Love Birds String Art

There were only 2 things that always came to my mind when someone said Love Birds

1. My mom singing this age-old tamizh song everytime we play anthakshari and she gets stuck with the letter 'l' to start her next song

2. The 1996 ARR album that had a few gems !

This weekend, after spending hours on Pinterest and Etsy - I have a third item that will come to mind when someone says Love Birds. This one -

Love Birds String Art

What you need - Spare plywood, Strings, Nails and a Hammer.

The original idea - http://www.pinterest.com/pin/198791771027487898/
"Pinspired" has got to become a real word and get added to the oxford dictionary soon.

Here's a step by step on the DIY process

Step 1 - Draw out your idea on a magazine paper and cut it out. Use a pencil, and draw a light outline on the wood. Use nails ( 3/4" ) and a hammer to pin the outline on the wood. Make sure that the nails are level (more or less)

Step 2 - The outline looks as below. I tried to keep the nails about 1 cm apart from each other so that the outline is clear and the shape is visible.

Step 3 - Use a twine / rope or string that will wind around nails easily to begin your string art.
Start at one of the nails and tie a simple knot to hold your twine in position. Then, start wrapping it around nails one by one to make your outline. Make sure to push the string down to the bottom of the nail to allow room to the nail head.

 

Step 4 - Continue winding to make intricate patterns as you please. It was quite therapeutic to wind this string from corner to corner and see the patterns create themselves. If you are not happy with what you weaved, retracing your steps and redoing it is quite simple - just wind back in reverse! Once done, put a fine know around one of the nails and tuck the loose end into the weave.

This way, you can create your own simple, mess free String Art !

Put those old cabinet doors to good use now, will you?

Golu Padi | Navrathri Steps

Navrathri or Golu brings back very special memories from my childhood. A festival that spans 9 days, with friends & family making it a point to visit each other , displaying dolls that have been handed down generations and setting the space to a theme. Add to that the little gifts for all guests and delicious 'sundal' every evening. Ah, it's beautiful.

The men are tasked with climbing up the attic & picking out the dolls from locked away trunks that come alive every season. 

The dolls are to be displayed in a shelf with odd number of steps (3/5/7/9 etc...) Back home (home is Chennai, India) one has the luxury of using steel frames that can be screwed in to position. I remember being my dad's little handy girl & slowly graduating to his apprentice over the years. I have to give him a lot of credit for not stereo typing the role of the woman and disregarding the occasional remark from my old fashioned grandmother that would go something like 'pon kozhandhai ta en sutheel kudukareL?' (Why hand a hammer to a girl child?).

Anyhow, appa dearest taught me to use the tools n made me take pride in building things. I enjoy woodwork, handy girl jobs & doing odd jobs around the house. 

Now, in our new home I have enough space in the garage and a workbench to take on bigger projects. Thus came along my fall project - the 5 step golu padi!

Here's what it entails

In one trip to Home Depot, get

1. 5 step stair stringer (2), ensure it's level when you buy ( pocket spirit level helps)

2. 2x2x8 furring rod cut in four to measure up to the height of the stair's 5th step & 3rd step

3. Two/Three Wood planks cut to make horizontal support bars, cut length to be as wide as you want your steps. Make sure they can get it through the main door after assembly

4. Wood board cut to size to place on stairs to make the 5 steps

5. Cordless drill. I have black & decker.

6. 3 inch nails & a suitable drill bit

7. Spirit Level

To start, find a place where the ground is level. As first step - fix the furring rod legs to either side of stair stringer.

Use 2 screws to attach the pole to the top edge of the step. Understand that the pole needs to be flush to the top so that your plank can sit without wobbling or the need to be screwed in place.

Similarly fit it flush to the side.

Tip : I found it easier to drill a small but deep hole to mark my position n then drill the nail through. It gets easier after the first trial.

Repeat the same for the other side so both legs are attached to the inside edge.

Next, find a way to balance these legs and begin attaching the horizontal board to determine width of step

I had decided on 32" so it fits comfortably through my main door. I leaned one side on the wall, n the other on a cardboard box as below n screwed the horizontal board in place.

