Sweet Surprise

I had come across an awesome handmade chocolate cover thanks to Pinterest. The moment I saw this idea I just knew this was my calling and I had to try it!

I made a bright red cover and decorated the front with some stick-on butterflies and a paper trimming to depict grass. You can add any design that you like on the cover depending on the occasion. Since there is enough writing space inside, you can write great messages, I wrote some interesting facts about chocolates for my friend. You could write congratulatory notes, graduation advices, love notes, the choice is unlimited!

This would be a great card itself to say ‘Thank You’, ‘Get Well Soon’, ‘Graduation’ or ‘Congratulations. You can choose specific chocolate with berry filling etc. to make this a special token for ‘Valentine’s Day’ or a simply to say ‘Love You’. You can also choose liquor chocolate to make a ‘Bachelorette’ token.  

The directions and measurements for this particular cover are available at Angel Stamper.

This is such a fun project… so go ahead and try this one!

 

 

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Small Card Big Meaning

We spoke about making personalized gifts here and just like any personalized gift, handmade cards are always a one of a kind token to give someone to let them know how that they are special!  

Making a card can be lots of fun and can turn into an enjoyable hobby for you, your family and even your kids. As a beginner you really do not need elaborate machinery or embellishments. You can easily start making a card by using simple card making kits or even by assembling cute knickknacks you may have ready at your end. There are some interesting sites which can help you with card making by providing you with kits or ideas and here is a good site for all the beginners. There are also many boards which you can follow on pinterest to gain inspiration.
 

All you really need to put a card together, is some paper (you can start with a humble white paper or some good cardstock paper which have several varieties in colour or texture), an adhesive, a scissor, some sketch pens, if you have some add-ons and loads of imagination and enthusiasm.

I made a modest card for my friend’s birthday and I will love to share this one with you.

I had the brown ribbon and some cut open stock paper with a fall script print which was in the shades of brown and ochre and hence I decided to select the light beige shade for my card base. I additionally had some fall leaf cut outs in the shade of red and green which went well with the warm colour family of the card and added some softness to the card. I also had a cute bird stick on which was also in the warm yellow, red and green family and went perfectly with the leaves. I assembled the card together one layer at a time (sometimes you can draw on a blank piece of paper a design of how you would want your card to look like… it helps!) Once I had my basic design ready, adding the sticker etc, was optional and you need to decide how elaborate or simple you would like your card to be.

 

Once the card was ready, I used a simple sketch pen to write down my message inside and a cute personalized card was ready! (If you are not sure about your writing, you can print the message on a paper and stick it inside as well)

We would love to see and feature your cards here as well… so do share them with us.

- Shamoni

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Madhubani Pattern

The first few Madhubani paintings I did were very simple. I tried basic motifs like fish symbol. Fishes are a symbol of fertility/abundance and also avatar of Lord Vishnu. 

I drew the motif on a tracing paper and traced it on handmade paper with a pencil.

To finalize the details, I re-traced it with a black micro fine pen. 

I used drawing inks to paint. These inks work well on handmade paper as they blot well. I used brush sizes 000 to 1 , depending on the painting. 

I framed these with mirror and used as wall decor and some as photo frames.

Going a step further, I expanded the border with some geometric shapes, mainly triangles and some flowers at the four corners of the frame. These can be done free hand or using a ruler.  I stuck to the same color scheme of yellow and brown. To make it brighter I added the pink and purple.

These look beautiful and are ideal for beginners as it doesn't require any previous art experience. Go ahead and give it a try!

-Smriti.

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Madhubani Painting

As far as I remember, as a kid, I was never into painting. But sometime in 2006 I was introduced to the folk art of Mithila paintings by my sister-in-law. I saw some of her paintings and got really interested in it. She gave me a few books about the history and cultural significance of this art form. 

Also known as Madhubani paintings, the origin of these paintings is the Indian state of Bihar. Usually done on fresh plastered mud wall of huts and colored with vegetable dyes, they have now been adapted on canvas, handmade paper and cloth. 

Paintings reflect ideas, expressions of artists and also the heritage of the country. India is geographically and culturally very diverse. Paintings from each state have their own unique flair. Their captivating nature, connection to religion and rich style has drawn a lot of attention from collectors and critics.

There are several forms of Indian paintings such as Warli, Tanjore, Madhubani, Phad, Mughal, etc. Each of these differs not only in the painting materials used but also in its use of different platforms like paper, cloth, stone, wood, walls of caves, temples.

