to cart" when I saw it on Amazon.

Along with spray painting all of the knobs pewter, a couple of little embellishments were also added, such as these drawer pulls (Lowe's),

along with wooden scrolls to two faux drawer fronts.  

One of my favorite additions to the kitchen is the bling (Home Depot)!

She's like the crowing touch to the room!

Of course, I had to add her twin over the table, too!  (With these chandeliers being a mere $99/each, it was an affordable and justifiable "splurge.") 

Annnnd, I had to bring back our "E A T" letters, too.  I thought it only fitting to place them right beside the pantry.

What's that saying?  One is good, two is better?!  

From this angle, you can see our Fall Family Tree (a yearly tradition in our home):

Tucked in a little corner.

I always add "familial" sayings ...

 and pictures of our family that mean so much!

One more time ...

Annnnd, AFTER!

We're not done in here yet ... as our budget allows, we'd love to add crown molding, a board and batten backsplash, a butcher block top to the island, and a wooden beam or two.  For now, we're enjoying our new space!

Thanks for stopping by,

Read More

Crazy AWESOME Decor Ideas!

For years, Hubby and I have been counting collection and making the deposit for our church.






And our church has been growing



Which has caused some remodeling to happen



We also have some young and hip



people on our staff



And with that comes




Old bibles and twine!


Some Crazy AWESOME Decor Ideas that I found 



Simply by walking by their offices!



These people amaze me

Read More

Tutorial on Making Wool Pumpkins

I haven't done a tutorial in a very long time and just made these cute little pumpkins out of an old wool sweater and thought that you would maybe want to how I made them!




First, you need to find a wool sweater. I found a pure white one at the thrift store.  I then washed it and dried it in the dryer so it would 'felt' and shrink. This gives the wool and different look and feel.

I then

Read More

Diwali Decor Inspiration With Venue

Past few months have been very busy and sometimes I didn't even get time to have breakfast. Poor me :( I have got so many things to do and I am trying my best to accomplish them. As far as  blogging is concerned Dell's Venue has been a great help for me. I get few minutes when I go to pick up my son from school and wait for him to come out, so I just inserted micro SIM card in Venue tab, connected to the internet and drafted this post. 

As Diwali is approaching fast, what I can see on various websites is lots of beautiful, easy and doable Diwali decor ideas. Some of my dear friends and fellow bloggers have shared really wonderful ideas and tips for Diwali decoration. Here I am sharing some of them. Let me add here that sharing is so easy with Venue. I just browsed their pages, saved images directly on my Venue tab and linked with this post. It's that easy. Lets have a look of all those beautiful blogs:

  

Nayana of Cherish Dream Live:  

She has a lovely blog. In her own words "we LOVE our house and LOVE creating memories in it, its all about Cherishing yesterday, Dream about tomorrow and Live for today.

Check out her recent post "Five Tips To Create Inviting Home". 

Image Source: Cherish Dream Live

Sharon Of The Keybunch:

Sharon aptly gave her blog a name 'The KeyBunch' and I loved that name. She says "I blog for myself - I am passionate about certain decor styles and ideas - I am passionate about antiques and old houses - I like a certain blend of the old and the new, and when I see that in a space, I get all excited about it, and blog about it.

Check out her recent post "Three Awesome Ways to Prepare Yourself For Festive Season"

Image Source: The KeyBunch

Sruthi Of The East Coast Desi: 

Sruthi has an awesome blog, loaded with beautiful images and inspirations. This is what she has to say about her blog "I'm passionate about my home and everything relating to decor. I'd be sharing my style, snapshots from my home, along with the plethora of  global decor inspiration waiting to be explored".

Go and get inspired, check out her recent post "A Medley Of Influences (Diwali Tablescape)".

Image Source: The East Coast Desi

Reshma Of Dreams Are Made Of These: 

Reshma is a very warm person, beautiful inside and out. All her posts are very well written. In her own words "My blog is a space where I share my dreams with you. They may or may not be your dreams but I would be happy if every person who visits me here leaves with a smile so join me as I share snippets of my home, kids, decor and garden and at times I'll bore you with some photography too, so brace yourself :) 

Read her previous year's post "The Countdown To Festival Of Lights".

Image Source: Dreams Are Made Of These

Vandana Of Seasons In The Sun: 

Vandana has just started the blogging. She has got great aesthetic sense and I am sure she will share some wonderful home decor ideas, so stay tuned!! This is what she has to say about her blog " Colours turn me on to express myself,as do beautiful flowers and melodious music.Through this blog of mine,I shall share with my readers all things that appeal to me,all things pretty and colourful.I would put it this way,all things under the sun:-)

Check out her first post "A New Beginning".

Image Source: Seasons In The Sun

Hope you enjoyed going through all these lovely and inspiring blogs. These are the places I love to visit :)

Stay tuned dear readers I am coming up with Diwali Decor Ideas-Part II :)

Read More