Diwali and Halloween Are Round the Corner

Happened that these two festivals coincide almost on the same dates. Diwali is on the 30th of October this year , and  Halloween, well, as usual is on the 31st of October :) I like this because this way we celebrate cultures' chord for real!
My A's school has been decorated with Halloween stuff to the brim! I suppose they get from abroad or something because you can't find such stuff in the usual markets here. I am sure kids enjoy the change in the school's furnishing every week.
Today is the Orange day in A's class but I couldn't find ANY orange clothes for him, so I simply made a Pumpkin ornament and a diya sticker from orange foam paper to take along. Then A and D are having 4 days off due to Diwali - lucky boys :)
Now, what I have been up to. Though I did very little on a crafty front I managed to finish A's cape, here is a look of work in progress. We purchased this one to one meter of shiny material for 60 Indian rupees, which is equal to 0.90 USD. The sewing and design are my own - it has a hood as well :)

Yesterday, after dropping to school a leave application because little A stayed home with cold, I couldn't not to take few snapshots of lobby decor... when I was stopped by a teacher who said I wasn't allowed to take photos... hehe.

Today is also  a special pre-Diwali day called Dhanteras. It is auspicious to buy any metal things today like jewellery or kitchen utensils and appliances. So if you ran out of spoons, go get them! :) A pooja (a form of a religious ritual) is held in my D's office today. Many offices do this in order to welcome Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity (Lakshmi).
We wore traditional Indian clothing today. Here is my Indian suit. I loved how the colors became vivid under the morning sunlight!

Rangoli (in the photo below) is also being made in all the schools, offices, homes. Here is Ganesh is in the middle, people pray to him on Diwali for prosperity, wealth and well-being. Rangoli designs are endless!

Another rangoli one from my office which reads Happy Diwali written in Devanagari, and also two diyas (little oil lanterns) and OM are a part of this composition.

 Our big Indo-Russian family wishes you all a Happy Diwali - Let the Light come into your home and in your hearts, and make your life happy and joyful! 

The Festival Season is On

Following the last post about Dussehra here I am going to tell about another North Indian festival called Karva Chauth which took place on 19th of October - a day when wives fast for a well-being of their husbands. It is a tradition in many North Indian families, and we also follow it. Though this year I didn't keep fast, I followed all other rituals of this day, like applying mehendi (henna), dressing up in suit and wearing bangles, attending pooja in a temple, and at last breaking the fast when the moon rises. This time the moon kept us waiting till 10 pm until it finally became visible behind the houses...

Other than celebrations, we are in our usual mode - office, home, school. Last weekend was particularly enjoyable because in-laws were out of city and we had the house all to ourselves, forgive me announcing this happiness openly, but this is required at times. They also had some break from routine in Delhi, attending a marriage. We had  a lovely family time at home. I indulged in baking again - this time Apple Crust Pie with cinnamon - it was delicious! Easy-peasy to make too.

Little A has got his portion of delight on weekend by playing with colourful dough. I purchased a set of cutters along with four dough pieces.

                                             

Look how many shapes we made! He especially likes a star, a circle, a heart and a butterfly :) To my amusement the play dough is still popular with little A.

Today when I was dropping A to his school, his class teacher met us at the reception with a giant spider in her hands! Hehe, they are preparing for Halloween now. After I said "Bye, I love you, baby!" to my boy (while he was too interested in that handmade spider to even look back at me.lol), and was about leave the premises, I noticed these cute bats and spiders on the lobby's TV stand - aren't they fun? They made me smile!

 Have a happy day and enjoy time spent with your dear ones :)

Pumpkin, Crochet Skulls and Me

Post-Halloween greetings, my dears! I had a great one in  spite of the last minute preparations. My sweet D indeed brought me a big pumpkin yesterday evening (Hey, Jojo, yes, they grow in India too!), which was the first one I ever carved. Carving happened to be a little more difficult than I expected all because of the rather hard pumpkin flash which I had to scoop out and then cut into. I went for a simple design, and the result of my hard work is in the photos below.

