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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S(teal) the Show!

As the old year rolls its mat to make place for the new year I too needed to make place for my "new finds" from the recent trip. The store-room shelves had to be scanned for articles that could be discarded but believe me, for someone bitten by the "makeover bug" it is not an easy task! 

The first such finding was a remake of a B-Prabha painting, done in water colour by me, that I had actually seen on a greeting card from CRY. It was an exact replica of the original and hence I was kind of proud of it yet it was still to find a place on the walls already occupied by works of painters of repute.

Next was a terracotta jug that I had spotted in an handicraft exhibition by an NGO. Discarding it somehow felt like disrespecting the hard work and talent of the underprivileged but in its current form somehow it did not fit in anywhere.

The Kathakali wooden mask, picked up on my kerala trip, had memories wrapped around it and hence was still lying around but never put up anywhere, probably because it was too bland for the surroundings.

With just few hours to go to the "31st Party" I hardly had anytime so here is a quick-fix done. I gave the terracota jug a quick coat of a neither-bright-nor-dull shade of teal, primarily because it had to match the painting which used similar teal shade as backdrop. I can always work on it further but as of now I decided to keep it simple. 

The kathakali mask was given the same blue and green shade that was there in the painting so that together the three things formed a homogenous cluster.

The before and after of the makeover of the jug and the mask is for you to see. 

Its wonderful to see how a dash of colour can bring in so much life into lifeless things. I guess the "nasha" of makeover is primarily for this joy derived out of transforming non-descript things. So I had two perfect accompaniments for my painting. The only challenge now was to find a place for the three things.

Though I firmly believe that books need no adornment yet I somehow felt they could add a little charm to a small book-shelf lying against one of the columns in the lobby. Few orange flowers in the teal jug just completed the whole look. 

As the setting sun paints some orange hues on the column, I manage to capture it in my cell-phone camera for you to see. What do you think about it?

Here is a longer shot but few rows of the books could not be captured in the frame still!

As I complete this blog I can't help repeating to myself what Virginia Postrel said,

By reshaping or decorating our outer selves, we express our inner sense of self. "I like that" becomes "I'm like that"....!

Meanwhile don't you agree the Teal jug actually steals the show! :)

©Fursatnama 

Please don't forget to give your feedback through your comments below this blog. It will help me in many ways. If you like my posts do share and follow.