Diwali or Deepavali is a joyful celebration and many of its symbols - candles and lights, rangoli, flowers and fireworks - make ideal subjects for exploration with your children through crafts. I remember my Dida (maternal grandmother) making little clay diyas at home in the pre-angel light age. We used to have so much excitement in painting them and decorating the whole house with them. Thus as we decided to celebrate Diwali with Li'l K this year by getting him involved in some super fun crafting activities all I could think was my childhood memories with my Dida! So we finally decided to make little diyas from very simple ingredients available at home. My 19 months old had super fun time with us making them. Its easiest last minute activity for various age group of kids and there are several steps from clay modelling, coloring to decorating which they can participate and at the end have fun seeing the diya light up on Diwali. Before we get into the details lets wish you all a very wonderful Diwali and Kali Puja, if interested please visit our special Diwali Outfit blog here.

So lets go into the steps now:

Ingredients

• 1 cup All Purpose Flour or Atta
• 1/2 cup table salt
• Water as needed
• 1 tablespoon oil

Or you can use kids play-dough and simply skip all these ingredients for making the diya. For decorations you would need:

• Acrylic paint and brush
• Decorating items like bindi , stone stickers etc

Steps

• In case you are using the all purpose flour to make your diya, knead the flour and salt together with the water. As you make a soft dough, top it with some oil so that it remains smooth.
• Now make 2 inch diameter balls or bigger if you want larger diya.

• Shape each ball into dew shaped diya by pressing and shaping the center of the ball and tapering the end. Involve your kid for shaping them if they are older. K is pretty young to shape them but we gave him a ball to play with and so that he feels included in the whole process.

• Put the diya in 100 F pre-heated oven for at least 2 hrs. It would vary with the size of diya and how moist your dough is. Just check them and take them out when they dries up completely

Decoration 

If your kid is not interested in decor or you don't have much time, you can use the diya as it is. But decorating the diya is a lot of fun. 

• We used arcylic paint to color them. K was so interested in using different colors. Specially as he's starting to learn the names of them. f course at his age he won't be able to do a perfect job with them but then we did the finishing job for him.

• We used some stone bindis and stickers to decorate the diyas, they were so easy to pick and stick for my baby and he was super duper excited for this part. For older kids you can help them to draw different motifs on the diya or stick several sequin with glue. Depending on kids age and interest you can tweak this part.

Finally our diyas are ready for Diwali.

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The very concept of a saree made to look and drape like a lehenga was a complete hit not many years back. Experiments in draping styles of sarees have only helped improve the outreach of this beautiful timeless wear, as it has certainly got far more fans now who thought its boring and aging. It is in its flexibility of wearing styles which give the saree its firm place of superiority. It also needs to be accepted that lehenga for the snobbish crowd has slowly risen to the status of a garment that is as traditional and as loved. In fact lehengas have an unmatchable  popularity among younger generations thanks to Bollywood, it’s glamour and innovative crossover designs are most loved.

So what should one do who doesn't have many lehengas in stock (read me😕😞) and want to wear one on any special occasion? Can tweaking be possible? Of course!  Not only is it possible, but it has variations that you would love to try, giving your saree a look and drape of lehenga. We had shown a variation of lehenga saree drape in a previous post (click here to read). Here comes a completely new version of Lehenga saree for you.

Drape Story

The whole six yards of a bright fuschia cotton chanderi saree has been pleated on an underskirt. Each pleats are about 4 inches wide. Sanchita wore this same saree a couple of years back for Diwali(read it here). A mint green benarasi kurta makes the perfect contrast with the fuschia skirt. To brighten up the look even more a neon orange silk shawl has been placed on the shoulders. 

The Look

The whole outfit is very bright and is perfect for your Diwali celebrations or as a bridesmaid dress at any upcoming wedding. So to match the brightness of the outfit, its paired with a beautiful kundan peacock jhumka, a kundan coin necklace and a statement ring. The makeup is kept on the dewy side with bright lips.

Happy Diwali and Kali Puja to everyone celebrating!

