Mindful Meanderings

News to share .. and a Yummy Tummy Friday

2012-02-03T08:58:00.004+05:30

The office demo went off well :) It was an important initiative that I was working on for the last 6 months. I got an award ( & lots of $$) for it yesterday - Most valued performer for our Business Unit..Its given to a select few from our world wide offices and I am the first QA person to receive it. .. Its a big deal.. I'm now 'phamous'

Awards are not new to me.. I have an award for each year of my career.. My resume almost looks fake. I just wish I had got that promotion though..

I know I'm gloating about it.. but this blog is a place where I can be me and share what matters to me.. As a working mother I feel torn between office and Lil p .. There are days when things are so frustrating that I want to give it all up.. But I've been lucky to have supportive parents, inlaws and husband. And times like this, it feels great to get that pat on my back..

I also got baking yesterday and wanted to do a yummy tummy post.. anyway, better late than never.. We baked the

Apple Raisin Muffin

recipe from Monika's blog..

Lil P helped me with all the mixing and measuring and pouring.. it was so much fun..Our muffins were not great .. cos we did jumble up a bit.. and they needed to cook for some more time.. The recipe was for a cake but we wanted muffins. We had only 2 eggs and 2 apples. But Lil P loved it, so alls well.. This Saturday I'm going to try something fool proof.. no experiments.

I'll maybe skip the Book Worm Friday this week.. or maybe have it for Saturday.. and I need to come up with a new artsy craftsy too.. Phew so much work.

Don't forget to check out all the giveaways happening this week for the Heart Project.. Remember all you need to do is leave a comment and spread some love.

The Heart Project - Open your hearts this valentine's month

2012-02-01T16:37:00.002+05:30

I came out of my blogging break to share some news on a project I am involved with.

The ‘Heart Project’ is a fundraiser for the American Heart Association (AHA) that my blogger friend Jamie (hands on: as we grow) has organized as a gesture to support the AHA in honour of her husband's 4-year old cousin – Ellie Jo.

It is the combined work of over seventy bloggers from all over the world that resulted in an amazing book that's packed full of creative Valentine craft ideas, recipes to try, decorations to make and play activities to enjoy. The book includes 100+ projects that are heart-related and kid-friendly.

Two of my Heart crafts are also featured in the Book - Melted crayon hearts & Thumbprint heart bookmark

By making a donation to the AHA, you will receive this amazing collection of photographed heart projects from bloggers all over the world!

[The eBook has links of almost all of the heart projects to a tutorial on the blog that contributed it to the book! There is a collective index in the back as well for those that are purchasing the printed version to check out each of the blogs in the book.]

A sneak peak of what's in the book:

Make a donation of $5 to the American Heart Association

and receive The Heart Project ebook as a free gift!

US $5.00 Donation to AHA

[The book is only available for donation through the month of February, so hurry!]

Bonus donation! For every book sold, Craftprojectideas.com is donating $1! That means in addition to your $5 donation by purchasing the The Heart Book, Craftprojectideas.com will donate another $1 on your behalf [up to $500!]!

Please hop on over the Craftprojectideas.com Facebook page and tell them a BIG THANK YOU for being so generous!

There's a printed version of "The Heart Book" also available! Yay! Right? Its beautifully printed, 8.5 x 8.5", full color, paperback. Five dollars (US $5) of every book sold will be donated to the American Heart Association!

US $20.00

Order the Printed Version

♥ $5 of every sale of the book will go to the AHA ♥

[The book is only available for donation through the month of February, so hurry!]

If you'd rather just donate without receiving the book, we'd love for you do so!

In addition to the book, we're raising funds for the AHA in several other ways too!

Fundraiser Auctions:

♥ All proceeds of each auction will go to the AHA ♥

Melissa & Doug - 4 Trunki with Teddy Bear Auctions!

Fudoo Boards - 3 Fudoo Board Kits for Auction!

Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10
Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10
Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10

Giveaways are going to be happening every day from now until the 14th! There's more than one some days, so be sure to check them all out! These giveaways are from The Heart Project Contributing Bloggers who are very generously donating their projects [from The Heart Book!], or something related to their heart project.

---------

The Heart Project Contributing Bloggers

Each of the following bloggers have contributed a project to The Heart Book.

Let's tell them all Thank you!