I am very pleased with how the bat shape falls on the wall, great effect! I am going to keep my Jack-o-Lantern till Diwali, as on Diwali you are supposed to lit every kind of lights, and carved pumpkin is just so fitting into this idea! I am thrilled by the thought that being in intercultural marriage opens up so many possibilities of mixing, sharing, exchanging of various cultures!

Besides I also managed to crochet two skulls (Spanish "calavera") in the office, following these awesome instructions. They look so nice, and I am going to make two-three more, in different colors. They'd make a nice garland, or can be used as a single ornament.

Well... now me, a cat girl. Haha,  I look so funny with those ears. It was 10 minute work to attach them to the rim. I liked how they turned out, I might make a tutorial or a "how to" later.When my D was about to come back from office and I was meeting him outside the house, he saw me from inside of the car and, his first expression was this :O. Then he lovingly said that I am crazy, but he knew it was for Halloween. He didn't dress up with me this year, but participated in either way, getting that beautiful pumpkin. I had really great time on Halloween 2013, and hope that yours was also enjoyable. Tomorrow is my MIL's birthday, right before Diwali! :) 

Hearty wishes of a great weekend to you, my dears!

Happy Halloween 2013!

It has finally arrived, one of the most fun holidays in a whole year, and this year also marked by the 13th number :) I was not able to give proper time to Halloween preparations, but still have hope to have a little pumpkin today evening, my D promised to get it for me. Also I planned to crochet cat's ears on a hair rim a long time ago, which is going to be a part of a costume of course. Perhaps and may be I will do this in the evening. For the time being I am combining my love for cats and Halloween in this glittering card and wishing you

Happy Halloween, my dears!

Thanks so much for your praising, kind comments on my previous post, love to all!

Wednesday Blanket Update - Beating The Ailment

I am happy to be back here...again. I don't know what exactly happened, but October brought me certain health issues. In my last about drawstring bag I mentioned that I was not feeling well. Little I knew back then that I was going to spend next two weeks at home, curing... chicken pox! At this age (I am 26) it was a very tough experience, but I am completely fine and back to office, though had to spend few more days at home due to flue I got straight after first recovery. Well, I am a strong girl, and I got good support from my family in India and Kazakhstan. Thanks to them!

The only pleasant thing in past two weeks was that I had given attention to my blanket! I couldn't decide whether I shall do this post or wait till I have that "ta-dah" moment. But, ok, you, my dears, already saw the blanket many times, and updating the progress for my own record will not do any harm, isn't it? To the deal.
Does it actually burst with colors into your eyes? I love HOW colorful it is coming along, and this is the effect I didn't expect. When I bought those 6 skeins, they didn't promise to be that variegated looking together. When you look at the blanket from the top, it seems a chaotic arrangement of the blocks, however you notice the certain pattern - alternation of the blocks in each round.

 As I had told you before, I used slip stitch method of joining and it looks this way from the back side. I still have to trim and weave few ends, and give a border to overall product. Aww, I cannot believe I am SO close to accomplishing this huge (for me) project!My husband seeing me with a pile of blanket on my laps, while I was sewing the blocks, said that this is so much of hard work. Yes, it is, but very pleasant kind of hard work. My D also asked me whether we can use the blanket in winter any time soon... :) If free time is on my side, we will have this soft yarny creation by the mid of November maximum. And then I will head to the making of a throw, consisting of 9 big squares. I even chose the colors already, crazy me, but will limit myself only up to maximum of 4 of them.