Outfit details:

Saree was a gift from cousin on his wedding, bought from Adi Mohini Mohan Kanjilal, Kolkata, India

Kurta material bought from Geeta's, Hogg's Market, Kolkata, India

Silk shawl: Bought from local store in Chennai, India
Earring: Etsy

Ring: Amazon link here

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People say Bengalis have বারো মাসে তেরো পার্বণ simply meaning no dearth of festivities in a year. We love to enjoy be it in Durga Puja or Christmas. So as the Fall or Autumn as we call it in different poles of the world is upon us lets wish all of you a Happy Fall season. It’s that time of the year when the temperature is not soaring nor you’re freezing to death. Everyone loves to go out enjoy the soft sun and spend good time. This season has it’s own color and magic. Guess what it’s the perfect time to dress up with family and click good memories. So we thought for a SURPRISE post this week, a Fall outfit and photo tips blog. Anyhow people keep asking me how do i manage to click our baby with perfect timing (follow him on Instagram ). Although there's no secret behind it but I'll elaborate on what helps me to catch him in his best mood. Actually this is the first Fall li’l K will actually be getting to enjoy by himself,  he was too tiny to get it last time. So if you have tiny tot like mine and want to take some good fall pics with the family, this would be a helpful read for you. Let’s get started!

Get outdoors

For fall pics the first thing you have to do is to get out in the open and pick a location. We picked our yearly visit to pumpkin patch for photographing this fall. It gives the quintessential fall vibes and pumpkins presents vibrant backdrop. It was a wonderful afternoon with us enjoying to our best soaking in the little warmth the season has left to us. 

Pick a color or theme for outfit

If you want a good group or family pic, coordinating the outfits is so much fun and synchronizes the pics together well. It may be a specific color or print or material like leather or fur etc. Me and li’l K chose the classic plaids for the theme. It gives a warm cozy fall vibe. For a tip I prefer outfit colors anything but orange to avoid clash with the background. 

Be comfortable in your outfit 

When you choose your outfits for yourself and your tot make sure you make note of the weather and comfort too. They look season appropriate as wearing a summer dress in a pumpkin patch won't look that good. Wear comfy shoes as you might have to run around your little, carry them or march through the field. I wore my maternity plaid shirt with a black mid length skirt and brown suede boots. K wore a matching white and blue plaid shirt with denims and brown boots. So our outfits looked bright enough for the pics and was extremely comfy. For people in warmer weather can wear appropriate cotton shirt and ones in colder areas can pair up a black pea coat with a stylish hat. 

Pick a convenient time of the day

Pick a time according to your little one's schedule so that they are well fed and had good naps. Also if you want perfect natural lighting usually pro's suggest that sunlight around 4 PM is the best for outdoor photography. So well plan your day accordingly.

Carry a snack 

Its difficult to shoot with kids and all the more when they are "hangry" so carry some snacks and water with you

Hire a Photographer or Ask Your Helpful Husband 

Candid pics of kids don't come well with selfies or tripods. So ask your husband or a friend to take some pics or yif you want some professional photos to keep you can hire a photographer. As in my case my husband is very happy to click pics of us than to pose 😶😶 so he took these cute pics of us at the farm.

Let the kid be on his own

Kids won't know how to pose so let them be on their own and let them enjoy their time. Its more important for them to have fun outside. They need not necessarily look at the camera every time. So relax, they are the cutest anyway.

Outfit Details

Mommy shirt: Old Navy Maternity section

Mommy Skirt: Kohl's

Son Shirt: Carters

Son Denim : Carters

Heartiest greetings of Bijoya Dashami and Dussera to everyone who's celebrating the auspicious festival. In bengali mythology Bijoya Dashami marks the last  day of magnanimous Durga Puja celebration, Ma Durga's win over Mahisasur and the triumph of good over evil. Its the send off day when we our daughter Uma returns from her maiden home to be with husband Shiva. As we bid farewell, we wish her happiness by smearing sindoor or vermillon, feeding her sweet and water and wiping her face with our anchal. Its such a beautiful tradition where the Goddess is our daughter and we happily dance and celebrate her farewell to wait for another year for her homecoming.

Sindoor khela is thus a beautiful tradition where ladies of all cast, creed, color bond with each other in a festive mood and smear vermilion on each other. Here's a sneak peak into ours at Washington Kali Temple this evening. Although it is a Prabashi Pujo we try our best to stay close to our roots thus all the rituals are carried with utmost sincerity and excitement. 

 Outfit details

I tried to keep it as simple and traditional as I could. Paired my mother's red and white dhakai jamdani with this kantha frilled blouse and gold jewelries. There's nothing much to this look except very simple makeup with a big red bindi or tip which is quintessentially BONG.

Lots of Best Wishes from our home to yours and may Ma Durga bless with all her blessings and liht up your lives with happiness, smiles, dreams and hopes

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