DIY Diwali Decor - Tea Light Holder/Candle/Diya

So let's recycle something once again this Diwali!

I am sure most of us have those little acrylic paint bottles lying at home. Some dry up while others are used and empty. Normally we just chuck them away in the bin. But this festive season, lets have some colourful fun and recycle those mini glass bottles to make elegant tea light holders!

To begin with we need -

1. Empty and clean Acrylic Paint Bottles

2. Fevicryl Mouldit

3. Some Wax chips 

4. Wick

5. Paint

6. Brushes

7. Glue

8. Some Talcum powder

And some imagination!

So let's start by first cleaning up the bottle.

Take the mouldit packets and follow the instructions for mixing the clay.

Use some talc to make it non-sticky and smooth. After it is mixed evenly, divide the clay into 5 portions like this.

Take the biggest portion and roll it into a thin flat mould.

Apply some glue on the sides of the bottle and roll the clay on it. Make the surface even and smooth by rolling it a bit more. 

It doesn't need to be very even!

Then take the 2nd large portion of the clay and elongate it by rolling. Flatten the top part so that it looks like elephant's head and trunk.

Stick it on the bottle and put in some details if you wish to make it more elaborate.

Make the ears and the tail.

Let it dry and harden. Then paint it any way you like!

Then place the wick in the center and fill in the wax chips. These can be extracted from an old candle or you can easily find them in any craft store.

Find Wax Granules on ItsyBitsy

And don't worry if you don't have wax chips. Just put the ready to use tea light on top.  So, here's our very own handmade Glittering Diwali Decor ready!

It's not perfect but it's still lovely :D

Here's how it looks when lit up.

And some more...

Have Happy and Safe Diwali!

Easy DIY Perch Ideas for Budgies

 

Being usually friendly and easy to tame, the little budgies are among the world's most popular pets. There are so many toys available in the market and also so many styles of perches that it becomes a tough job to choose one.

Budgies love variety, and it is so much fun to give them some simple handmade perches and swings. These can be easily made from some wood and ice cream sticks. They also love bright colours, so with a dash of paint all of it comes alive!

Here are some simple DIY perch designs - 

1. A simple swing with beads

It's a simple swing made with a wooden dowel, some colourful wooden beads and wire for support.

Leaving half of the wire uncovered by the beads lets the budgie play with them easily. It can keep the feathery friend occupied for quite sometime :)

2. Ladder

This ladder is made using the same things as the swing - small pieces of wooden dowel and wooden beads. In place of wire I have used jute rope for ease of tying and for flexibility.

You need to make holes on the sides of the dowels and insert the beads at equal distance. The budgies like to climb up and down the ladder as well as love to sleep on it due to its moderate incline.

3. Soft Wood Ladder (Big)

We can use this ladder both inside the cage and outside. These are pre-cut planks and smooth wooden dowels which can be easily bought online. Mark and make holes on the sides and insert the dowels. The soft wood doesn't hurt them and the budgies like to chew on it. We can also hang food on it to make it more appealing.

4.  Simple stand alone perch

This one is a simple single stand perch with a seed bowl.

5. Play Gym/outside Perch

A plain hut styled perch with 3 levels. They love to hop on and off the different levels.

It can be used as a play gym and a safe place for them outside their cage.

6. Ice-cream stick Hut (1)

It is a small hut with a seed bowl. First the square/rectangular frame of the hut gives the budgies a lot of support to sit. The inclined roof with spaced colourful ice cream stick not only gives them a grip on the slope but they also love nibbling on it to exercise their beaks. And moreover two or three of them can sit on it and in it together!

7. Ice-Cream Stick Hut (2)

This one is another layout that can be tried. It has a longer base and a feeding bowl at the end.

8. Single Perch from Coconut Shell

Made for seating a single bird. Seeds can be put in and alternatively it can also be stuffed with some coconut husk or straw. 

I used some jute rope to cover the outer part and the perch itself.

So, with a mix and match of some exquisite and inexpensive handmade perches, swings and toys, your budgie too would be chirping around in happiness.

Find the materials on Amazon:-

Wooden Dowels Grooved

Wooden Dowels smooth

Wooden Planks

Jute Ropes

Easy DIY Owl Soft Toy

During the lockdown phase, I read a lot and learnt quite a few things. It was a time for trying out new things sitting at home and shooing away negative thoughts. I recalled my days of youth when soft toys were exquisite and how intrigued we were by the process of it's creation and how I tried making one which was crudely done yet cuddly. So, I thought, why not try out my own design! Let's get started and make this easy, cuddly and attractive soft toy at home :)

Things needed :

1. Fur/Felt cloth for toy making

2. a pair of acrylic eyes

3. Thread

4. A pair of scissors

5. Ruler

6. Pencil

7. Paper

8. Cotton wool for stuffing

(* You can also buy soft toy making kit from Amazon)

 So first step is to draw/print a rough image of the toy on a sheet of paper.

Then separate the parts and draw/print like this -

After this, cut out the pieces and place them on the cloth. 

Separate these two pieces as we will be using two different colours

Same with this one

And finally the feet, wings, beak and ears

Cut out the fabric pieces with 1cm seam allowance.

This is how it would look like

I have taken one fur piece and one felt fabric piece for each wing and ear. For the feet I have taken one red felt and one white felt fabric piece.

Place the two fabric pieces on top of each other as shown in the picture and sew on the outline, leaving a gap below

Attach the front part like this

It should look like this

Attach the ears to the head

And the feet to the body. You can also stuff some cotton in the feet before attaching.

Now we can attach the back body piece to the front body piece and the back head piece to the front one. Make sure that the feet and the ears are folded inside while doing so.

After reversing the pieces, attach the eyes and the sew on the beak. A little bit of cotton can be stuffed in the beak to give it a prominent look.

Attach the back of the head to the body and stuff in the cotton. After it is full sew on the head rest of the head. Stitch the wings on the sides so that only the upper part is attached.

And here is your cute and cuddly soft toy ready!

You can buy soft toy making kits on Amazon. Here are a few links - 

Teddy Bear making kit

Yellow Tiger making kit

Monkey

Penguin