I drove the nails from behind into the furring rod. 

Beginner's error : the 3 inch screw was too long for this combination of board n rod. But it was workable as the tip of the screw is on the inside.

Once this is done. Repeat for the bottom stair to provide base support

Now you can remove the cardboard box n the frame will stand by itself. You can test to check how sturdy the stairs are, n provide additional leg support from the third step if required. I was prepared to do it, but didn't seem necessary.

Place pre-cut planks on top n voila, your own customized golu padi is ready!

 

Simply dismantle the stairs by unscrewing the 2 support boards. That collapses the construction to store and reuse next year.

It's really simple n just about anyone with a basic vision can achieve it. I'd say - if you can assemble ikea furniture - you can build your own steps.

Feeling Blue

Blue is the dominant color in my wardrobe. They go well with whites, blacks, greys & yellow. It makes sense to even pair a denim blue with a sky blue. 

I never understood the well accepted 'girls are pink' and 'boys are blue' notion. Recently, I came across this video that makes a hard hitting point.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-truth-behind-mens-body-wash-and-womens-body-wash-will-make-you-feel-dirty?c=ufb1

Anyhow. I love blue, and if I could design something someday - it would be a short cap-sleeved v-neck free flowing summer dress in the prettiest of them blues!

Remembering Old San Juan

In Spring 2012, in advance of our wedding anniversary - S&I decided to explore Puerto Rico by ourselves. S did much of the planning & logistics, and I sat back and enjoyed every little thing he had planned for us. It was beautiful. 

Old San Juan was one of the first spots we visited... Cobblestone streets so narrow that cars had so little wriggle room. Roads would intersect at 6 way junctions.. Coffee shops spilled onto the streets, every third shop was a flea market and tender coconut vendors were aplenty! Every street was lined with colorful houses equipped with a mock balcony that had flowering plants in full bloom. It was surreal and so bloody beautiful.

We loaded up on plantains and pina coladas. Swam with the fish and touched mini coral reefs... Kayaked through dense mangroves past sunset and spent the night under the moonlit skies amidst bio luminous algae ! Ah, what a trip!

It's been a few years since the trip, but the memories are top of mind. So I put it onto a canvas as best as I could - here's something to remember that by. 

Remembering Old San Juan...

Oil & Acrylic on canvas.

Designs - Peplums & Ankle Jean

Doodles & sketches of fashion figures are two things that framed every notebook I ever owned. There was something so liberating about drawing elongated necks and narrow waist lines - I can't quite explain it. A small stroke in the right angle can make that sketch infinitely more pretty. I spent years yearning to be a designer of some sort.

Fast forward a few years, I did engineering and loved Engineering Graphics. I did a course in Print & Audio visual advertising and absolutely enjoyed doing it. I dabbled in Analytics and found my passion. I work at the junction where Fashion meets Math, where art does a tango with the sciences. And I love it.

Enough about me, and here's one of my first sketches that wasn't in a science notebook.

I learnt how to create the depth effect for the peplum top and happy with my reproduction !

In search of water

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts, and/or demonstrating an art.

That's wiki's definition of the word 'Artist'. As a child growing up in a school the encouraged the arts as much as it emphasized the sciences - I feel incredibly blessed to have had parents that let me find myself through experiments.

There was a period between grades 4 and 7 when I attended more classes than I had the time for. Veena, Classical Music, Art, Piano, Sanskrit and Bharatanatyam. That's 6 classes in a 7 day week. You can do the math.

Was I burnt out? May be a bit. But this variety made me a half assed artist in all but dance. I went on to take dance more seriously, and was performing fairly regularly (until I relocated to the US). As much as I like perfection in dance, I enjoy seeking it in the other art forms. Every time I pull a canvas out - I have a vision which doesn't quite translate the exact same way. I fight with impatience, disappointment and the lack of technique to take something to completion.

