Gift Tags!

Finally another DIY after forever!!!

I have been working on so many things that i just haven't been able to pull down the images and make them blog worthy!!! But here they are finally... !

So recently i have been super inspired by cards: all cards... wedding invites love cards happy birthday cards tags for gifts,basically anything to do with mixing lovely papers and paints and flowers!!! So i started with the simplest: A Gift Tag.

I made four kinds and i'm also planning on selling these (See how i slide that one in!!!) So here's how you can make them, but if you don't have the patience give me a call!!!

Happy Polka Dots!

Vintage mish mash!

Flowery flowers!

Classic Vintage!

Lets start with the first one!!!

So first of all use a round object and trace that onto the card paper. And cut along it.

Glue a piece of jute ribbon. I recommend taking a longer strip sticking it and then cutting the edges to fit. Its much neater that way. Be aware that the jute threads keep fraying so be careful!

Paint the top half a bright color!

Fix the ribbon leaving a gap. Again take a longer strip and then cut it to shape.

These are all the cards with the ribbons! looks cute huh?!!

Now cut the excess ribbon along the circle to get your shape.

Next come the punching. This is important. Don't punch too close to the edge as it can tear when you put in the ribbon or jute to tie it to your gifts.

Write in a very neat handwriting. Or better still i suggest you print out the words you want and stick it onto the cards. It will be much neater!!!

Ta-da your gift tags are ready!!!

Tie a little just thread to it to finish it up!

Next!!!!

First off paint some paper doilies. Paint extra since they could tear later.

I picked a bright blue and red palette. I used water colors and tried to get some nice shading done.

So painting directly onto my drawing board: Not such a smart idea!! The paper got so badly stuck to the board that i had to literally dry them off!!! I suggest you try to do the painting over a plastic sheet so that it doesn't get stuck and let it dry patiently for at least 4 to 5 hours. 

In the mean time cut your card paper to the size of your gift cards. Paint tea water over them to get a washed out effect. And if you still have time do another project in between!!!

Once the paper doilies have dried, place them on your gift tags and see what kind of placements and designs work for you.

I placed all details like the doilies, the small patterned paper circles as well as the jute ropes, before i started to glue them on.

These are the final gift tags! the polka dotted paper as well as the flower patterned paper i printed onto regular printing paper, cut them in circles and strips and used them here. 

Punch a hole on the top center, be careful it isn't too close to the edge.

And string a pretty ribbon into it! and there you have it!!!! by the way you can use these as book marks as well!

The best one!

So this is a long project. Only start if you can finish!!! 

Start by cutting up your papers into a slim long size.

Dip into tea water (i added a little brown color to it) hold for a while and watch the color seep into the paper. Once it reaches about halfway pull it out. This way you get a sort of shaded card. 

LET IT DRY!!!! this could easily take up to like 5 to 6 hours. keep checking and keep away from ants!!!!

Once they are dry, cut up newspaper of a decent size and stick it onto the cards front and back. Use fevicol mixed in water for a smoother less messier application. Also with a brush, brush some of the mix on top as well to secure it.

I used tea stained doilies as well. Glue them on like you did the paper.

String some pearls into some wool and wrap it around the card. Sticking the ends of wool are extremely painful. So take your time, put the glue and hold it steady for a while. 

Now add your embellishments. I used some metal butterflies, and green flowers to give it a very vintage feel.

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Now does't that look like a pretty little set?!!

This last one is really simple. It hardly needs a tutorial. 

First off cut small squares. Around 3" by 3"

Using any colored sketch pens, make flower designs all over it.

Use different designs to add to the fun!!

Now add a small crepe paper flower to one corner and punch a hole in the other!! 

Ta - da once again!!!!

And that ends my work of weeks!!!! ha ha ha... so many days and just one post!!! I love what i do!!!

But on a serious note... i am planning on selling these pieces and they can be custom made with names of friends or loved ones. You can use these as gift tags for birthdays, wedding gifts anything you like. You can even use them as bookmarks. So if you want some, post a comment or send me an email!

love!

ps: once again i apologize for the quality of the images. Had to use my phone camera for most of them!!!

An indian wedding!

I have always wondered why when you google Indian weddings you find very loud, colorful and bright pictures. Not that i have much against it. But sometimes it would be nice to see something subtle and elegant for a change. Found this image one day and it struck me as a perfect balance between the traditional and the new age!

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i love it!

My Jaipur!

Jaipur.... is home! A place where there is family there is food and shopping and sleeping and more food!! I love going there on a vacation the stark contrast from Bombay is very comforting somehow.

This trip was minus the husband, so i had a great bonding time with the family. i went shopping......

(So i first bought the bangles.... they are sooooo preetttyy!!!!!!! i just fell in love with the colors. And i always buy glass bangles they just seem more authentic!)

