Monday, December 23, 2013

Vista





My attempt at a Madhubani peacock


The glass buddha head was a gift


















My doodle framed and given away as christmas present :)

























Side tables being used as a single shelf












 


DIY mirror frame work in the guest room







Santa visited us early this year...















And brought with him a very special gift



















 
 
 
 
 
 


Meet Halley :)




My little neice in the UK :) 

Longing to hold you and as Miki says " shhhqueeze you tight" !!




DIY Lattice shelf/ console/ extra seating

Take a humble peice of wooden seating






paint it red! ( and gold and whatever takes your fancy)







Get the sweet husband to cut out some lattice frames ( with wood or cardboard- wood looks more professional) and spray paint in gold


Stick them on the painted surface with permanent glue on the side.

And if you are brave, in front as well








Stand back and admire your work ( I put 2  together)




Dont forget to thank your husband ( well ) later  ;)






You have your shelf ready!

They still work as extra seating if youre having a dinner party later!



Or like this...





Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The beholder's eye and such..

Do you decorate your house with the most expensive stuff that money can buy? Neither do I.

For most of us, the value of the objet d'art is not monetory. Sometimes its a memory of a great trip, a great story or just good old fashioned retail therapy! I am all for bargain hunting.

Overpriced snobbish goods put me off at a visceral level. My blood boils when I see so called 'Art' or sculpture which makes no sense with price tags to match.


Anyway, can you guess what these are..









Simply...











These...



Dried...




Upside down...




In a vase....

Doll house


Growing up, we didnt have a lot of fancy things around the house. Living in a small town entailed learning to improvise quickly. Since ours was a kind of joint family with grand parents and cousins living under the same roof, we had our share of the good the bad and the ugly.

 Even though gifts from 'forin returned aunties' were treasured a teeny bit more than our own hand made mud pies and brick houses, we quickly learnt the ephemeral nature of the former.


Thats why Im so happy when my darling girl started making her own doll house with cardboard boxes!


Being the neatness freak I am , I must admit I was initially horrified at the idea of grubby boxes littering her tiny room. I came around fast enough considering how much fun I had when I was her age making inane things out of mud and cardboard.


 This really innovative gal called Jamie Petitio has put up hundreds of videos on DIY stuff and my daughter religiously tries out everything Jamie has to offer.


Mikis dollhouse DIY













Miki made this using an old pillow



Doll closet with shoe box
pipe cleaners fo hangers!





Persian it may not be, creative it is !








 






Needless to say I was smitten too!So Miki and I sat down in the patio to make our very own perfume that wouldve made Tapputi proud!

We only used stuff around the house- jasmine, lime, basil,mint from the garden, cardomom, star anise, cinnamon from the kitchen and ofcourse sunflower oil. On hindsight, olive oil wouldve been a better choice but Im happy to report it smells good after steeping for 1 week in the dark.

Miki doesnt want to use it now since she says the smell of sun flower oil is overpowering! So I tinkered it a bit, added some of my precious rose oil to pass muster. I will probably use it as a cuticle oil or something equally fancy! But I know for sure that whenever I smell a mixture of kitchen spices and jasmine, I would only remember the great time I had with my daughter playing the perfume maker :)