 My beauty, waiting to be "whole" in a few days. What would you suggest about lining it? Shall I go for flannel fabrics? Or shall I leave the blanket purely made of yarn? It is coming to be pretty heavy, and I am concerned that it might get stretched with use. As you see the blanket most probably will not be hanging from the sides, our bed is really very broad, and I don't wan tot give too wide border. Like this, it will probably cover only the top surface, anyway I don't think I'll be using as a bed cover much. I wish we had a trailer to take this blankie with us to travels and cozy up the atmosphere there :)

Tomorrow is All Hallows eve, unfortunately I didn't decorate the house that much as last year, plus I am not able to find half of the things I made. I hope to get a pumpkin at least and carve a jack-o-lantern. Diwali, an Indian festival of lights is on 4th of November, so we will be celebrating it too. After that I will start preparing for New Year and Christmas, and miss my home a lot...
Have a wonderful day, my dears! Thanks for your support and encouragement, and welcome to my new followers! I appreciate you find my blog worth reading :)
P.S. Yesterday I published the Raffled Rastafarian Doily pattern on Ravelry, have a look, if you are interested. Honestly, the pattern might have errors, so testing required. 

Pumpkin Drawstring Bag - Two in One

If you couldn't reach my previous post (thanks Jojo!), I apologize for that as I played with my blog settings yesterday. Now it is working in normal mode, and I have something to share with you. First of all, I am staying at home today as I have fallen ill a little, and  have plenty of time to do my favorite things, one of which is of course, crochet. My Autumn/Halloween preparations have been pending for long and it is high time to start it. First I thought of making an amigurumi pumpkin, but somehow was not satisfied with this idea, when I suddenly got inspired to crochet a cute pumpkin drawstring bag you see below - two in one! I used my own drawstring bag pattern and slightly modified it - it is shorter now and non-stripy :) 

 I was very pleased with how it turned out as the ribbon I bought just two days ago appeared to be so suitable for pumpkin design! I filled this bag with my jewelry and miscellaneous things, and it lifts up my mood every time I open the cupboard. I might prepare a pattern for the same if I have enough time, otherwise cannot promise even to myself.

I found nice shabby settings for a photo shoot at our backyard - some old chairs. This bag made my day, and I love the orange and green together! I wonder if it'll look this way in yellow color, as I want to make more of such bags as gifts. 

Time flies and it seems like whatever you plan stays a plan only. We are in the middle of October already, just two and a half months till new year! I am half way through with my blanket and I have big expectations for myself by the end of this month. Let's see.

I hope that those living on the Eastern Coast of India, manage to be safe, as the tropical cyclone Phailin hits that area today. It is a super cyclone which waves will be felt up to North India, so we await storms here as well. Even today the weather is significantly cooler. I am sending blessings to all of you, my friends! Be safe! ( and sorry for being bad with comments recently, I promise to catch up with all of you soon).

Festive and Busy Life

  Halloween in India was great! Though it was quite late when I dressed up and made make up for me and my husband (yes, for him too:)), we really enjoyed our Halloween celebration together! It was my husband's first experience and I don't really know who he was, because I was definitely a zombie fortune teller (haven't you guessed yet?)...well...you can see that we had fun! 

Otherwise, I find this time of the year very busy and full of events. Besides all the festival preparations, and we try to participate in both, Hindu and Christian, there are many birthdays coming up in November, my husband is going for official trip again and will be back exactly before Diwali (13th of November). My mother-in-law's birthday is colliding with another Indian festival called Karwachauth which is tomorrow. Also, as it happens to me frequently, after months of lull, I get another student, willing to learn Russian, plus also... getting my first custom crochet which has to be done by the mid of December (though the 5 rows of the ripple baby blanket are left). Isn't all this great? :) Hey, and there are also Christmas and New Year ahead... Thinking about crochet decoration already!

 Tonight I am going to apply henna (mehendi) on my hands for tomorrow's festival and will try to post some pictures :)

Hope you all had a great Halloween, and your life is as much interesting and eventful as mine here in India! Cheers!
P.S. I know there has been much more happening in the world these days.. this makes me think that we have to cherish every moment of our life, spend with our families and loved ones. Hope you are all well and safe in your places. 