(then i went looking for the fabrics.... aren't these fun?? Ok maybe the pictures aren't great but i'll mail the final images once they are ready!)

.....learnt new recipes......

(That my friends is a mango cream pudding which is to die for!!! It was so delicious i almost forgot to take a picture!!!)

.......went on a picnic to an uncles village. Yup he owns the whole village!! its crazy! but it was a really fun experience since it was pouring on our way there, it made for a very green beautiful drive. I was in a car full of women discussing their homes and maids and the everyday stresses and how they find their happiness thru it all :) Once there we saw as many as six peacocks that surrounded our terrace. this is didn't know but experienced myself: Peacocks are Super NOISY!!! really they just kept calling out to each other all thru our picnic... one always thinks of peacocks as these beautiful elegant creatures... well add noisy attention seekers to the list!!!

(The sunset out there is very different  from here. Its quieter, more peaceful and all you can hear if at all are birds chirping. For miles and miles all you see is greenery and small huts. Its breathtaking really!)

(The local women were so sweet! They wanted to teach me how to make rotis on their stone ware gas stoves! But the meat is cooked by the men. One man inparticular who has been cooking for my uncle for years. And he has been using the same utensil all these years because he believes he is connected to him and only if he cooks in it can he make the food he makes. I believe him, because the food he makes Cannot be made without some kind of divine intervention!! Its unreal how good it is!!!!)

My favorite person there is Brando our dog... he is a baby german shepherd, only about a year. And he sleeps all day long in the funniest positions!!

legs up!

hands up!

now turn around!

......this actually is a very comfortable position to sleep in!!!!

......after breaking the water pipe and creating a mini flood in the back yard!!!

......he was forgiven!!!

Isn't he just adorable!! i love him!!

Jaipur is the place I'm most "Indian"!!!!

Me getting into Jaipur spirit....

.....trying to find a balance between Jaipur and me!!!!!!

Ha ha... so while being in Jaipur took away from any new creations for the blog... it sure gave me some fun memories!!!

Bombay hurt again....

I'm back.....

Love being in Bombay... don't like being greeted with a bomb blast.... got off my flight and that's the first thing i saw on the news at the airport... made my stomach sick. and the only thought that went thru my head was  "Again?"

and again and again... its ridiculous its become a joke really.... more like just something that happens. Its not as shocking as it used to be. I overhead a guy on the bus at the airport who had just got the news. and he was so relaxed " Anyone we know got hurt? No? ok you get home I'll see you there" that's it. so long as our loved ones our people are ok its ok. So long as its happened far away from our homes we are ok.

what makes it ok? the regularity of it or the selfishness of it? I'm not sure... but i am a part of the people who says its ok. and i don't like that. because it's not ok.

Wish i have the strength to stand up to it being not ok.

The Sabyasachi Bride....

As you know I'm sucker for anything weddings.... almost 99% of my internet viewing is about weddings.... decor, lights, invitations, more decor, more lights, the cutlery, the flowers, the banners, the chairs, the tables, just about everything... but i have to, have to admit that that one thing I am totally clueless about when it comes to weddings is: Clothes!!!!

I mean we have like a hundred different types of saree in our country....each state ... more like each little town wants to have its own one-of-a-kind saree that a bride just "must" have in her trousseau!

Bandhani, Patola, Gurjrati Brocade, Embroidered tinsel sarees, Paithani, Chanderi, Maheshwari, Gadwal, Banares Brocade, Kota Doria, Jamawars, Tanchois, Kanjeevaram, Konrad, Bavanjipets, Nayayanpets and Baluchari sarees!!!!!!

I bet a few of these sound alien to you too!!! for more information on this just visit THIS or THIS link. Its a great place for a quick up to date on our sarees!! The second link even has images so its easier to understand. 

And if that wasn't enough the types of works on a saree or lehenga or dupatta is even more confusing!!

Chikankari, Zari, Zardozi, Phulkari, Kantha, Gota!!!! there are many many more I'm sure but I'm lost right now!! THIS and THIS link for a quick update.

For me its very very simple to get out of this crazy confusion of fabrics (oh i didn't even mention the lists and lists of fabrics!!!) and sarees and embroideries..... get a Sabyasachi!!! and you get it all!!!

I'm super super partial to this designer. I think he creates his pieces to be like heirlooms.... forever!

His color palette and style and elegance is seriously timeless. 

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This just reads stunning and elegant and royal to me! exactly how i would like to feel at my wedding! The fabrics look so rich and pure and the colors just make me feel so dreamy! This would so be for my saath phera!

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Really... now how pretty is this?  Perfect for the sangeet!

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I like how young his colors are in this one and yet he is captured this regal quality.. I would totally wear this for the mehendi!

