Handmade Christmas

My Christmas tree usually has less traditional ornaments and more actual ornaments(read 'jewelry':). But this year I decided to get a few handmade ornaments from various parts of the world. So along with earrings and mardi gras masks, there is a Nepali angel in sari, a yellow scooter from India, musicians from Guatemala and a wooden block from Bangladesh.

I did not stop at ornaments. I made these gift card holders for my baby's  daycare teachers. White paper envelopes did not feel nice enough to give to those ladies who spend their whole day amidst hyper babies. Of course, they look very amateurish, but I loved making them! (I have to find the tutorial I used and link it here)

Linking to Color Dekor's Santa Stories.

New space

Sigh..I have never been loyal to my blogs and this blog I like so much.Poor rickshaw.

It's not for lack of a proper nook to blog in but I still wanted to show off my new office space, which after dreaming about for so long happened very fast after an unplanned visit to OfficeMax which had a sale on what I wanted.I am not too crazy about the chair but it is super comfortable.

This is the only angle i could take pictures from because the Mr. has not moved his stuff and the rest of the space does not look as clean as this :).And please don't mind my pale money plant because my fingers are only that green..:|

Lazy to carve :P

Linking to the most happening place in blogland, Colours Dekor :)

Diwali

Busy-ness as usual

I have been away from blog world for a few days. And I like to think that Diwali and Halloween preparations have been keeping me busy. Diyas, colors, pumpkins,lights, and a baby with no costume for her first halloween are all waiting in line :P

Cutie canvas

Isn't this cute?:) I found this mini canvas with the easel at Walmart. Of course I could have painted something and then taken a picture but it already looks so nice! And I cannot seem to make up my mind on what to draw on it.

My zone:)

..is usually a Poang chair. But this small desk in the corner of the bedroom is a favorite spot for my stuff. 

Supposed to non-instrusive, it is already overflowing with brushes and pencils and papers and small trinkets ( I love trinkets!) and so I will soon be moving to another room..and a bigger space:)

Linking to Colours Dekor's "In the zone" party.

Home

Paintings up the stairs

There were too many paintings, some experimental, some time-killers,some not good enough for a wall and some waiting to be completed. And finally they all got a not-so-glamorous resting place, up the stairs...temporarily i hope.So many to-dos I am itching to do and only 24 hours in a day :|

Linking this to my first blog party at Colours Dekor :)

Bathroom heaven

We keep saying to each other that the bathroom is supposed to be calm and peaceful. But the occasional sock or toy or towel ends up disrupting the peace. Anyway I wouldn't mind having a bathroom like one of these...:)

Last four pictures from

Ranthal love

On one of the street shopping days in India, a cousin and I wandered into a small shop and came across hurricane(ranthal vilak in my language) lamps in multiple colors. I bought the green one for about 150 rupees. It was as big as my arm and I had to make space for it in my carry on bag. (which kept getting heavier). It was all sealed and covered so I just had to put a few clothes in with it. Due to last minute flight issues, I had to stop at multiple airports. 

First Bangalore. They asked to open my bag after screening. I kept my fingers crossed while one security officer asked the other if they can let it through. The other guy said its ok since the lamp is covered so well. Phew. 

Then Dubai. My bag stayed on the conveyor belt a minute longer than the rest of the bags but then they let it through and did not even bother to open it.

New York. Of course, they opened my bag. Tore off the airtight plastic wrapping. And opened the lamp. And the damn thing smelled of kerosene. They said I will have to throw it away. I must have looked crestfallen (and of course I told them how I had brought it all the way from India and been carrying it for so many hours), because they let me go back to pack it in my checked in bags and then go through security once again. And that was easier said than done. My bags were somewhere in the basement of the airport waiting to be loaded on the  plane. But the love for the ranthal kept me  going, until I tried to fit into my already overflowing luggage. Some of the people working there came over to look and saw my 'lovely sarees' and 'beautiful lamp'. I ended up putting a lot of stuff in my hand bag and wrapped the lamp in clothes.And went back to security check in.

Home. There was no glass on the lamp. It had shattered into a zillion pieces. But my lamp still had a body, thankfully. And then two days later, he buys a $5 red lamp from Ross. Made in China.

10,000 villages

We were in Asheville a couple of weeks back and were browsing the local crafts shops when we came across Ten Thousand Villages. I had read about it somewhere, but this was the first time I actually stepped into one of their stores. They sell handmade wares of artisans from around the world and ensure that they get their fair prices.Home decor,jewelry, toys,musical instruments, soaps, creams. It felt nice to walk through the store among all those beautiful things and even see the pictures of the actual artisans.A nice break from the regular plastic smelling retail stores selling mass produced goods.  They also have a clearance section but the artisans are still paid the actual price.


We bought a couple of miniatures handmade in Peru.And since I also found that we have a store about 6 miles from home ( and won't have to travel 3 or 4 hours), I have been trying to convince hubby darling that handmade is the way to go:)

Elephants..

                                                            ..here..

..and here..

                                                                          ..and here..

                                                                        ..and here..

And here..:)

My orange wall

I had a very long stop over at Dubai (11 hours) on my last trip from India. Other than watching movies and people, shopping was the only time pass (not complaining about that part:) ). This door was one of my finds. And I had to have a saffron wall to hang this.

Design journey..so far

We moved into a new house about a year back. And after about a month we were expecting a baby. So our decor plans went out the window. Baby is now five months old and we are finally rolling up our sleeves to finish (or so we wish) setting up all the rooms. We managed to color a few walls orange (saffron rather) and green. But there still are bags of stuff I brought from India last year. 


And because I put up an old blue dupatta on the wall in our apartment, and a red-orange chinti rug, and a bead curtain (which is still unpacked), he is kinda wary about letting me make all the decisions. (I sometimes have this urge for extreme colors.)


And we also have the Xmas tree from last year waiting to be removed (Of course, it is going to stay that way till this year's Xmas).


One step at a time..