potpourri..: Happy D.I.Yali

I have been going through a long stretch of ‘no-time-for–myself’ mode. And it just refused to stop. Like Arnab Goswami’s insightful observations, like this year’s Kolkata-monsoon. The maid made a Mr. India act for the past one month, the laptop went into coma and I had one ‘as-long-as-the-Kharagpur-Railway-Platform’ list of things that made me upset. One of them was the gold price. With the brother-in-law’s wedding round the corner, visiting the gold shop introduced me to a new reality yesterday. Each one of them lining up Gariahat Road seemed like Goddess Kali with invisible Khargas (bent sword), slashing our heads ruthlessly. The long queues infront of gold shops were like garlands of human heads hanging around her neck. : (

But then, bad moods, thankfully, are like fruit-flavoured lip glosses. I lick them off whenever I want to and they don’t get to last too long.

Every year, pre-Diwali, I make candles for home. Yesterday at 11 o’ clock at night, it dawned on me that I have made none this year. And, then, I did. (Thankfully, my crafts-drawer had chunks of paraffin wax stored in it). Impromptu ideas do not turn out to be perfect. But they give you happiness….sawwliid happiness, I tell you.

I shall share the easiest Diwali decoration ideas I have pulled off in the past 2-3 years, including this year’s add-ons. (Since I can only make only easy ones, I guess, all of them are easy).

1. An apple a day:

The Father-in-law is a staunch believer of the above and stacks the refrigerator with the round red fruit to keep doctors away. No, there aren’t any young, handsome doctors in the locality. Yet, I keep forgetting the fruit and they turn brownish, swollen and ugly. Instead of throwing them into the trash bin and inviting ‘kaan-mawla’ from the FIL, I decided to use them as a part of the Diwali décor. (Not an original idea. A home-décor magazine lent its helping hand.) The fruit shaped candles got added….for obvious reasons.

Instruction manual: Scoop out the middle (the seed-portion) and put candles in the apple-tunnel. : )

2. Dim-light: All you have to do is to save the egg-shells after your omelets. The idea was to make candles in the shells itself. Somehow, I was not too confident and placed small, round candles in the oval chambers instead.

Try them. And team them up with your own colourful ideas or with floating birds, like I did.

3. 1-2-cha cha cha: Nothing can be easier than this. These chai-glasses are available with the roadside tea sellers. Three rupees each. Buy them, melt transparent gel wax and pour them in. Your ‘tea-lights’ are ready.

Okay, please don’t miss the coasters. They are tea-themed too. :D

4. Phool’s paradise: This one is a phool-on DIY thing. Let me take a deep Ramdev Baba-breath and explain it to you. My mother gifted me a set of scented candles. I kept the molds. (Yes, always always always keep the used candle-molds. They save you when you want to make candles at 1 at night. They saved me last night.)

Making these is easy. So no unsolicited gyaan. Only a few tips: Before the wax dries completely, put the dried flower and leaf on each of them. They get stuck evenly, neatly. (The dried flowers are also homemade. If you have loads of time, use fat books, if not use iron and press them).

Narcissism alert: The parents in law had their bathrooms and kitchen renovated. Pieces of broken tiles have been made into coasters. I have loads of them and don’t get surprised if some reach your place as anniversary or birthday presents. :D

5. Soupto bashona: The soup bowl was a gift. With a spoon. (how I love these little free nothings) Yesterday, I decided to give it a “chhilo-beral-hoye-gelo-rumal” make-over. The dyes for making coloured candles could not be found. I used my Bindi-powder. (I thanked my stars for buying a box of these! There was a time when my MIL’s Robin Blue powder adorned my forehead as blue kumkum. :P)

And, here is the soup-cup candle on my table. What also caught my attention today is that 87.5% of my tableware has been gifted by the best friend. But then, why does one keep best friends? Aren’t they meant for these?