Quilled christmas ornaments

Quilling, also called paper filigree, originated more than five hundred years ago; it involves rolling and combining strips of paper into highly detailed designs.
I made this snowflake ornament from six V-shaped strips of paper, curled at the ends with a quilling needle and joined with a dot of glue at the center.
Before working on the ornament, practice some quilling basics. Wind a strip of paper around the needle; it will form a tight curl. Play with the paper to stretch it back out to the shape you want. Try folding a strip in half and curling both ends in for a heart shape, or curl them out for a V shape. Quilling paper is easy to manipulate, but working with it is not an exact science: It takes some practice to make the same shape twice.

Tools and Materials
6 strips of quilling paper strips
Quilling needle
Craft glue
Metallic thread

1. Fold each strip of quilling paper so that one of the halves is about little longer than the other, and curl the ends. Repeat with five more strips.

2. On a flat surface, fit pieces together with their points in the center. Use small amount of glue to attach pieces together in pairs. Let glue dry, and attach a piece of metallic thread to hang ornament.

I hope you liked my quilled christmas ornaments! If you tried making them then click some bright pictures and send them to me at artchitrasutra@gmail.com

If you'd like to include the Chitrasutra button in your blog, grab the html code from underneath the Chitrasutra logo on the side bar to the right. To receive the latest posts, as well as updates, have CHITRASUTRA delivered right to your Inbox. You'll find a link to subscribe via Email on the sidebar to the right. Thanks for reading.... so glad you are here!

Painting Diyas for this Diwali

I bought my diyas from a road in Ameerpet, Hyderabad that has pottery lined up on the pavement on either side for diwali. As the diyas were kept on tables on the roadside, they were rather dusty.

So how do you paint a diya? What paint should you use?

Things you will need:



Soak the diyas in water for 15-30 minutes. Dry them in the sun or under a fan. This helps make them receptive to paint.

Choose acrylic or fabric paint in bright colors to paint the diyas and use a wide brush. Gold, crimson and other metallic colors are my favorites.
TIP: Try a bit of each color that you plan to use on the base of a diya. This way you can check how dark/light the paint will be and whether you can get an even coat on the terracotta. I tried out the different color combinations.
You can decorate the diyas with one or more colors. If you like solid color diyas, the best way to accent them is by adding a line of gold paint along the rim using a thin brush.
Dry the painted diyas for 3 to 4 hours.

BRING ON THE BLING!
Stick tiny mirrors, zari thread, small shells, sequins, beads or glitter on the diyas to pack a decorative punch.
I hope you liked my painted diyas! If you tried making them then click some bright pictures and send them to me at artchitrasutra@gmail.com

You can also go through my previous posts for Diwali:
Reusable Rangoli
CD Sparkles!
Torans for Diwali

If you'd like to include the Chitrasutra button in your blog, grab the html code from underneath the Chitrasutra logo on the side bar to the right. To receive the latest posts, as well as updates, have CHITRASUTRA delivered right to your Inbox. You'll find a link to subscribe via Email on the sidebar to the right. Thanks for reading.... so glad you are here!