Itz' Festival Time !!!

     Hi All, This is the first blog party that I am conducting at my blog... ;-) ;-) The theme of the party is the arrangements, decor, DIY project etc., done and also recipes tried for the  festivals (diwali, ramzan, pooja, christmas, and other festivals) celebrated at your home.The party will be open upto Dec 31st 2010.    

Floating candles & rose petals in a glass bowl ..

This is how you join the party :-

1. Do a "Itz' Festival Time"  post  in your blog . The pictures that you upload have to be your own. Please do not use pictures from other magazines or websites .

2. Then link back to this post so that more people get to know about this party.

3. Copy the permalink from your "festival decor" post. Add your 'permalink' to the 'inlinkz' at the bottom of this post.

 4. Spend a few minutes to post a comment in other  blog participantz'- It is always good to meet like-minded people and more important to encourage them ;-) ;-)
5. Non-bloggers please send your entries to  liventhingzup@gmail.com.

6. For queries, please contact me at liventhingzup@gmail.com.
7. In case there are any problems with adding a link, please send me your links to  liventhingzup@gmail.com .

Serve with Style

      This post is about cutting a water melon into some desired shape... Well ,I am not into some fruit carving technique... This was done within minutes using a cookie cutter..!!!

This is very easy to do - All you need is a watermelon, cookie cutters and a knife. Cut a small watermelon into half, and draw a line along the circumference of the water melon. 

Now cut the water melon along the line, to get a round slice as shown. The width of the slice should be slightly lesser than the depth of the cookie cutter.

Place the cookie cutter on the melon slice and  cut the desired shape using the cookie cutter. Arrange and serve.

This will look even better if it is teamed up with some other fruits, for example, grapes put on top of it using a tooth pick ...!!

Contemporary Handmade pottery from Elizabeth Prince

     Today's Etsy find is Elizabeth Prince of  PrinceDesignUK . Well, I must say that Elizabeth Prince is one lucky etsy find for me - being a lover of ceramic craft items..!! ; I was simply wowed by her unique creations ... ! Elizabeth is a british based ceramicist who creates her stunning designs in Manchester, England. has a degree in fine arts and has also worked as a successful interior designer ;She loves working with clay and prefers making unique pieces, which are  made from clay and  fired  to stone temperature. Nature, kindness and compassion inspires her a lot and she tries to make objects that reflect that and bring cheerfulness into the world..!!

The most Amazing poppy bowls I have ever seen...!!!

Wall Art - of flying ducks...

Her leaf and waterlily bowls are just awesome 

with  perfect blend of colors....!!

A leaf shaped brooch that carries the exact fingerprint of a leaf...!! 

Didn't I mention that she'z amazing with her designs...?!!?? 

The soooo-beautiful.. FairyTale lacy Hearts...!!!

A perfect ornament for a Xmas Tree...!!

Full of Heart Love Bowls...!! 

What a perfect 'gift of love' this would make ..!!

Lacy Heart made by pressing vintage lace...!!

The beauty, grace and style of her art will add sophisticated elegance to any home ;  Each and every one of her creations are amazing (Well, u can see that for yourself ...!) - I just had a tough time figuring out the ones to display here... !!!  You can visit Elizabeth's colorful blog here and her etsy shop here... !!!

I received my first blog award .....!!!!

I have been awarded this  award from my lovely friend Kary at Effortless Cooking, Easy Baking...!! Oh my , am soo excited.... ;-) ;-) .... Thank You very much Kary, for everything, including this...; this really encourages me to do more... !!

And I am gonna pass this to... . (Hey, the list is in no particular order... ) ..;-) ;-)

Patty of ColorsDekor ( A person behind a blog which is as lovely, cheerful and encouraging as her ....!!!)

Purnima of A Creative Project ( I simply love her table decor..... and the amazing photos in her blog....)
Gagan of  Peacocks and paisleys ( I love her choice of blog topics and her selection of pictures, its amazing)

Kamini of Saffron and Silk  ( Her regular posts are simply refreshing... )

Rajee @ RajeeSood ( One of the Sources of Inspiration behind my blog... I love her elegant decor style.!!!)

Kindly accept these awards and pass it on to your friends ... !!! ;-) ;-)

Have a great weekend ... everyone ...!!!!

Gardening in Small Spaces - Rain Lilies...!!

 This week, when I stepped into my balcony , I could see my purple rain lilies in full bloom. There are moments when even little things bring happiness in life ,isn't it ?This was one such moment ...Well, I could picture myself smiling....at the lilies... ;-) ;-) !

Rain Lilies or Fairly lilies are plants of the bulbous species and bloom usually 3 or 4 days after the rains. I planted them in a medium sized pot layered with soil, and a small amount of earthworm compost. The plants grow well in moist, well-drained soil and produce a colorful array of flowers after each rain. These wildflowers can either be grown in small containers or as an edging plant in flower beds along the garden path.

Happy Gardening to all of you ;-) ;-) !!!

DIY : Twig Flower Arrangement

     Each time I rummage through my craft supplies, I used to look at the bunch of artificial flowers that I had got some time back to decorate gift boxes and put them aside.  Finally, this weekend,  I got the idea to create an artificial flower arrangement.  Well, I never once thought that  the twigs and artificial flowers will look good together and I am totally satisfied with the completed project.

