I Am Out with "Lanterns" Looking for Myself

"A lantern can give you light only when you light it!"

I have always been averse to the idea of reusing old jars of jam, pickle, sauces etc and much against the wishes of my mother, have ensured it is discarded no sooner it become free of its original content. Hence it was a shock of sorts when i found a bag full of empty bottles and jars, during a Deep-Cleaning session. This supposedly was being collected behind my back, since some time. 

Suppressing my rage I instead came up with some creative usage of these jars and my next few blogs will be giving you a glimpse of the same.

This DIY is all about how to easily stain the jars (no baking at 200 degree centigrade et al needed!) and make some interesting lanterns out of them.

To begin, I ensured the jars were clean and dry, having no trace of its original content, or labels on it. I stained the glasses using a super easy method. Just poured few drops of solvent based glass colour in the jars and rolled the jar gently, till every portion of it was stained. Do avoid any air bubbles in the process. Once done, I placed them upside down on old newspaper, for the colour to drain out.

This may require few turns of shifting to new position, for the  excess colour to drain out completely. Figure 1 shows the various stages of staining the jars.

Figure 1

Once the jars are stained draw some patterns on the surface using outliners. I chose a gold outliner for some free hand drawing [Figure 2]. It would have been easier and better if I had drawn the designs on paper before going ahead with  it but then I have little patience for such meticulous planning! If you are good with Henna application, you can just draw your favourite Arabic Mehendi-pattern on the stained jars and you would have the most beautiful Moroccan Lamps ready!

Figure 2

I let the jars dry well before moving to the last stage [Figure 3]. 

Figure 3

Using some golden wire I made tiny hangings for the jars to transform them into lanterns [Figure 4]. 

Figure 4

Now light a tea-light in each one of them and hang them indoors or place them strategically to add charm to your vignettes. The jars can be used as your brush or pen/pencil holder or just for knick-knacks! 

 Figure 5

You can hang them up in the patio or balcony to bring warmth and beauty to your outdoors.

My favourite though are the next set of stained jars that I made - the Turqoise Green ones. I have tried incorporating my mother's jewellery (Jadaoon Bajuband) designs on some of them [Figure 6]. Needless to say they are my prized possessions!

Figure 6

 "Unintelligible language is a lantern without a light!"

"Light is more important than the lantern!"

"You are not one, you are a thousand. Just light your lantern!" ~ Rumi

"If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way!"

©Fursatnama 


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Connecting the Dots...

What does one do when one's Sunday-picnic plan gets cancelled at the last minute, due to "unavoidable circumstances," while every one else's plan remains intact? Surprisingly enough I was quite happy about this rare treat of staying home, all by myself!

To make it perfect, the FM player was tuned to the favourite channel, a big cuppa of adrak-waali-chai organized and the laptop adjusted in my lap. It seemed like a perfect day to tell a story via Fursatnama! While contemplating between the "plots" of various story-telling options I had, the words of Douglas Coupland surfaced out of nowhere,

"Story telling is ultimately a creative act of pattern recognition. Through characters, plot and selling, a writer creates places where previously invisible truths become visible. Or the storyteller posts a series of dots that the reader can connect." 

The last sentence got stuck in my head - "Or the storyteller posts a series of dots....!"

Eureka! 

A series of dots it shall be!

Today's blog is all about connecting the dots through invisible links. I decided to work on an empty coffee-bottle - the empty "plot" literally, and create something that should "connect the dots" of a decor setting.

To start with, the coffee jar was given a makeover of sorts, using solvent-based glass colour. This was an easy trick to colour the glass, giving it a nice yellow tinge.

Next I used the back of a pencil, dipped in different shades of acrylic colour, to create the dots in a simple pattern. The colours were chosen, keeping in mind a specific purpose of the end product. Once done, I let it dry completely.

Lastly, I wrapped a jute string at the mouth of the bottle using some glue. This was given a coat of purple, to give it a finished look. I had a beautiful multi-purpose glass ready with me now. This could be used as Tea-light holder, a flower vase or a candle-stand!

The shades of the dots were chosen to make it a connecting piece for the bedroom decor which had silver/gray, cream/gold and purple/mauve as the three primary colours in its setting. 

As you can see in the picture below, the individual colours of the background were all connected by the colour scheme of this one piece, when I placed it at the footboard stool, along with some cream and gold tea-light holders and a lamp in the same hue:

I tried setting it up on the night-stand, with a mauve scented candle and was so happy to see the result:

 When I started off with this activity I had no idea what it would lead to but somehow I had a gut feeling that at the end of it all, something worthwhile will turn up for sure. Reminds you of the famous words of Steve Jobs on "connecting the dots"  - "You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect the dots looking backwards. So you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future, You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

What you see below is an affirmation of  what mister Jobs said!

©Fursatnama 

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