Solace

Quiet Hour

Recylce - Wedding Card into Gift Box

I never happened to care for old wedding cards until i saw this post by Suganthi, where she shares a beautiful idea of recycling wedding cards into gift boxes.

I so liked them that I started doing with magazine covers that are stiff enough to retain the folded shapes.

Since the height of outer box/lid is nearly the same, the base box completely slides into the lid, I made a li'l alteration and added some qulled paper into the inner side at the four corners of the lid.


These boxes come handy and helpful in organising stuff .

Just one more

Fabric Painting

Fabric Painting

Door Curtain- Thoranam

Table Mat

This table mat is one of the things I had done during my schooling. This looks similar to a granny square but is an easier version with less crochet. The intermediate flowers are prepared first using a flower loom. It is then crocheted attaching the flowers one by one. The detailed instructions for preparing flower using flower loom is posted on CraftStylish here.

Origami Basket

Origami

Last time, while I was travelling, my cousin came to see me off at the airport. We both had to hurry off that day and he couldnt buy anything for me. And last minute at the airport, he took out 1re and 2re coins from his pocket, pointed out to the hand gesture imprinted on them, 'One Thumb Up' on one and 'Two fingers pointed out in a V-shape' on the other. He gifted them to me and he is so witty to explain that they denote 'all is well' and 'victory' and he wishes me a successful and safe trip.
Hmm..Isn't it clever? I liked the way he implied the gestures to my trip.


So the next time, when you have no time to buy gifts, just think of this idea as Money is always available in smaller or higher denominations. Wouldnt it be great if we can turn them into something fascinating using Origami?


Here are some ideas ..

Soap Flowers

"Soap Flowers ? ", is the exclamation I made when I first saw them done by my sister. I wondered whether she took the soap bars and carved these flowers from it. When at childhood, we used to collect small pieces of chalk left over and used to carve them into some alphabets or some images.While I was inquiring my mom how she could have done it, she arrived and to my surprise told me the process that they are made from Soap turned into powder. Oh, so how can they retain their shape they are moulded into? Add a little bit of water, and few pinches of starch powder will do the effect..that makes it compact and let not the moulded flowers fall out of their shape when dried. I so liked them that I wanted to make them and started collecting different colored soaps.

Here they go !!

For the flowers, first made small balls and moulded them into petal shape. Inserted a small ball on the tip of wire and joined three petals together around the wire to form a flower. For  leaves, to add more effect, I made small impressions of viens using a smal stick. And the basket is made from paper mache. I covered it with soap too..

Cross Stitch - Peacock

This is one of my cross stitch design I had done during my Schooling. 
My Uncle, a jakard designer, designs for handloom sarees, and he has so many designs prepared to be woven on sarees. All his works can be easily used for cross stitch designs. I initially wanted to stitch only the peacock but later felt the space right to it seems empty and filled it with some flower. I always used to look at it and smile how could a flower be that large for a peacock..Can you name the flower which is that large?


Below are some of his designs. The same image is repeated as a pattern to form a border.

Flower Vase out of Coke bottle

Summer has just passed and I had many Coke bottles lying around which I do not want to throw away. I googled for various crafts related to plastic containers and stumbled upon this craft on "wikihow" and couldnt resist making it.

To make this vase, first cut the bottle into half-length wise.
Make straight and even spaced cuts around the bottle.
Fold all the strips horizontal to the ground
Start with one strip, fold and crease it above the next one and below the next two.
Now grab the one next to the folded one, and fold it above the next two and below the next one.
Repeat the two steps alternatively until all strips are folded completely.

Top View

Detailed instructions are available on Wikihow here. 

I do not want to throw away the other half of the bottle. I have cut thin straight and even spaced strips. Placed it inside the previous one.

In Progress

Fabric Painting

PenStand with Popsicle Sticks

I have a problem of misplacing my pencils and other stationery. Initially I thought of making a pencil box or a small bag . And then I came up with a Simple and easy to make penstand which just needs a few popsicle sticks. I had a few of them left over after I made a flower basket and wanted to use them. 

For each side of the stand, I cut a stick into half and pasted 4 sticks on it next to each other. I prepared four such sides and then joined their ends forming a square. For the base I attached a cardboard to the inner side. This completes the penstand. I wanted to add more glitter to it and glued some kundans.

Crepe Paper Flowers

Recently, I have been playing with some crepe papers which I've had sitting around just waiting to be crafted with.
Here's what I madeAs I made one, I loved it and wanted to try a few more...

And finally few more added up

Thank You Note

A revisit to my crafting hobby happened when I were browsing thru' some paper-craft site and I came across one of the paper cutting done by Jeff Rudell. I had enough inspiration and wanted to prepare my version 'Thank-you Note' to be gifted to my dearest friend.I initially collected few leaves to get an idea of different leaf shapes.

This reminds me of the days when, as a child, I used to cut out cars and some cute flowers from the newspaper and stick them to the top cover of books and on gift wrappings.

Rise and Shine

Finally, after much procrastination I am starting my blog. Better late than never.

This is where my crafting life is recorded as well as other little anecdotes in my life.

I created interest in crafts since I were a li'l girl and my mother has been my inspiration. Learning new and creative things is my passion.

I hope you would enjoy being here.