Kolam by Sudha Balaji

How to make a beautiful betel leaves garland for Lord Hanuman There are many methods of making this garland for Lord Anjaneya and also for Lord Ganesh.  This is not the traditional method .  However regimentation as they say suppresses creativity. Take fresh betel leaves and wash them well. Some apply areca nuts also because in our tradition betel leaves and areca nuts are offered together. I have used a fancy lace that I use for my craft videos. How many leaves in  vetrilai malai making We usually use 27, 54 or 108 leaves depending upon the size of the image or idol. When do we do Pooja to Lord Hanuman Saturdays and on days when the constellation is Moola Take two leaves and fold them together Using a needle and thread fasten them to the lace at both ends. Place the next pair of leaves below the first pair, behind the lace and hold both pairs of leaves together using needle and thread.  This ensures that the garland is...

   How to make a pendant with chemical clay Once we make the pendant making a necklace is very easy The material needed are 1. Chemical clay (I use Shilpkar clay that is available in India) 2. Talcum powder (apply on hand to ensure that the clay does not stick, it also makes the surface smooth) 3. Eye-pin - to provide a holder for pendant to convert it into a necklace 4. Colour string with hook (this is readily available in the market this forms the lace for the necklace) 5.  Fabric glue to stick 6. Paint brush and acrylic paint 7.  Pliers 8.   Jewellery making ring 9.  Pen refill, bottle cap (small) to make patterns on the clay The photo below shows the list of the material needed for making this simple craft  for festivals or for a craft project. Take two pieces of chemical clay, sufficient enough to make a pendant, I am making pendant that is around one inch (25 mm) in diameter.  Mix them both so that they blend...

Making silk thread bangles is definitely a laborious task , no doubt about it.  If we would like to have beautiful bangles using a simpler technique, these pictures may be useful.   We have to stick 4 glass bangles  together with fabric glue.  I use glass bangles because we get a shiny or glossy finish.  We can use plastic bangles also if we are not very particular  about the shiny finish.  Using decorative items like "stone chain " etc.  we can make this bangle design which we can wear for matching dresses or we can gift for weddings , festivals like Varalakshmi Vratham and Navratri if we have a tradition of making gifts for these festivals.   Some photographs showing different designs of silk thread bangles tried by me on various occasions.    The first bangle on the top uses five strands of red and five strands of black silk threads. The other bangles are with green silk thread , 10 strands The first one at the top use...