Diwali is fast approaching, and everyone is gearing up to welcome Goddess Lakshmi into their houses. And lots of family and friends as well! It’s time for mega shopping sprees as you plan out elaborate menus, and spruce up your homes in anticipation of the festival of lights. And how about decorations?
While there are mind-boggling choices out in stores, it is more fun to make some of your own! It provides an excellent opportunity for family members to work together, and not to mention a pocket-friendly way to decorate your home.
Our inspiring DIY tips are sure to jazz up your Diwali and add to the joy. So, let’s get cracking!
Welcoming entrances
The entrance to your home should look the most inviting, and exude a warm welcome to everyone who visits you during Diwali. Make a designer rangoli sidewalk for your driveway and light it up by placing a few hand-painted diyas. Want to go vintage?
Place old-style hurricane lamps that flicker gently, throwing just enough light to put a spotlight on your rangoli designs.
Have unused glass jars? Fill them with coloured pebbles, place tealights inside, and line them along your porch. For a better effect, put candles or fairy lights inside mason jars and hang them off your eaves or the grills around your porch.
For the door, you could consider making paper garlands and stringing them across. If you are adept at needlework, then sew in sequins, beads, coloured threads, and small mirrors to squares of cloth and hang them like curtains too. The polished surfaces of the sequins, beads, and mirrors will reflect the light around and amplify the effect!
Aromas of happiness
A celebration is complete only when all five senses are involved. During Diwali, we always deck up our homes and make numerous delicacies to suit all types of palates and deck up our homes to be visually appealing. But what about enhancing the celebratory mood with fragrances as well? While incense will inevitably be present in puja rooms or corners, a warm welcome is accentuated by the inviting aromas in your house.
String bunches of sweet-smelling jasmine and roses across doorways and in the foyer. Frangipani and lavender are more unusual and contemporary to match a more modern and urban decor.
You can spice it up a notch by creating a potpourri containing citrus peels, dried flowers, and scented candles. Make it more traditional and natural by adding spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom, which will infuse the air with a mild and lingering perfume.
Paper lights
Have all those paper bags piled up from shopping? One of the best ways to reuse them is by creating your own paper bag lights! Grab a bag, draw out your preferred design, and punch holes along the pattern. Then place battery-operated lights inside, and your luminously beautiful lanterns are ready! You can place these in various corners in the house and even on the terrace for a soft lighting effect. Or erect a few sticks in the garden and hang these paper lanterns all over by threading electric lights through them.
Want to go more au naturel with lighting? Try orange peels. Scoop the fleshy part out of half an orange, place a tea candle inside, and enjoy the citrusy aroma.
Fabric magic
Old clothes can be quite useful when it comes to home decor. Especially during festivals like Diwali! Make use of old dupattas by cutting out triangle-shaped pieces, threading them together, and hanging them as bunting.
Snip the zari work or bead-studded bands out of now-faded kurtas, and use them to wrap around candles or flower pots to up the ante. The heavy pallus of old saris are perfect as cushion covers, table cloth runners, or as covers for the chairs at the dining table.
