Few Handicrafts @ My Home

Handmade products have their own glory and charm. Handicraft items of India are famous for their elegant designs, enormous variety, craftsmanship and styles. I feel somewhere all the décor lovers have a special corner in their heart for handicraft items. These are few items which makes us feel more connected to our roots and to our culture. Different varieties of handicrafts are made in mainly rural areas of India and the craftsmen of different regions have expertise in different forms of handicrafts.

As a décor enthusiast I too have a small collection of handicraft items. More items get added to this collection with each holiday trip, visit to local fair and visit to my home state. As I am from Odisha most of the items I possess are from my home state. Here I would love to showcase you my small handicraft collection. 

Pattachitra a special form of painting made on palm leave using natural colours. Mainly many mythological events are shown in these paintings. I have a Pattachitra from Odisha. Pattachitra is also found in West Bengal. The following set up on top of my bookshelf....A framed Pattachitra, few painted and decorated clay pots with some artificial lotus completing the look. 

Now most of our relatives and friends are aware of my obsession for decorative items. These Lanterns with appliqué work are form Pipli Odisha, are gift from a close family friend *smiles*. Nothing to do with it...only take it out and hang it...immediately within few seconds it brings in both the festive look and festive mood in my living room.

Dhokra Cast items are made of non-ferrous metal by using the lost wax casting technique. This handicrafts are found in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. I have a small collection of dhokra casting items like Ganesha, tortoise, elephants, horse and a set of musicians.

Few golden grass baskets with cover from Odisha...these are gifts from my Mom-in-law...mainly I use these to keep my knick-knacks. Sometime they are also displayed as décor accessories. 

Some wooden handicraft items from Odisha, that I have looted from my parents place (the Budha and Ganesha), candle stands are gift from my sis-in-law are from Kodaikanal and the Elephant is also from Odisha is a gift from a very close friend. 

A wooden musician set from Rajasthan is a gift from my another sis-in-law. That sometimes forms a perfect musical nook on a side table in my living room. 

Got this granite stone elephant from last year India International Trade Fair, is originally from Tamil Nadu. With that a small stone bowl from Odisha. The bowl I mainly use during festivals/Pujas but sometimes it is used as an Uruli.

Hope to add few more items to this collection soon and have a list of that in my mind too *smiles*. On top of the list  are some Channapatna toys. I know many of you are also in love with handicraft items like me. So let's decorate our homes with handicraft items and help this industry to grow and prosper.

(A DIY project is in mind, will come with a post ASAP)  

DIY Vase with a Dangler

Hello there.....

This time after a long gap I am coming up with a DIY. Due to bad health I was away from DIY work from last few days. But at the same time I am very happy that many of you asked about what's my next DIY and also when I am going to make next post about any DIY. When I found myself surrounded with so many encouraging and motivating persons, I really feel obliged and blessed. So this one is for you all. Like my previous DIYs this is also very simple and easy. It's also a part of my bottle obsession. You can find out some of my creative bottles here.  Have a look what I have made....

Items Required

1- A plastic bottle (I used a cough syrup bottle)
2- An old dangling earring or Mantika, that you don't use anymore.
3- Some ribbon (I used golden ribbon as it was looking perfect with the golden dangler that I had)
4- Glue
5- Some thread
6- A sharp knife to cut the bottle
7- Scissors

Tutorial
Step-1

Take out the label first and then clean the bottle properly. Let it dry for some time. Then heat the knife slightly and cut the bottle from neck. Be careful while doing this. Then stick the top of the bottle below the bottle like the image below with some glue. Then tie the ear ring with a thread.

Step-2

Tie the thread on top of the bottle and then apply glue on it.

Step-3

Stick the ribbon all over the tread of the dangler covering it completely. Stick ribbon on some more places to make it more beautiful. Then it's ready. 

Presently I have kept few peacock feathers in it. It can also be used as flower vase or pen stand too. Hope you all will like it.  

I just love the little embellishments hanging from the neck of the vase...pretty isn't it !!!