Last Minute Halloween Bats Decor - DIY

Only 4 days to go till Halloween, and I am hurrying to make as much decor as I can. I recollected my old bat decoration, which  I used to make for my home. Those were... the bats! They were much more cheerful than the one below... times changed :)

   These bats is easy and fast to make! Supplies required: 

white paper, thicker than the usual A4 sheets (recycle some, like I did)

black acrylic paint

brush

bat shape

pencil

scissors (oops! I didn't include them in the pic)

 I found the bat shape in the Internet and printed it out in a big size.(You can skip this if you know how to draw a simple bat shape). Copy the shape and vary it from big to small - whatever size you want your bats to be.

Now fill up the shape with black paint and let it dry. 

Alter the bat's shape while cutting, make the edges neat.

Here comes my craft tape: cut a square piece from it and cut this piece diagonally. You will get 2 triangles.

   Paste the triangles as to make bat's angry shining eyes! Enjoy your spooky Halloween decoration, which you can stick to the wall or attach to the curtains.

The ghost hanging in my room...where from?!! Boo!

P.S. idea of the ghost is taken from Do It Yourself Divas... and modified of course!

Cheerful Halloween Decoration

   I was planning to make this Halloween post initially, when found out that I got an award. I made a post about it instead. So sorry for two posts today, but I really want to share with you some Halloween decorations I made last Sunday while waiting for my husband's return. We used to celebrate Halloween with my parents before. Though it was never among Orthodox christian holidays, we were enjoying its' spirit and involved our friends in celebration too. Now I am reviving this tradition in India.  

  These little pumpkins is a great idea of Petals to Picots. However the pattern for the pumpkin's "body", offered on the blog, didn't really come to me, and I chose a classic amigurumi pattern, which I had previously used to make my white cat. I added a face to an orange pumpkin and then made a smaller yellow one. It was so much fun to crochet these cuties!

 The Halloween kind of  bunting came up with the pumpkins and the stars cut from the orange craft paper. Further I found the shapes  looking too flatly and added glitters.

  Here is the witch on the broom. I attached it to my cupboard door. She slightly moves under the fan's blow, so seems she is flying :) Just curious, whether you are making any decorations for coming up Halloween or this holiday is not in your calendar.

Gold Autumn findings

     We call Autumn "gold" (Zolotaya osen') in Russian, what already speaks for itself. Yellow, orange, brown and all the tints of these colors are around. May be I can't call Indian autumn golden, but I  can dream of it at least. I try to cheer up myself with all the bright colors as my D is leaving  for official trip today, I am going to miss him a lot! So why not to spend time crafting while he is away? Like Penelope did waiting for Odyssey... Remember? 

     I have collected few ideas and tutorials for autumn time which I hope to use in coming up days. This is easy to make and nevertheless gorgeous looking stuff by GingerBreadSnowFlakes, OdeToInspiration, MyMadeupStory and PetalstoPicots.

    First I'd like to show this awesome A Little Fall  Leaf Re-use Project by Pam. All you need is Mod Podge or Fevicol, autumn leaves and a jar. Thanks to Pam for such awesome idea to make autumn days cozy with this autumn leaf candle holder! :) 

    Another project I'd like you to have a look at is a Recycled Jar Lantern DIY from Julie P. I guess I could use those nice wrapping papers I showed you earlier.  I am amazed how simple it is to create something beautiful and useful (by the way)! You can keep this jars as vases.

   Now, from jars to pumpkins! The next two projects make me cheerful, I can't even say how much! Isn't it a nice idea by Ode To Inspiration to make a No Sew No Glue Pumpkin home decoration for Halloween or for creating gold Autumn mood? Looks stylish and cute :) You can check another idea using sweaters for the same pumpkin at Charlotte'sWeb.

    Just look at this crochet Little Pumpkin by PetalstoPicots! Such a temptation to start crocheting it right now... Hmmm... I had orange yarn stash somewhere... Hurrying home today! Let's see if I can find free time for this pattern. (By the way I have started a baby blanket, will post some pictures next week) :)

 Hope you liked my gold Autumn findings and I'd love to know what inspires you in the Autumn season.


                        ***Have a great day!***