But the moment I finish one, I am longing to do the next. May be - that quality should be what defines an artist.

Here's a look at one of my firsts

Amateurish - yet my husbands favorite of all my canvases.

Frames

No family can have too many frames! It's kind of sad that in this digital era - not many people print pictures anymore. 

I still remember how all my childhood pictures, every summer vacation, every event was filed away as individual albums  that filled two entire chests of drawers. 

While that is no longer the case, every house has plenty of frames lying around. It's the most common gift item, the easiest decorative element. Just change the frame and build a new look !

Keeping with that theme - I hand painted a couple of frames that I purchased for under $3 from Michael's clearance aisle. 

I used oil n let them dry. I ve had these for 2 years now and the color is as bright as it was on day 1. Step by step pics below -

 

Summer Spice

I write this after napping for 5 hours on a Sunday afternoon. Afternoon naps are side effects of partying too hard and staying hydrated on tequila drinks!

We just had our first summer party in the new home. Hosting a crowd of fun loving, sweet and creative friends dressed as B/Kollywood characters is so much fun. To say the truth, I was a bit skeptical about a dress up party.. I wasn't sure if I was paining the guests or if it would be something that folks actually enjoy. Turned out - I had nothing to be worried about !!

No party is complete without some fresh cocktails and plenty of beer / whiskey and wine! Here's a recipe to something I made - Summer Spice. This is a fresh juice cocktail made with watermelons and jalapeno's!  

Chop up watermelon to yield 8 cups of watermelon juice

Side note: Cuisinart hand-blender is an amazing invention ! Blend and wash just the blade attachment.

 Strain using a strainer to remove pulp and seeds. Chop up the jalapenos thinly. I used 2 jalapenos.

 Mix the following:
8 cups watermelon juice
1.5 cups of silver tequila
0.5 cups of triple-sec or any orange liquor
0.25 cups of simple syrup
0.5 cups of fresh squeezed lime juice

Stir and serve !

Conserve Water ! Have a Margarita instead :)

Maangai (Mango)

Leaving your home town makes you miss many things dearly.

Like the fragrance from a bundle of jasmine flowers.

Like the crisply folded silk saris that fill up your closet space

Like the crowded bazaar with brightly colored bangles and savvy business boys vying to get your attention!

What I miss most is nominally priced beautiful & intricate ethnic art, furniture, curtains & carpets ! 

Something to make my home mimic a memory that grows stronger as time passes me by. So, I made up my mind. To source what I need and make the rest myself!

Here's the first of many to come. 

The evergreen maangai design in my most favorite colors. Easy to do 3 part canvas wall art.

What you need

Stencil (design of your choice)

Acrylic paint

Canvas (pre frames)

Brush & Sponge

Paint over the canvas in a color of your choice. Mix colors if you prefer. Air Dry, and then place stencil on top. Use sponge / brush to paint the stencil design using an acrylic color that contrasts with the base you chose for the canvas.

Get creative & design as you please. Air Dry, and voila! You are done.

Patio Signs

The sun is out and so are the patio furnitures. All the plants are in full bloom and looking green and healthy. Yet, the patio was missing some element of quirk. It was craving some interesting visual elements that said something about who we are and what we do in the patio.

After hours of thinking about it, and pinteresting for ideas - I landed on the perfect caption. Short & so us - 

"It's 5 o'clock somewhere!"

Grabbed a piece of wood, painted with outdoor acrylic. An easy squiggly art with tube caps (from Michaels) and the borrowed caption complete it. Hung from the fence with simple ropes & knots (similar to the ledge but with two suspension points) makes for a very attractive focal point in our patio!

And she winks at herself looking into a blue blue mirror.

She was so damn pretty.

Floating Ledges

Ever purchased a pair of floating ledges from Bed Bath & Beyond?Paid $35+ bucks?

Struggled with a spirit level? Had difficulty measuring the distance required between the two hidden screws to make the ledge float?Unhappy with the colors they came in?

Lastly, did they make ugly scratch marks on your wall?