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This is just my favorite. Its so classic and yet that dash of color in the dupatta and the maang tikka make this so hip! This would have been my reception look!

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And these for me are the perfect trousseau! Fun bright colors and yet each piece is so elegant and gorgeous! 

So you see for me its easy.... just pick a Sabyasachi for all occasions and simplify your life!! 

Infact during my wedding shopping i remember i was searching for my wedding outfit, and you know how these shopkeepers try to sell you stuff by saying "this is a Manish Malothra remake" and "this is a Ritu Kumar remake" so the instant he said to me " this is a Sabyasachi remake" i had to try it on!!! and it may not be a Sabyasachi and all die hard fans (myself included) will scoff at my saree for even thinking it could remotely be a remake (!!!!) but it was still just so pretty i bought it!!!!

Now isn't this pretty??!!!!

So each fold has a different kind of embroidery (still don't know which kinds!!!) which i love. 

My mum helped design the border... the green folded detail is what she added that i feel really makes the saree come alive.

These are just a few of my jewelry pieces that i added to the saree. The necklace is a gift from my nani (maternal Grandma), the Mundawali (a string of pearls worn on the forehead) from my aai (paternal Grandma), robbed my mothers nosering and earrings and added a rajasthani maang tikka since i got married in jaipur!!!

This is an article in the Vogue i found the link on this fabulous wedding blog called Marigolds and Mithai , it really sums up what i think of a Sabyasachi bride!

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I'm not sure if i looked like a Sabyasachi bride or not... but i think i did alright!!!!

You must check out Sabyasachi's website... its as quirky and pretty as his clothes are!!!

Sarcasm is Funny!!!!

So my mum says I'm a nasty sarcastic little girl!! but Ii think I'm just funny!! ha ha!!!

On Pinterest the other day i was searching for pretty wedding images and i found myself laughing hysterically when i saw these... maybe because i just related so well to them!!!! You have to have a look!!!

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Source unknown :(

Now you can't agree with my mum that I'm mean... I know at a few of these you were thinking "Yeah that's true!!!!"
People are just plain.... stupid.... sometimes!!! There is just no other explanation... but but but... I'm going to work on being nicer.... someday.... in the future... in the near future... !

And just to make mommy happy.... here is something i know she'll like!! Infact all your mum's will like.... send them this image!!!

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Happiness.... Happy Bride....

So over this weekend a lot happened!!! i was once again faced with the whole "why won't you get a job?"

Not by anyone!!! I don't need anyone else to get on my case i do a pretty good job myself! ha ha...no but truly i just don't know why i won't go out there and get me something to do... I mean i know why.... because at some level I'm plain lazy and at some level i'm not so sure i'm really qualified for much and at some level at this age i find it difficult to start from ground zero....

Having said that i have figured out that the one thing that really gets me (apart from my diy projects!!!) is a wedding! a beautiful private personal affair.... which we don't have much of in India. Here its super loud super colorful and super non personal!!!

here it is more about what you have to show to the rest of the world rather than about the couple who have decided to take the plunge.... Its is more about big venues big stars dancing at the wedding rather than about the bride actually being able to have fun at her own wedding....

Don't get me wrong... the scene is changing now a days... girls are standing up and saying " hey... I'm not going to be this demure shy bride who will not look up even once... I will have fun... this is my day.... !!!"

Infact there was this wedding i attended, my husband's friends wedding and i met the bride for the very first time. And i was so amazed at her... for the first time ever i saw a bride enter laughing and joking around!!! And while she stood on stage and met hundreds of unknown people (me included!!!) she just smiled her way thru it. And she wasn't just pretending... she was genuinely "HAPPY"

So i decided that at my wedding that's what i was going to do. Have fun and be merry!!!
But there was this moment during the pheras that i burst into tears because one aunt made me so nervous!!! See at the first phera i was ME super happy that i'm marrying this absolutley gorgeous guy and i was all smiley smiley!! And out of no where this aunt come and whispers in my ear " what are you doing smiling like that??? be serious" and Bam! tears just started rolling down..... everyone thought i was so taken up by the sentimental -ness of the marriage ceremony... but honestly i was just so nervous!!!

So at the next wedding... the earlier one was at the gurudwara and the next one was a traditional seven phera... this is how i came in.... being ME!!!!!!

This is truly as non traditional as it gets!!!!!!!!!! but i was... a happy happy bride!!! 

And its for this very moment in a wedding that i even want to do weddings.... because at the end of it all... its about  celebrating... celebrating the choosing of that one person who make your heart flutter who makes you smile and makes you coffee!!! who tells you stories while putting you off to sleep and promises to love you no matter how grumpy you are!!! 

yup... weddings.... that's what i am going to do one way or another.... here is to happy brides everywhere!!

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