Creative Weekend in Dubai

Hello beautiful people!! Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!!! Weekend in Dubai is Friday and Saturday. So ours have ended ( sad !) Never in my life I dreaded Sunday but now it is like Monday. Still getting used to this concept , I end up calling Sunday as Monday almost always. 

I shouldn't be complaining though since this weekend turned out to be quite productive and very amusing !! We went to the beach late afternoon to enjoy the sunset. The temperature is rising again so beach picnics in day time are not possible. While coming back to Business Bay we saw a muster of peacocks along the road. It is not uncommon to see them wandering on this road. From little I know , these peacock belong to the King and they have their home somewhere hidden in the green patch. It was the first time we saw so many all together. There were 8-10 peacocks, peahens and cute little pea chicks walking along the road. They are not shy - not a bit. A peacock waited for us and posed. 

I finished making my Akash kandil - traditional paper lantern. Its not easy to make especially if you have a curious toddler jumping around, sitting on your lap wanting to touch and "help". The structure is difficult/ tricky to make. It is made with dowels tied together in squares and traingles. They need to be in exact same shape and size from all sides to keep it intact. I want to make one more. If I do I will definitely do a tutorial.

Sunny boy and I made tealight holders/ glass lanterns from recycled bottles. He painted and decorated them with glitter and sequins. Look at his hands full of golden glitter . He sat there admiring his hands and sprinkling them around. A tutorial and table decor with these is coming up soon! 

Made 50 or so Terrecotta diyas. I moulded them with hand and then baked them for 30 minutes. I intend to paint them soon. My plan is to make 100 diya for this Diwali to decorate the outdoors. 

Diwali bunting is ready and hanging. I have shared the free pattern and tutorial in the last blog post. If you like it download and print it. 

Do share what you did this weekend!!!

Freebies: Diwali project for kids-Diwali Bunting DIY - Diwali free bunting pattern!

Hellooo !! Hope you all are having a lovely weekend!! Its time for sharing freebie printable with you all!! Diwali or Deepavali or Deepawali - is getting nearer. 

To me and many like me Diwali is to make decorations and eatables at home, homemade creations..the joy of doing something for the festival together with your kids..This is a perfect and easy project to do with children this Diwali!!! 

There are lot of free Diwali stuff coming your way!! This is a free Diwali Bunting pattern !! (Yay)

SO lets add that extra zing to the Diwali party and the living room with this festive bunting 'Shubh Deepavali'. I made it in two colors ' boondi ke laddoo' orange and ' jalebi ' yellow colors with pattern. The text is written in Indian-style- English font which makes it look prettier.

Here's how you can make the Diwali bunting.. 

Some things you might need to complete the bunting :

Scissors, a punch and string.

Ok now that you have got all the things in hand..

Step 1) Print all the bunting shapes on A4 paper.. could be a cardstock, plain printing paper or textured paper.Fold along the center line properly and cut the two sides with a sharp scissor.

Step 3) Punch each bunting along the center line..

Step 4) String them together..

Make either one single long bunting like this.. 

This will go well if you have a long piece of furniture like buffet table, cupboard, long wall, staircase etc

Or two buntings to be arranged one above other .. This way it look good on fire place , mantel , table , windows etc

You can download the free Deepavali pdf from here !!! 

If you have problem downloading please let me know. 

*All you have to do is download or save and print! 

Its for personal use only. 

Like us on Facebook to stay tuned with the free printables and many such goodies!!!*

Diwali decorations- Diwali DIY for kids- How to make a paper flower garland

Festivals and celebration seem dull and meaningless to me if every item needed for celebration and festivities is store bought, especially the food and decoration. Its time to be creative and  family projects. Doing it together makes it all so merry. This is how memories are created. One of the best memories of festivals while  growing up are the fun we had threading these fragrant flowers and leaves to make garland. 

Sharing with you is a Diwali DIY decoration/craft for/with/by kids:) My 2 year old and I made paper marigold and mango leaves garlands. Marigold and mango leaves garlands are used to decorate for almost every traditional Hindu festivals and marriages.

For this Diwali DIY  project you will need : Cardstock, string, colors, glue, scissor.

Start by cutting the shapes. I did free hand drawing of leaves and flowers . Cut the flowers double the number of leaves. Give them to your child one by one to paint. My son painted all the leaves and then all the flowers with watercolors. Let it dry completely.

After they are dried I cut the sides of the flower to make it smaller. The remaining border I coiled together. Ask your child to coil some as well. Mine coiled a few, not perfect but it's all learning.  Then Avaneesh applied glue in the center and pressed the smaller flower on it and the coil over it. You can see his cute little hands at work in the mosaic. The last pic in the mosaic shows how the three parts of flowers will look like:)

Arrange them alternatively and with your child glue the back to a string. I taped them to the string as well since glue was not enough to keep them in place.

Avaneesh is very happy that his work was a part of the decoration for ganpati bappa. Involving children not only gets them interested in festivals, ceremonies and culture but also helps to grow their self respect and self esteem. They feel proud that their work is getting the respect and honor of being a part of something important. 

Stay tuned!! More DIY diwali projects with/for kids coming up as soon as we complete them..I have a long list of Diwali projects to do with my little one!!!

Joining party at Sharing Saturday!