If your answers were 'yes' but you shook your head in disappointment the whole time - read on...

You can easily make a colorful & easy to hang floating ledge with an investment of $5 or less!

I had these tiny plants that needed a space on our patio fence. In clearing out our garage - I found the perfect sized wooden plank behind the back wall. I picked up some outdoor acrylic paint from Michaels, and a roll of rope from the Dollar Store totalling to $4.

Pick up a cordless drill if you have one (if not definitely invest in one). If you aren't ready to make that plunge - simply drive to your local home-hardware store (Home Depot/Lowes) and have them drill 4 holes (one in each corner) using a 3/4" drill bit. This is the right sized hole to let a rope through.

Paint over the plank in a color / design of your choice. Let it air dry.

I used the ledges to hang over a fence - so I took two strings of the rope (of equal length). 
Take one end and put a knot at the bottom of the ledge, let the rope through the farther hole, over the fence and around a bar... Then take it down through the other hole to put a knot & hold in place.

Now that you have one side of the ledge secure, repeat for the other side with the other piece of rope and adjust level to make sure the plank does not tilt & is secure in it's place.

That's it - and you have your very own floating ledge!

Tool Tip : I own a black & decker cordless drill. It comes in a box, with 5 drill bits & 2 back up batteries and a charger. Perfect for odd jobs around the house!

Painted Pots

You can guess from my social feed that I spend an awful lot of time in my patio garden. My container garden is a hobby turned into obsession. One where I try to reduce waste & recycle.

Here's one such project. 

Mehendi designs from my childhood (henna art) came in handy as I started to paint the plastic pot.

The tube caps (available @ Michaels) are a wonderful investment. They fit any 2 oz paint bottle and make line drawing extremely easy!

Garden Series : Methi

Garden Series : Methi

Methi (Fenugreek) is sort of like beer. It's the acquired taste category of food. A little bitter, but so flavorful when used in the right proportion with certain dishes. Growing it is so simple that I would rebrand this as a beginner's herb. One has to try really really hard to fail in an attempt to grow these.

Pot/Seed
Take a shallow pot, and sprinkle a handful of methi/fenugreek seeds on the soil (avoid overcrowding of seeds in patches).

Sun
Place the pot indoor by a window sil, or outside in bright light. The plant does not require direct sun.

Water
Water enough to keep the soil moist at all times. The seeds should sproud and you should see tiny grass like plants fight their way through the top layer of soil and stand tall.

Harvest
The plants mature in 7-8 days after iniital sprout appears. Wait in terms of days or until the leaves appear circular in shape. The first leaves are tiny, and they mature over time. The tiny leaves can be harvested as well - but tend to be more bitter than the fully mature plant.

Good luck!

Garden Series: Cilantro

Garden Series: Cilantro

Indian cuisine feels like its missing salt when it misses this herb. Cilantro, with its tender green leaves and wonderful aroma makes for tasty meals and beautiful focal points for pictures on food blogs! Here's how you grow it in your backyard / in pots.

Take a small pot; small is key here. Cilantro does better when you keep pruning it for daily use rather than leaving it remain in it's pot for long periods of time. If you do leave it, it's going to turn to flower and then to seed.

Pot Size & Seeds

Sow cilantro seeds directly in soil 1/2 inch below soil level. Alternately - you can soak seeds in water overnight and sow them the next day in soil. The internet also suggests cracking the seeds open, rubbing them against a floor before planting etc... but the first two options have always worked for me.

Sun

Knowing how much sun is too much sun is key if you want to flaunt a green thumb. Most plants do very well with beginner experimentation and some simply refuse to cooperate. Cilantro is inbetween.

Position the pots West / North West facing, in a warm spot where there is sun light but no direct sun.

Water

Until the plants sprout, water regularly. This can take a few weeks when you are starting up. Once the plant is established; water once every few days allowing the soil to go dry inbetween watering sessions. This is done to prevent flies and pests from swarming around your plants.

Weed or Cilantro?

