I was tired of Cub‘s boring white canvas shoes.
So I decided to give it a new look. It took some acrylic paints, brushes and some imagination to turn them around. Check for yourself what I could achieve. Cub loved the new look too. 
And the side view to show some shading
Hope you guys like the transformation Next time I might try some funky design.
Take good care of yourself and be safe.
Love,
Sakhi
Today is 14th Feb and it is a day of Love. I feel everyday is for love but I know Cub is super excited about today. So once she went to school I thought of a surprise for her. I had exactly 15 minutes. This is what I came up with…
This is how the card would look like once opened
I am sure she would make something too. If she does it goes on her blog.
For now, I sincerely hope she loves this small surprise
Now have to rush to office… ta da for now!
And hey, Wish YOU a very happy Valentine’s day
<3 <3 <3
Sakhi
A fortnight ago I came across the following video on you-tube. I HAD to try it but got a little busy. But Anu did it and I loved the results. You can check her pillow here.
So here I go…
First my old tee shirt
As the video says, I could have used the stuffing but I had a pillow at home which needed a new cover. So I chose to use it instead. Also my pillow is a square one instead of a round one. The first thing I did was to measure the size of the pillow and made the marking on the tee with the fabric chalk.
Next, the cutting… Remember to cut is at least a couple of inches away from your earlier marking.
Next I cut the strips, about 3/4th inch wide…
I went on and cut at all the sides. It looked like this…
Next was to tie knots between the strips of upper and lower layers or your tee so that finally it will become a pouch to hold the pillow.
Once two sides were done, I added my pillow and went on tying the knots again…
Check for your self how my “gifted” pillow looked like!
I am pretty pleased with the results.
What say guys???
P.S. Cub thought I was a genius until I told her where I got this idea from!! 
It was hubby’s birthday a few days back and I was a little confused as to what to gift him. Then a brilliant (!) idea struck me and I bought him 500 pieces Jigsaw puzzle (I wanted to buy 1000 pieces one, but sadly that store did not have it!! 
). Dear hubby worked on it laboriously for almost four day (minus a few hours, hee hee…) and could accomplish the task.
Symbol of love was completed with a lot of labour of love
My BIL came to Bangalore yesterday and he said that I have got a parcel from my SIL. I was surprised to hear that since I had not asked for anything from her.
The box was all tapped with “Fragile” tags… I got even more curious as to what can this big box contain. I opened it with enthusiasm of a child and woila, what do I find inside!!!
I had passingly mentioned to SIL when she has last visited us that I wanted some kind of tea- glasses with stand (routinely used at the roadside tea stall in India) and I was unable to find it in Bangalore (or probably I was not searching at the right places). I had resigned to the fact that I might not find it here. But she had not forgotten about it and she searched and searched and finally got it for me and sent it from Mumbai. I was thrilled to see what I wanted for so long…
Ah… what a beauty! It will be fun to have and serve some awesome “adarakhwali chai” (ginger tea) in this cold weather.
Thank you soooooooooo much Seju for this lovely and thoughtful gift. I cannot tell you enough how I have loved it
And guys, this was not enough. There was something else too in that box…
A beautyful cloth bag with some small gift for cub. SIL’s daughter had sent a birthday gift for Cub… What a cute penstand with a cute handmade doll… as cute as herself. Thank you so much sweetheart
I am just so happy to get this super surprise gift and so is cub… Thanks again
What say guys???
Love,
Sakhi
Today, i.e. 14th November, is celebrated as “Children’s Day” in India. When I woke cub up today morning, she was a little upset with me as I forgot to wish her. So I made something for her out of up-cycled paper. hope she likes it.
Happy Children's Day, Cub
Today I and cub had some time and also had my neice over, so we thought to make some handmade paper sheets from newspapers. Let’s see how we made it.
Materials used:
Method:
We started with shredding the newspapers into small pieces and then soaking them in water for three hours. Once the paper pieces were soft, we mashed them to pulp in the paper masher. You can use mixer grinder for the same purpose (I use paper masher as it doesn’t require electricity and hence, children can use them on their own without adult supervision).
After we pulped the paper, we made thin layer of this pulp on the deckle net and let the extra water drip out. We also decorated these sheets with flowers and leaves before pressing the sheets.
Once done, we put the sheets under the roller to squeez out excess water. Then these sheets were placed on old bath towel to dry them further. Once they were dry enough, we placed them between other newspaper sheets and put heavy books on top of it to flatten the sheets out.
What say guys, you like the end product?
These sheets can be used as greeting card or as keepsake or memorablia Hope you enjoyed this tutorial
Love,
Sakhi
Got a light blue shadow work material as a gift from hubby recently (he bought it from Lucknow) and I got it stitched ASAP. When I saw the final product I felt that the neckline looked a little drab. So got hold of some beads and tried to make some difference to the neckline. See for yourself…
Before
After
I liked the result. And you?
Cub wanted to tie n dye a tee shirt for herself but I was a bit skeptical for her to use traditional methods which use boiling of dyes. Hence, we both tried tie n dye with acrylic paints.
Materials used:
Method:
First dip the tee shirt into the water and wring it dry. This will help in gripping the paints when applied. Once done, lay it flat on the plastic sheet that you have used to cover the working space. Now, pinch the t-shirt with from the center and swirl it as shown in the picture no. 2. Complete the swirl and it will look like a flat pan cake (picture no. 3). Now, apply rubber bands to hold this swirl in place (Picture no. 4). Also, these rubber bands would not allow the colour to be taken on the fabric (i.e. it will resist the colour). once done, apply acrylic colours (a little runny so that it will be soaked up by the fabric). Use whichever shades you like, we have used the primary colours. Once done, let the pan-cake to dry for a few hours. Remove the rubber band and see how the pattern has come out.
And this is how it turned out. More brighter colours would have been better, I guess. But cub was happy with even this.
That’s all for now. Ciao till the next post. Take care and be safe
Love,
Sakhi
Yesterday was my best friend’s birthday and I was at loss as what to gift him. So me and Cub tried our hands on handmade, gel wax candles. Following is the photo-diary of our efforts. Hope Swaps like it…
1. The materials used… empty small glasses, assorted shells, some rangoli colours, some glitter, wicks and gel wax
2. Get the glasses ready with embelishments… (tip: don’t forget to put wick at this stage)
3. Melting wax over double broiler…
4. Pour the melted wax in the ready glasses… and voila, it’s ready!
(tip: you can change the colour of the wax by adding some shavings of wax crayons of your colour choice)
So, guys that was what presented to moi best friend.
Once again, Happy birthday Swaps
