How to make candle holders from old glass bottles

 Do you have lots of leftover glass jars from pasta sauce, pickles, jams, or baby food bottles? Instead of throwing them in the recycling, how about reusing them. 

Reusing is a better alternative to recycling. Reusing gives a new life to the jars. It does not utilize any energy needed to recycle the product and thus, saves pollution. If we have a choice between reusing and recycling, we should choose to reuse.

Glass jars can be reused by using them as containers. Instead of buying plastic containers, use old bottles as containers. Glass jars can keep the food fresh longer than plastic containers. Glass is nonporous and hence no bacteria or insects can get inside. It does not get stained and yellow with use. The food stays fresh and tastes better. The clear glass makes it easy to see what's inside. In case you want to show off what's inside, it also makes a perfect choice. Easy to see, easy to find. 

Other than containers, glass bottles can be used as flower vases. We can use them to hold tissue papers or cutlery. The list is as big as your imagination. Today, I am sharing with you a project I did with glass jars. I have many small jams and honey jars at home. They are small so cannot use them as a container or flower vase, but these are the perfect size to use as candle holders.

It is an excellent project to be done with little children. All you need is acrylic colors and decoration accessories like string, sequins, or beads. We painted the jars in bright colors. We used red, blue, orange, yellow, green, and purple. Paint it from all sides. When they are still wet, press sequins and glitter to embellish them. They adhere to the paint when they are wet. If not, dry the jars and then glue them on the jars. We tied a golden string around them. 

What I like is that when a child paints, the brush strokes are rough. They are not smooth and perfect like adults would paint. That's what makes them look prettier.

Last but important is that when you reuse the bottles, always remember you are inspiring others to do the same. The little eyes are watching you. Inspiring people and spreading the importance of recycling, reusing, and reducing is done by action, not words.

  

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!

Decorating with marigolds- indian themed floral arrangement withcontemporary twist

Marigold is a flower which is usedin India on any festive event. It is important part of Indian wedding decor and also during festivals. Flower shops in India are brimming with an abundant variety of flowers - especially marigolds any time of the year. 

Inspite of the abundance or because of it I feel marigold gets treated as a flower not worth to be put in vase for decoration or in flower arrangements. 

To break the myth I thought I will showcase some fabulous ways marigold is used to decorate in a chic and elegant style. I will start with the one I love the most.

             

Isn't this gorgeous!! I haven't seen a unique marigold decoration better than this ever- not in real life or on internet. This beautiful arrangement is made by Florali. It is made of zinnias, cosmos, peonies and marigold..all in vase wrapped in sari!! Wow !!  You must visit their blog to see the unique and extraordinary floral design done by them

I would love to try this as soon I see some marigolds in this dessert, maybe in winter or Diwali time. Would you like to try something like this - marigold in a different style and form of decoration for that festive occasion - like Diwali? 

More arrangements to decorate with marigold are coming up soon..

  This image is from Pinterst. 

Shop is open- welcome!

Hello readers how are you all? 

Just popping to say hello.. This week was very busy .. Especially with my son who has become very active lately and refuses to take his afternoon nap which is btw my working / blogging time. 

Anyways I have managed to reopen my shop-

( https://www.etsy.com/shop/AKreativeMommy) 

after a extra long sabbatical.. 

Yippee for that! 

I have been working on some lovely products.. I did some Diwali themed watercolor paintings and india themed digital artwork as well.. which I will share with you all In coming posts. I made lovely Greeting cards, gift tags, buntings , banners, gifts, DIY printable and many more..all India themed and for the festival of Diwali!! I have managed to list a few of these but most of the listing will be done hopefully this weekend ( when hubby will look after our lil one) 

And for my lovely readers who have always been so nice to me and my blog I want to give a 10% discount on all the listed items on a minimum purchase of $20. Just use the coupon code' tenoff' while you checkout on etsy. This offer will start from Friday 6th September 11:00 am US time.

The offer is open for 1 month. 

Do checkout my shop- AKreativeMommy on etsy.com!! 

Have a lovely weekend!!

Diwali- Do-it-yourselves project: gift tags

                I made some watercolors paintings for my family on card stock for the Diwali festival. 

I thought they will look good as gift tags or mini greeting cards. So today in the morning when the baby was sleeping I sat down and created a format( as seen above) to convert them into printable Diwali gift tags or mini greeting cards. 

All you have to do is to print it , cut , fold, write a message inside and give!!! A little Do-it- yourselves project for this Diwali!!!

Make it extra personal by writing a personal message/ greetings inside!!! You can choose a paper of your choice- handmade paper, card stock or photo paper. You can use this tag by punching a hole in the center and attaching a ribbon to it and tie it to the gift.

Or you can use a sticky tape on the back and attach it to your gift. 

You can also use it as a card and put it in an envelope and give/ send to your friend. Its your DIY and your creativity. Print as many as you want!!! 

You can get these digital file of the gift tags here!!!