hands on : as we grow	♥	A Little Learning for Two	♥	Among Many Blessings
Angelique Felix	♥	At Home with Ali	♥	Broken Treasures
Busy at Home	♥	Busy Kids Happy Mom	♥	Carrie Saindon's Photo Journey
Child Central Station	♥	Classified: Mom	♥	Classroom Magic
Creative with Kids	♥	Creativity My Passion	♥	Critters and Crayons
De Tout et de Rien	♥	Dilly-Dali Art	♥	Dinosaurs & Octopuses
Excited 2 Learn	♥	Hand Over the Cookies	♥	Handprint & Footprint Art
Happy Hooligans	♥	Heart Journey	♥	Imagination Soup
Jamie's Jumble	♥	Kitchen Counter Chronicles	♥	Kreative Resources
Let Kids Create	♥	Little Illuminationss	♥	Living Montessori Now
Loudness of the Lambs	♥	Love and Lollipops	♥	Mama, hocemo nesto da pravimo
Mama Pea Pod	♥	Mama Smiles	♥	MemeTales
Messy Kids	♥	Mindful Meanderings	♥	Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Mommy Labs	♥	Mommy Perks	♥	Mum Paints Lives
Mummy Mummy Mum	♥	My Creative Family	♥	NurtureStore
One Artsy Mama	♥	Peace Love & Rainbows	♥	Play Dr Mom
Putti Prapancha	♥	Rainbows within Reach	♥	Reading Confetti
Ready. Set. Read!	♥	Red Ted Art	♥	Sense of Wonder
Share & Remember	♥	Stacy Molter	♥	Sun Hats & Wellie Boots
Teach Preschool	♥	The Artful Child	♥	The Chocolate Muffin Tree
The Craft Barn	♥	The Educators' Spin on It	♥	The Golden Gleam
The Imagination Tree	♥	The Iowa Farmer's Wife	♥	The Joy of My Life
The Kids Fun Review	♥	The Outlaw Mom Blog	♥	The Preschool Toolbox
The Seeds Network	♥	Toddler Approved

There are also a couple special giveaways from Melissa & Doug, Fudoo Boards and CraftProjectIdeas.com!

Be sure to check back each day to enter that day's giveaways!

Dealing with a sensitive child

2012-01-30T21:00:00.000+05:30

Lil P was very sick the whole of last week. She had got some mild form of food poisoning (after eating at Mac D?? ) and was throwing up constantly. She stayed at home and missed her school. Day 2 she developed fever and was sort of delirious.. She had been complaining about not wanting to go to school and I generally assumed that she didn't want to go to school because she was feeling sick..But amidst her tears she complained that she did not want to go to school because she was afraid that her teacher would scold her.. On prodding, she said that on Friday, she had "accidentally" colored a wrong section in her school activity book and her teacher was displeased. Lil P was sad that she had upset her teacher and kept repeating that it was an accident.. meaning a honest mistake and she was sorry. It took me 15 mins to calm her down and get her to sleep again.
But I couldn't sleep for a long long time.. It scares me that such a small issue affected her so much that in her drug induced stupor she remembered the incident and was upset about it. I know her teacher personally and she is a very sweet lady. Lil P also loves her a lot and is doing very well at school. She constantly wants to please her teacher and is upset when she doesn't get importance. She is very sensitive to how the teacher reacts ( I'm sure the lady doesn't even raise her voice at her) .. Lil P has always been very sensitive. She cries if some random kid in the park says something mean to her.. or if she says hello and the other person doesn't respond.

I didn't know what was the right way to handle this.
Should I tell her as if its not a big deal.. and ask her to forget it? - Nah! won't work with her. It was a big deal for her.

I tried telling her that since it was a mistake, an accident as she put it, the teacher would understand and would not be angry. - She was not very convinced.

I told her I would talk to the teacher during the PTM and explain that that it was an accident.. she then didn't want to go to school till PTM..

I then told her I would write in her diary and she can go show it to her teacher and say sorry herself ... that kind of calmed her and that is what we did today.

She went and said sorry to the surprised teacher.. and all is well today.

But my mind goes in overdrive and I shudder to think she is turning into those kids who would go hang themselves because they lost a mark or because someone said something to them.. Over the next few days I want to sit down with her and try explaining it to her.. Do you have any suggestions? Or am I overreacting?

And we are ready to bake

2012-01-29T20:19:00.000+05:30

Assorted goodies bought over the weekend..a 19L OTG , Whisk, Gloves, Measuring spoons, Kitchen digital weighing scale, Silicone spatula and a Muffin tray.

Baking here I come.. please treat me well :D

Inspiration for Artsy-Craftsy-Jan 2012

2012-01-28T07:41:00.000+05:30

Just 3 more days left for the Artsy-Craftsy-Jan to end.. I had a lot of inspiring artists to introduce to you guys.. Somehow this month passed away so soon.. First, I have made a Pinterest board with some of my favorite blogs talking about famous artists and art activities to learn and appreciate.

We also have a lot of new entries for the Artsy-Craftsy. Do follow the links and leave your encouraging comments.

Book Worm Fridays

2012-01-27T06:10:00.003+05:30

Hello! Welcome to Book Worm Fridays at Mindful Meanderings.

I am Vinitha from Poohsden and this week, I am back to share with you another one of kuttyma’s favorite books.

Eric Carle’s books are a treat both for my daughter and me. I love his books. The hungry caterpillar probably comes to your mind – it is his most famous book. But all of Eric Carle’s books showcase great illustrations (most of Eric Carle’s illustrations are collages and textured) and have a great way of reaching toddlers and their parents.

The busy spider is a simple book about a spider spinning its web. The book has embossed yarn (raised printing) as web so kids can actually feel the thread. It is a great sensory tool. It also teaches them about spiders and their habitat.

