Naari – The Woman

Glass fish from a bangle

This post is special in more than one ways.

1. This is my first video post. Yeah, I am experimenting with a different media.

2. This is my first “how to” or “tutorial” post for any of the crafts. (If you count out the recipes of course). I’ve posted several of my own jewelry designs on A-mused-mind. But never got into the details of how I ended up making them.

So wish me luck.

This is something that Bhabhi taught me to do. Apparently they did do something like this in school days and weaved the fishes together into garlands. (Interesting na?)

When me and Princes Diya worked on her holiday homework, we ended up doing these fishes. (More about it here.)

Basically we created four types of fishes for her project.

Type 1 (Simple)	Type 2 (Intermediate)	Type 3 (Slightly Advanced)	Type 4 (It’s Different)

• Type 1 – Simple: Simply stick two pieces of bangles together to form a fish shape. Let the bangle pieces move over each other at the tail part. Color the insides. This is simple, but the result was little unstable. Specially at the crossing part near the tail. So adopted Bhabhi’s way. (Type 3)
• Type 2 – Intermediate: Stick the bangle piece. Roll a string of wool on your fingers to make it about 2 inches in length. Spread one side of this roll on the mouth of jelly fish and then cut the strands. Sticking one side and then cutting makes it real easy instead of sticking one piece at a time.
• Type 3 – Slightly Advanced: This fish, unlike type 1, is whole and holds nicely when stuck. Check out this video to see how you can do it yourself.

• Type 4 – Different: This one is not made from glass. It’s a metal bangle! Simply twist it gently to form a fish shape. Easy and really beautiful.

Some ideas where you can use it could be:

• A photo frame? Watch this space for I plan to post a tutorial on how to turn a box into a photo frame. You could always use fishes and shells to decorate it!
• Scrapbooking?
• Interweave type 3 fishes to form a garland? Or if you have plenty of these interweave the fishes together, decorate with some beads / shells and make a curtain for your window / door.
• Similarly you could make a wall-hanging or a wind-chime!

So, what are you waiting for? Start collecting pieces of bangles and get crafting!!!

Don’t forget to share your results with our readers out here.

Happy Fishing!

Share/Save

NTW on Mindful Meanderings

Meet another artsy-craftsy mom. Shruti, who has a nice little space at

.

She has an amazing collection of simple yet beautiful ideas for DIY art / craft projects.

Thanks Shruti for having me on the "Treasure from Trash" series for Underwater scenery made of waste material

So, next time you are at home wanting to DO something instead of watching TV, head to her site, grab an idea and set to work. Sometimes you can surprise yourself!

Share/Save

Holiday homework – underwater scenery made of waste material

Holiday homework – something most parents dread of.

Princess Diya had to create a scenery made from waste materials – old pencils, bangle pieces etc. I was a little worried about this one, to be honest. How do you get a four yr old to create so much as a drawing that looks like what its label says?

Then Diya visited Mahesana – my BIL’s place and was fascinated by the fish tank they have. She kept talking about it, describing it on and on – which gave me an idea. We would (re-)create the magic of a fish tank as an “Underwater scenery” for her school work.

And so we did. Glass bangles were twisted over a candle flame to become colorful fishes. Discarded string of wool helped design a jelly fish. Old pencils, crayons with a green tape became underwater plants. The result was really stunning – check out:

Moral of this story:

Holiday homework – something most parents dread of.

Need not be so if you turn if you turn it into a fun activity.

What do you think?

Update:
Learn how to make these fishes from this post:  Glass fish from a bangle

Share/Save