As Cilantro sprouts from seed - it looks dangerously similar to weeds. Most beginners are peeking at their pots multiple times in a day that they see weed when they see baby cilantro and promptly pluck it out of the soil. Do not do that! Please see below images of baby cilantro from seed and a grown plant.

Good luck growing yours!

Garden Series : Mint

Herb Garden Series : Mint

Mint is one herb that can immediately make a world of difference to any dish you are whipping up in the kitchen. Be it a drink for the cocktail hour, or a main course item. That said, buying a bunch of mint leaves from the local store costs you a bit much when all you need is a few sprigs.

The option? Grow it yourself!

Mint is such a hardy plant - that with little to no effort you can have a mint bush right in your backyard / window sil.

The easiest way is to start with a sapling that is store bought. Ones from big giant stores like home depot work just as well as nursery bought ones. Your investment starts and ends at $3.

Quick Pointers

Keep them in an area where there is sunlight (does not require direct sun)
Water every few days to keep soil moist
Snip away leaves as you need them and watch that branch grow into two
Trim regularly to keep the plant from bolting
Bring indoors during winter and keep under plant light. Water minimally.

Tested & Proved - even if your plant loses all its leaves and looks bare, don't lose hope. With some TLC, it will be back to being healthy in no time!





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Baked Beets with Lemon Butter Sauce

Growing up, my home took the modern/western approach to cooking. Effortless cooking was the norm and that meant less prep work. As a result vegetables like beetroot that required peeling and were hard to chop were rarely on the weekday menu.

After spending several years in hostel, away from home and with my health freak hub S - the variety of veggies I take in has sky rocketed. Now, managing a full time job with a 2 hour commute each way - I can hardly get time to exercise. So the only thing I do is eat healthy and eat right. That means having home cooked meals most of the times, cooking fresh vegetables, going colorful and finding time to do all this!

There are days, when I stick to the simple melagu rasam to wash down the stomach and breathe easy, and other days that are one pot meals and subjis with a truck load of vegetables. On days with bad commutes or days when I just need to do something mindlessly to unwind - I pick up vegetables like beets.

Here's my quick hack at delicious beets -

Listen to never-before-heard songs and peel and chop beets into discs. Toss them in a bowl with melted butter, salt and pepper and place in a baking pan/tray over aluminum foil. Bake at 350F for 20 mins or until tender, remove promptly and serve hot. These can be had as appetizers or snacks, and taste yummier with a side of lemon butter sauce (nothing fancy, just whisk salted butter and few drops of lemon juice together)

The beets simply crumble & melt in your mouth, leaving you wanting more!

Roasted Garlic & Butternut Squash Soup

Having family over is a great thing!

But when your family comprises of amazing cooks – it can only mean one thing for the long-ignored unfit body. I won’t elaborate – but 3 weeks of elaborate treats and thanksgiving like meals calls for soup week!

S and I made this soup yesterday, and hope to continue to 'wing' it in the kitchen and create fun soups for dinner!

1-2 Garlic pods finely diced

3/4^th of a Big Yellow Onion finely diced

1 Butternut Squash cubed

1 oz unsalted butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tsp Sage

2 tsp Red Chilli Powder

1 tsp Kitchen King Masala

2 cups Vegetable Stock

1 cup Water

Pumpkin Seeds (optional)

·         Preheat the oven to 425F and prepare a pan with aluminum foil

·         Melt 0.5 oz butter in a large pan and toss the cubed butternut squash pieces in the butter to coat them mildly. Transfer to prepared pan and sprinkle salt and pepper and place in the oven for 20 minutes (or until pieces are soft and emit a nice aroma)

·         In a large saucepan melt the remaining butter, and roast the garlic and onions until brown

·         Add the roasted butternut squash once done; and mix in all the spices and let it sweat for a few minutes

·         Add veg stock and water and allow the contents to boil. You may mash the squash with a ladle as it becomes tender.

·         Allow to cool mildly and use a hand mixer or blender to puree. Add water if you like the soup to be thinner in consistency

·         Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and enjoy with a garlic toast!