Themes of Madhubani paintings depict Hindu Mythology and traditions. Some of the focal elements of these paintings include floral patterns, bold colors, abstract figures, bulging eyes, sun, moon, animal, birds and geometric designs. Every Madhubani painting holds a symbolic meaning which makes it very intriguing to me. 

I tried my hand at it and since 2006 I have done many Madhubani paintings. I am planning to do a few posts about my experiments with the same. Stay tuned. 

-Smriti.

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Happiness in a Jar

While I was planning my girlfriend's Birthday gift I was sure I wanted to make something special, personal and fun! 

 

I have always been fascinated by gifts in jars and have wanted to try making them because they are amusing, fun and look amazing all making them perfect gifts! I love the idea so much that I would love to occasionally make a gift jar for myself!

 

I luckily came across an amazing idea featured on bakerella of ‘Cowgirl Cookies’ in a jar which included a yummy cookie mix with traditional oats, chocolate chips, pecans and candy and instantly knew that this was the best gift for my friend.

I made what I called ‘Happiness in a Jar’, where I used the basic recipe with a few tweaks. I used a simple quart jar with 4 smooth sides so that I could decorate the jar and add tags where required.

I tried the following recipe and added the same to the jar starting from Layer 1 at the bottom:

 

• Layer 1: 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• Layer 2: 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Layer 3: 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Layer 4: 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Layer 5: 1 cup traditional oats
• Layer 6: 3/4 cup mixed m&ms
• Layer 7: 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• Layer 8: 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Layer 9: 1/2 cup white sugar
• Layer 10: 1/3 cup chopped pecans

 

Once added to the jar, it was packed and added a tag to it with intrusions for baking the cookie which were as simple as:

To the ingredients add 1 beaten egg + 1/2 cup melted butter + 1 teaspoon vanilla essence; mix well and roll the dough into 1 inch balls; place it on a baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.

 

On the other side of the tag I wrote some fun instructions like:

If you use hands to mix contents, quickly lick off the yumminess before someone sees you, smile when you mix and bake to make the cookie lip-smacking and sharing is absolutely voluntary but will add more happiness.

 

 

After a few stickers on two sides and a bright cover over the jar, it became a perfect gift for my girlfriend. it looked very pretty and elegant and additionally was very simple to make ( for someone unknown to cooking, simplicity was very important) 

 

 

 Conclusion : The gift was most appreciated and I did receive a big hug *smiles* but the cookies must hace turned out so good that they never reached me and I'm still waiting!!!

 

Do let us know if you have any good gift in a jar idea or you would like to create interesting ones and we can work on them together.

 

- Shamoni

 

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A Meaningful Handmade Gift

I’m sure many people face a dilemma when it comes to buying gifts. With the consumer societies growing rapidly people today buy what they desire for themselves, they buy what they want right when they want it, rather than waiting for special occasions.  Moreover with tons of stores both online and off, advertising amazing gift ideas it becomes almost impossible to choose one. And even if you do end up liking something either your wallet tends to disagree with your choice or you risk buying something that the receiver already has!

I used to face this dilemma myself, until I realized I could make interesting gifts and cards myself making gifting more personal and enjoyable for both me as a giver and the receiver. Making personalized gifts yourself gives you a sense of satisfaction and they are always appreciated more than any store bought gift because it lets the receiver know that you have thought of the receiver through the time and effort you have taken to make the gift. Of course making a personalized gift requires some efforts but the end result is most satisfactory!

If you have the following it will certainly help you when making your personalized gift:

• Imagination 
• Planning and inclination
• Knowing the receiver (this is optional, as you can make many nonspecific gifts which anyone would appreciate)

There are some myths attached to making personalized gifts and we would like to break them here…

• It takes a lot of time to make personalized gifts: this is so not true, you can make many gifts in less than 20 minutes. You can check for great ideas here or here.
• It is more expensive to make personalized gifts: this is again not true; there are several gifts you can make under $10. You can see some thoughts here
• You need to be an artist to make personalized gifts: now this is just baloney, we assure you that anyone can make a wonderful gift

I have recently made some interesting gifts for my friend on her Birthday, and will be happy to share these ideas and a simple card in the next few posts.

 

So gear up to make your own personalized gifts and let people know that they truly mean a lot to you and that you care!

 

- Shamoni

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