How to make bows and flowers from old newspapers

Method 1 - Paper flower

1. Cut 8 sheets of paper.


2. Stack the sheets and start folding like a fan.


3. Secure the center with a rubber band or cello tape.


4. Now slowly and carefully separate the each layer of sheet one by one.

1. Take two sheets of papers (15cmx10cm).


2. Fold them into half and make fringes using scissors.


3. Roll it into a fringed flower.


4. Make 4-6 flowers and glue them into the center.


5. Your paper flower is ready. You can also use colored paper to make this flower.

Method 2 – Paper Bows

1. Using the colored portion of advertisements, cut 8 strips of paper, 5 inches long and half an inch wide.


2. Fold them halfway and only stick the ends. Make 8 such loops or petals.


3. Now stick them or staple them together. First stick 4 together like a '+' sign and then glue the remaining 4 diagonally.


4. Stick a mirror, bindi, button or any other embellishment in the center.

1. Again, using the colored portion of advertisements cut 6 strips of paper, 5 inches long and half an inch wide.


2. This time twist each strip to form a loop at both ends and staple it in the center. Make 6 such loops or petals.


3. Now stick them or staple them together.


4. Stick a mirror, bindi, button or any other embellishment in the center.

Tip: You can also make multiple layers for the bows.

Wrap it up!

Did you just realize that you ran out of wrapping paper!! Well, look around…..Newspapers make really great gift wrappers. Add in a few embellishments like old bows, laces, buttons etc. and you can have a fabulous gift wrap! You can also personalize them by using different pages. For example, use the sports section for someone who loves sports, or the fashion section for women, etc.

Here are four exciting ways to wrap up your presents. All you need is sheets of newspaper and scissors.

1. 
   
   Wrap the gift with a newspaper. Cut the comic section and overlap again. Or use the comic section to wrap up the present. It's perfect for kids' gifts. They look fun, colorful and exciting.
   
   

   

   
   


2. 
   
   Use the white colored newspaper to wrap the gift. Then make a flower out of the pink sheet (finance or economics page) and stick it on the top. Or you could also use colored paper to make the flower. Tutorial here.
   
   

   

   
   


3. 
   
   Cut strips of paper using the colored advertisement part of the newspaper. Use these to make bows and flowers. Tutorial here.
   
   

   

   
   


4. 
   
   Again, use the colored part of the paper and cut shape of flower in sizes, small to large. Stick it over each other. Glue a small mirror, button, bindi or any other decorative piece in the center. Add a ribbon and place it like this.
   
   

   

   
   

    

   
   

   Not only do you have free gift paper but it is also creative, fun and environment friendly!

   
   

Spring onion flowers

This creative idea of making flowers using Spring onions was taken from a magazine. It is really an attractive way of presenting spring onions for salad.

You will need:

A bunch of fresh and firm spring onions and a sharp knife

Step 1: Wash the spring onions and separate the stalks from the onion bulbs.

Step 2: Cut the onion half way deep. First make cross (+) cuts and then cut again diagonally(x).

Step 3: Drop the cut onion bulbs into cold iced water for about half an hour. The ends will spring out into circular fringes or 'flowers'

Use the stalks as leaves and arrange the flowers into a small wine glass or any other base of your choice.

You can now place this Spring onion Ikebana on your serving counter or dining table!

Color Basics

Before you get bitten by the creative bug, I thought a little knowledge on colors would help.

Let's begin with the Color wheel. The color wheel is designed so that virtually any colors you pick from it will look good together. The color wheel is made up of twelve colors.

Primary colors: Red, Yellow and Blue

Primary colors are pure colors which cannot be created by mixing any other colors.

Secondary colors: Orange, Green and Violet

Secondary colors lie between the primary colors on the color wheel.

Tertiary colors: Blue-violet; Red-violet; Red-orange; Yellow-orange; Yellow-green; and Blue-green

Tertiary colors are created by mixing a primary and a secondary color.

Neutral colors: Black, white and gray

Using black and white with a color makes many more colors.

Tint – Tint are lightened colors. Add color to white to get a tint.

Shade – Shades are darkened colors. Add black to the color to get a shade.