Supplies Needed :

Dry Twigs           ( I used ones from neem tree ; so that insects don't invade and spoil it easily.)

Artificial Flowers ( The flowers I have used are tied to floral wire ; This is available in many craft stores.If only flowers are available, tie the flowers to wire, so that it is easy to twist. By this way you need not glue the flowers to the twig)

 

Twist the stem of a  flower around the twig like a coil as shown in the picture. Similarly secure flowers one by one - start doing it from top to bottom. Gather the twigs and put them in a vase. That's it - it's done....!!!

The project can be completed within 10 minutes - After all there is not much work to do ... !

 

The weekend was so exciting with a visit to the craft fair about which I had done a post earlier, a lot of cleaning and mopping followed by a long drive to Kart Attack, ECR where 'D' and his brother were driving their cars like mad around the race track, while all we did was just sit and watch ... ;-) ;-) ... 

I am linking about this post for the Weekend Wrap Up party hosted by Patty at her lovely blog here.

Crafts Bazaar 2010' - A Rich Desi experience !!

      If anyone asks me the list of to-do-weekend items, there will be one entry there for sure - and that is 'Shopping'. But this weekend, shopping was done in a different place with a different experience - at the Crafts Bazaar held at Valluvar Kottam, Nungambakkam, Chennai. Never before, I have seen so many artisans at the same place ; with such a rich variety of Indian crafts - some of which I have never known to exist before.

     The Crafts Bazaar 2010'  organized by the Crafts Council of India  is an exhibition of traditional, tribal and contemporary crafts from all over the country. The bazaar itself is a totally different experience with over 150 artisans participating from different parts of the country and the specialty of this bazaar is that the artisans sell directly to the customer. 

     One has a lot of options to choose from - the shell crafts, mats from Tamilnadu, tribal jewellery from Nagaland, stone work from Orissa, beaded work from Gujurat, neem wooden combs from NewDelhi  were some of the items under display. In short,the bazaar is a rich Indian feast for the eyes and  anyone who visits the bazaar is sure to walk out happily with their shopping finds. 

Leather hangings, puppets and lamp shades with intricate art work from Andhra Pradesh. I had my eye on the black and white lamp shade each time I crossed the store...

Terracotta products from West Bengal!

 Beautiful spoons and Shells embedded in wooden boxes ...

 Dwarka Prasad and Bhagwati Lal from Rajasthan posing for our camera with a kaavad  ( a  box with numerous doors that is used for story-telling ) in his hand.Some day I would like to get a kaavad pictured with my own story ... ;-) !!

Exquisite Silver Jewellery 

 Wooden Blocks used for Block printing from New Delhi. (The Artist's name is Mohammad Ayyub; He can be reached at m.tahir4@gmail.com )

The shop had an array of wooden blocks for sale - I spend more time here, taking my own time to zero upon some..

Colorful Bangles embedded with stones from Andhra Pradesh .

Wood Carving from Andhra Pradesh...!

The Crafts Council of India (CCI) also had their own store in the name of their founder Kamala. Their terracotta items were finely crafted with even the minor details taken into account.

The elegant display of crafts by CCI !!

Can anyone guess what these earrings are made of ?? These are made of paddy ...and other natural products...!!

Colorful Lacquer-ware from Karnataka...!!!

P.S: The bazaar opened on October 8 and concludes on October 17 at Valluvar Kottam, Nungambakkam.

Gardening in Small Spaces - Devil's Ivy ....!

     "Devil's Ivy" or Golden Pothos also known as Solomon Island's Ivy  is an immensely popular houseplant . The Golden Pothos has heart-shaped leaves that grow alternatively on a vine, and is so called because of the attractive yellow markings that appear on the leaves.

This indoor plant, also popularly known as 'Money Plant ' can be grown in containers and  also be trained to climb on walls, fences, moss covered poles, trees or put in hanging baskets.This beginner's plant as I call it,  is an extremely easy plant to grow and propagate and sustains with the minimum of pampering  . !!

Picture taken at my parents home...- 

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I was amused by seein this at our compound wall, when I had been on a recent visit to my home town. Definitely Mom's ideas are better than mine....;-) , When I constantly look for ideas in the internet or magazines, I wonder where she gets such ideas from !!...The plant has been grown in an used coke bottle ( Art of Recycling ?!?!?!?)-hung  on the compound wall using holes punched on it.

This pic was taken at my sister's home - I like the way 

she has used her minimal space - The plant is 
grown in a plastic pot, hung over the curtain rod.

Cut money plant branches can be grown in containers containing only water and they easily produce roots and add cheer to the corner of any home. All you have to do is change the water once in a week or so, to avoid mosquitoes and clean the foliage once a while with a damp cloth to remove the dust.

This plant that is so easy-to-care can also be grown in pots - just anywhere shady , avoiding direct sunlight . Just cut off a piece of the vine with a few leaves and put it in moistened soil. The new plant will grow off in no time. Take care to water the plant regularly.