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!

Tissue Decoupage - Reusing old Bottle

Tissue decoupage is an old French art of pasting a paper cutting on objects like bottles, flower pots, wood and make them look like they are painted. It is a great way of engaging kids and making some art while having fun! Through this art we can teach them how to convert a waste piece of object into an excellet piece of art.

For this we need -

1. Old bottle
2. Some printed paper napkins
3. Glue
4. A pair of scissors
5. Old paint brush
6. Some scraps of ribbon or decorative flowers or buttons

Clean the bottle and keep it aside.


Pour glue in a bowl and mix one part water with 3 parts of glue


Cut small pieces of paper napkin

Apply the glue mixture on the bottle and paste the pieces of paper napkin one by one

Leave it to dry

Add embellishments

Excellent to use as home decor or for gifting purpose :)

Also check out : Ranjana's Craft Blog
                           Tissue Decoupage for Beginners 

Crepe Paper Bow (Party Decor)

This one is a simple yet elegant Birthday party decoration idea.

Things required

1. Colourful crepe paper
2. Glue
3. A pair of scissors

Take a crepe paper of your choice. Cut a strip about 4" or 5" inches broad and 10" in length. Cut a smaller 1.5" broad strip of a different colour and 3" in length.

Take the bigger strip and fold one end gently towards the center and paste it in place.

Make sure the loop is not creased. Fold the other end and paste it in center.

Pinch and fold in the center and paste to form a bow.

Take the small crepe paper strip and glue one edge at the center and fold it around to form a narrow loop. Secure the open end with the glue. And the bow is ready.

Cut a couple of more 1.5" broad crepe paper strips of different colours. Stick one end of each strip at the bow, like this

Twist the strips around each other as shown in the pic

Do it till the desired length and secure the end with glue. Make a few more.

Use them as party decor along with balloons as I have done here :)