A Combination of colors is called a Color scheme.

Warm color scheme: Red, Orange and Yellow. Colors found on right side of the wheel from Red to Yellow-green.

Cool Color scheme: Violet, Blue and Green. Colors found on left side of the wheel from Red-violet to Green.

Complementary or Opposite colors: Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are considered to be complementary colors. Red-Green, Blue-Orange and Violet-Yellow

Hope this helps you in choosing colors for your home décor, clothing, accessories, art, craft etc. Although these are just basics of color, you can create and try many more variations. Be creative and have fun!

Vegetable Printing

This was probably discovered by someone who hated eating vegetables!!! Vegetable printing is a fun activity. Different types of vegetables are used to create prints. It's especially fun doing it with kids! With summer vacations round the corner, this goes out to all mommies as it's going to be quite a task keeping the kids busy.

Materials required:

• Vegetables - Potatoes, okra or ladies finger, French bean, capsicum, bitter gourd (karela) etc. (Come on…let the creative bug bite you…you can think of more!!)


• Paint – Fabric colors or poster colors


• Knife


• Brush


• Paper or fabric

Method:

1. 
   
   Cut the vegetables horizontally, vertically or crosswise.


2. 
   
   Apply paint to the cut surface using brush.
   
   

   

   
   

    

   
   


3. 
   
   Turn the painted side of the vegetable down onto the paper or fabric.
   
   

   

   
   


4. 
   
   Press lightly and remove.
   
   

   

   
   

You can create different designs by using the vegetable imprint. For example, horizontally cut okra, capsicum or bitter gourd can be used to make flowers. French bean or vertically cut okra can be used as leaves. For the potato, you need to cut it into half and then carve a design. Use this to create the imprint. You can use different colors to make your creations more attractive.

Tip: Always wipe off any extra paint to get clear prints.

Vegetable prints are best used to create designs on handkerchiefs, table napkins, t-shirts, greeting cards etc. Kids can gift someone their own creations!

Warli and me

School vacations were always fun. Every summer I joined some creative class and had fun doing those projects. During one such vacation I was introduced to this wonderful art called 'Warli'.

Warli is one of the largest tribe found on the northern outskirts of Mumbai. This tribal art is simple and mainly uses shapes like circle, triangle, dots and lines. White color is mostly used for these paintings and background is almost always earthen since they are mainly created on mud walls of tribal houses. Warli paintings mostly depict social life, animals, trees, people and occasions. I think simplicity is what has made Warli art so famous. No handicraft exhibition is complete without a stall displaying Warli Art. What fascinates me most about Warli is that it is simple yet so attractive. Over the years it has been done on various mediums and many artists have used different color schemes. This is what I have tried:

PAPER (gift envelopes, Greeting cards)

FABRIC (Bag)

CERAMIC (Pots)

And once when the creative bug bit me, I even tried it on one of my doors at home!

In spite being a tribal art, Warli paintings have continued to exist in the modern era and their popularity increases day by day. Since it's not very complicated you must give it a try!

Best out of Waste

Like all the countless women out there, I am constantly fighting the 'Battle of Bulge'. Why is it that we gain weight so fast and losing it takes forever! On my way to morning walk a few days back (I follow a five-day-week….weekends are off:-D), I noticed a fellow resident in my apartment had left a wooden piece of furniture in the stairway. At first day I thought how could someone just leave unwanted stuff like that and not dispose it the right way? But then maybe it was left for the house-keeping guys and they would eventually take it away. The second day it was still lying there. And the third day too…! By fourth day, the creative bug had finally bitten me. So this is what I did…

1. I got it home!! Wiped off the dust and made it clean.


2. I then coated it with brown paint.


3. I wanted to get real plants, but wasn't able to find any nursery nearby. So I went and bought some artificial potted plants.


4. And now it stands at the entrance of my main door!

And this is how it looks!

I can keep changing the display. Real plants will look great too. I have a set of terracotta pots which I can arrange on some days. Maybe in Diwali I will keep some diyas. Oh what fun I had doing this! And my lovely neighbors appreciated it too!

What joy! But sigh…tomorrow on my way to morning walk, all I will think of again is my WEIGHT!!