indian

DIYs inspired by India

Posted on by maya

hey

As some of you may already know, tomorrow is Holi, an Indian springtime festival which is renowned for its unique celebrations that involve throwing colourful powder and water at random strangers on the street. Seriously, that’s not even an exaggeration – look it up. I’ve personally never celebrated this festival, but I’ve always thought it seemed like tons of fun!

So this year, in honour of Holi, here are three fun DIYs that are inspired by India. Let me know which one’s your favourite in the comments below!signature

 

1. Elephant Garland

elephant garland 2

What I love about this DIY is that you can make it using things you probably already have at home. Elephants are always the one animal everyone associates with India (accept maybe peacocks, but they’re way to complicated to draw) and fun fact, Indian Elephants can weigh 2,000 – 5,000 kg. Now that you’ve learned that useless piece of information, let’s move on to the DIY…

What you need:

  • different coloured card paper
  • black marker
  • paint (I just used nail polish – it works fine)
  • jewels, stickers, sequins… you can decorate them with anything really
  • twine
  • sticky tape

Method:

  1. Cut out as many elephants as you can from the card paper. If you’re not a skilled elephant artist, then you can print out my template.
  2. Using your paint and various decorations, make your elephants as colourful and glittery as possible.
  3. Outline your elephants with black marker and add a couple of fun designs. This step is optional, but I thought it gave the elephant shapes a bit more definition.
  4. Lastly, tape your elephants onto some twine and hang them up on your wall!

2. Jeweled Perfume Bottle

perfume 2

This glammed up perfume bottle would make an Indian Princess jealous! Gluing on all the jewels is a little time consuming, but the end result is definitely worth it!

What you need:

  • a perfume bottle
  • glue gun
  • fake jewels
  • black glass paint
  1. Paint the top and sides of your perfume bottle with pretty, abstract designs (spirals, dots, lines etc.) using the black paint. Leave to dry.
  2. Carefully glue the fake jewels onto the perfume bottle in any pattern you choose.
  3. You’re done! Now all that’s left to do is proudly display it on your dressing table 🙂

3. Painted Glass Frame

glass frame 3

This glass painting DIY looks a little daunting, but I promise it’s very simple. This was actually my first time ever painting glass, and I was thrilled with the result!

What you need:

 

  • A4 glass frame
  • glass paints
  • black relief outliner
  • paintbrush
  • A4 sheet of white paper
  • A4 sheet of paper with a sketch of desired design (for my design, you can print off my template)
 Method:
  1. Place your sheet with the design inside your frame.
  2. Using your rough design as a guide, apply the black outline directly from the tube onto the glass. Make sure that your lines are continuous as paint will bleed through any gaps. When you’re happy with the design, leave to dry.
  3. Once your outliner is totally dry, you can start applying colour with your paintbrush. Leave to dry, remove your reference sheet from inside the frame and replace it with a sheet of white paper.

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Well, that’s all for today. I hope you’re all having a great week and if you are celebrating Holi, have a wonderful time! Oh and before I forget – I recently got an Instagram account which I am on constantly, so you guys should definitely follow me@artsyteenblog 🙂

 

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Henna Tattoo Tutorial

Posted on by maya

hey

So ever since I went to Dubai last year, I’ve become slightly obsessed with Henna (or Mehndi). For those of you who don’t know what Henna is, it’s a reddish-brown paste made from the leaves of the Henna plant, which has been used for thousands of years to make hair dye and temporary body art. In some cultures (especially in the Middle East and India), it is common for women to decorate their hands and feet with intricate henna designs during festivals, celebrations and weddings.

Basically, think of it as a tattoo without the commitment.

Obviously I’m in no way a professional henna tattoo artist, so if I can manage to make some simple designs, so can you!

NOTE: Nowadays, henna often contains chemicals. If you have sensitive skin, test a small bit of henna on your skin beforehand to make sure you don’t get an allergic reaction.
henna 11

What you need

  • Henna cone
  • tissue paper
  • sheet of card paper / cardboard

 

Methodhenna collage 1henna collage 2

  1. Henna dye is usually sold in cone-shaped tubes. To apply it, you simply cut off the tip of the cone and squeeze the paste onto your hand (a bit like piping icing onto a cake) to create a pretty pattern. Before decorating your hand, practice on a piece of paper until you can confidently create simple designs.
  2. If you want you can use my design, or you can try creating your own (google images provides plenty of other amazing examples). Just remember, if you mess up you can’t wipe it off!
  3.  Once you have applied the henna to your hand, leave it to dry. This might take a while, so if you’re impatient like me, wait about 10-15 minutes until most of it is dry, then carefully dab the rest off with some tissue paper.
  4. Once the henna is dry, wash it off with water and you will be left with a (slightly lighter) tattoo on your hand.
  5. The henna tattoo will last about a week, although according to my Mum (who is Indian, by the way), putting lemon juice on your henna will make it last longer.henna design