With Diwali coming up, it’s time to spruce up your homes and put your festival decorations up. Here are some super quick and easy DIY craft ideas to brighten up your home décor this festive season. Before you begin, do keep the craft paper, glitter, and glue handy!
Paper diyas
As everyone knows, diyas are synonymous with Diwali. Making paper diyas is easy enough; all you have to do is cut half circles out of colourful craft paper and decorate them using glitter and felt tip pens.
You can even pleat the diya; for this, you would have to cut out a full circle, make a slit along one radius, and pleat it up till it scrunches into a half-circle. Cut out the flame shape next, and glue it right above the centre of the diya.
Make as many as you need, and string them up across the room.
Painted diyas
Instead of buying fancy diyas from the bigger stores, this year try to buy plain terracotta ones from roadside vendors. You’ll be helping a disadvantaged family earn a living, and that can be your good deed for the day. What’s more, you can have fun painting the diya yourself in the colours and patterns you like.
You will need a medium-size round paintbrush (those are the ones with a pointed tip; a flat brush won’t work) and quick-drying acrylic paints. Draw out your design in pencil first for guidance, or if you feel adventurous you can start painting straight away.
Choose bright, warm colours and sprinkle with glitter if you wish. Try zigzag lines, wavy lines, dots and circles. Anything goes. This is a fun activity that you can do with your kids. A word of caution: acrylic paints do not wash off easily, so wrap them up in painting smocks and spread newspaper on the ground.
Also Read: Do’s and Don’ts for a Safe Diwali This Year
Mason jar lights
Mason jars are just the right size to be converted into pretty sparkly lights during Diwali. All you have to do is to bunch up a string of fairy lights inside the Mason jar for the most captivating effect. Place several of these jars on your corner table or balcony for a special festive vibe.
Don’t miss the string of stars in the background; that can be another DIY project that’s created by wrapping twine around a star wireframe and fitting each star with an LED lamp.
Colour me a rangoli
A rangoli at your doorstep brings good luck to your home and ushers in the festive spirit. You can use a readymade stencil and get to work. Use coloured rice, rangoli powder, glitter, chalk or flowers and petals to create your own rangoli. You can create a rangoli pattern around your arrangement of diyas and add to the sparkle of your Diwali celebration.
Brass uruli with flowers
An uruli is an exquisite, ornate brass vessel that was traditionally used to make sweet dishes at family gatherings. Today, these large vessels have found a new purpose, and are used as part of home décor.
A brass uruli at the entrance to your home, filled with flowers floating on water and lovely little tealight candles, can be the perfect way to welcome your guests. Try creating your own DIY patterns with red, yellow, and white flowers or petals.
Paper flowers
Fresh flowers start to wilt all too soon, and if you want to have floral garlands that will last, try making them yourself. Using crepe paper or coloured tissue, you can cut out petal shapes and bunch them together to get a simple three-dimensional flower.
String these flowers together to create pretty garlands that you need not throw out after Diwali, but can reuse for other occasions as well.
Floral toran
A toran at the entrance to your home adds the festive vibe to your celebrations. You can create a toran with marigolds and mango leaves in the traditional way, or create any new design you fancy. To make the traditional toran, use heavy twine and string the mango leaves through the stalk to the leaf. Intertwine the leaves with the marigolds for a vibrant effect.
Many homes have a toran above the entrance door through the year and not just during festivals, as it is said to attract prosperity and good luck to your family.
This Diwali, let’s get our creative juices flowing and celebrate the festival of lights safely at home.
This article is contributed by Dipti Das, AVP-Design, HomeLane.com.
(The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of RoofandFloor)
