Indian festivals and decorations

Its that time of the year when everyone starts preparing for a long line of festivals!!!

At my place last weekend we celebrated  Ganesh chaturthi- festival of Ganesha. 
Me and my son were busy making decorations for the festival a few days in advance. 
In our daily creative activities with my 2 year old we made garlands , buntings, painting of Ganesha and such which creates the atmosphere of excitement, anticipation and frolic!! My childhood memories of any festival are associated with these three factors. I want my son to have all these memories even though outside our house it does not feel like a festival like it feels in India!!

Here the weather is getting milder and flowers are spouting everywhere in the garden. In Indian decorations , flowers play an important role. Avaneesh and I plucked and gathered flowers from the plants. I made a garland of the flowers. 

You can see a glimpse of the paper marigold and mango leaf garland my son had made.( in the pic below) I will share the tutorial soon.

These are Modak- sweet dumplings I made. I make these with ricotta cheese. Stir sugar, saffron, cinnamon and some milk together with the cheese on heat till the mixture gets a thick consistency. It might take 25-30 minutes. Let it cool and then give it the modak shape. For offering to Ganesha they have to made either  11 or 21. 

Some roses in my Moroccan glasses - fit well in the Indian theme!!

I did this floral arrangement  for the occasion. I made in a copper vessel  to give it an Indian touch. 

Its hard to find flowers like marigold and others which are traditionally used in Indian festivals.So I think using Indian style vase/ vessel made of copper or silver 

can add that "Indian" touch !!

Downstairs I decorated the side table with my 2 year old 's Ganesha painting. Most friends tell me he is a gifted artist but I am still not convinced. 

Indian themed festive floral decorations

Hello friends..How are you all? Hope you all are enjoying the beginning of autumn!! Here in Hong Kong it is starting to get pleasant.. with cool winds, milder temperatures and lesser rains. This time of year also brings lot of festivals..Starting with Ganesh chaturthi ( more info about this festival here).. Sharing with you the decor I did yesterday for the 10 day festival..

I created the floral arrangements as quickly as I could in 15-20 minutes as the baby was starting to lose patience.. sitting in his high chair he was wondering what Mommy is doing:)

I have finally found out where the flower market in Hong Kong is..It was a splendid discovery..I was totally blown away by the amazing variety of  exotic flowers..so many different types which I have never ever seen.. I will definitely take pictures and do a tour of the flower market on the blog as well.. So I got some flowers and florist foam. This is the Indian style floral decoration I did in a copper vessel..

I also made modak with Khoya. I always make khoya at home with Ricotta cheese.. Added sugar, cardamom, fine powdered coconut,saffron to it. Shaped them with modak moulds which my mom had sent me..

21 modaks and 21 flowers( in the arrangement)

I put some florist foam in the clay (oil) diyas/ candle holders and kept single flowers in them..

Made traditional Indian dessert- saffron shrikhand with yogurt (hung overnight and strained), sugar, cardamom, almonds, saffron. 

Last not least I finally opened a etsy shop on the auspicious day:)