This is a great book for kids aged 12 months and up. I have been working on a series of homes with kuttyma (pointing nests and kennels) and this worked well carrying on that theme. Older kids can start off this book and discover and learn more about spiders.

Here are a couple of spider inspired activities for toddlers - Spin/Lace your web – I cut out a circle and punched holes on it. I tied a piece of yarn in one of the holes, demonstrated how to lace and kuttyma did the rest.
- Hopping Webs – I taped colorful duct/painter’s tape on the floor and we did a great pretend-play session

- Sing - Little Miss Muffet and Itsy-bitsy Spider are great rhymes based on spiders.

Eric Carle was our artist of choice for January’s Artsy-Craftsy and we decided to capture the bright colours seen in his books using corn syrup paints (another artwork seen here)

There are more spider ideas for older kids and adults on my Pinterest board here

Happy Reading and Crafting!

Thanks for having us over Shruti and do stop by Poohsden for more toddler crafts and book reviews.

P.S: I own a copy of the book and have received no compensation for the reviews. All views and opinions expressed are solely mine.

Thanks Vini... It was lovely having you back a second time :) Would you like to be a part of this series too? Email me. And have you entered my giveaway happening at FB? Please leave a comment before 13tth Feb

Republic Day Crafts To Make And Do

2012-01-26T23:26:00.002+05:30

Read my post and a tutorial to make this craft and much more at Mom & Me's -momsdiaries.in

PS: Have you entered my giveaway on FB yet? Here is the link , Just add you name and email and You are eligible for a lucky draw.

Thumbprint Heart Bookmark

2012-01-26T09:38:00.003+05:30

Made another craft project for the Collaborative HeArt Project.over at Handsonaswegrow

Thumbprint Heart Bookmark

Materials needed -

Plain bookmarks - or white cardstock cut in a rectangle shape with a hole punched on top
Red stamp pad - available at any arts and crafts store
Red satin ribbon cut to length

Place your child's thumb on the stamp pad & stamp into a heart shape. It is easier to move the bookmark sideways rather than trying to move the thumb sideways. When dry , tie the ribbon and your thumbprint heart bookmark is ready.

200+ followers on FB Giveaway

2012-01-25T14:31:00.001+05:30

Leave a name and a valid email ID at my FB page at the app here before 13th Feb, 2012 & you stand to win some goodies (bought online) . This is open to all FB fans of MindfulMeanderings from around the world.

The winner [chosen via random number generator on Feb 14th ] stands to win a set of 3 Handmade Madhubani Bookmarks & another surprise gift.

Do spread the word on FB & Twitter and hope you invite your friends to join in the celebrations.

Yummy Tummy - Baking workshop

2012-01-25T08:52:00.001+05:30

Hello my lovelies ... :) Its Wednesday and we are back with a yummy tummy story and a recipe to go with it.Over the weekend, 7 ladies teamed up at Chaipatty, Kormangala to attend a baking workshop with Monika Manchanda. I rarely venture into the kitchen, and hardly ever bake! So this was my first.. and Monika did not disappoint us. The first session started with introduction to the basics.. the pots the pans, the accessories, knowing the oven temperature and each one of us cleared any doubts that we had.. We started working on the Cheesecake, and then double chocolate muffins, Choco chip cookies followed by lunch .. Awesome steaming hot veggie maggie from the chaipatty. We made the chocolate cake & then got down to breads.. making chelsea buns & chesse pepper loafs.. had amazing kullad chais, iced lemon teas & crunchy pakodas to keep us company.

Day 2 we made corn chilli muffins, Pineappleupside down cake, cheese savory bites, strawberry cheesecake, apple crumble, whole wheat oat bran muffins, iced the chocolate sponge we made the earlier day & made a chocolate ganache for the cup cakes. Phew! that sounds like an awful lot of stuff.. but it seemed so effortless ( except for the bread kneading part) ..We again had pastas, sandwiches, gallons of tea and took lots of pics. Click here to see the whole set of pics..

and that was the end of the day 2 .. I think Monika's idea to have the class at chaipatty's was a hit cos I loved the ambiance and mostly aunty , Chirag's mom.. who's enthusiasm was addictive.. and Monika ka kya kehna.. I am in awe of this awesome lady.. You can see the passion and the happiness she derives from baking.. :) Hugs monika. Thank you for this experience. Wishing u many many such successful workshops.

We carried all the goodies back home which got devoured in like seconds. My fav was the no bake cheesecake, My sis loved the pineapple cake & black forest the most.. Hubby loved the choco chip muffins and apple crumble .. mom has copied all the recipes down and is going to try making them.. Unfortunately Lil P fell sick on Sunday and couldn't enjoy any of the baked stuff. she is still sick. Thankfully mom is here.

Leaving you with a recipe from monika's site and what we made as part of the workshop [ follow the link for the recipe]

Cheesy - savory Bites

Have a Yummy-Tummy-Wednesday :)

Day 1 of the baking class

2012-01-21T18:34:00.000+05:30

I got a chance to attend a fabulous Baking Workshop @ Chaipatty, Kormangala by Monika Manchanda of the sin-a-mon fame .. Leaving you guys with a pic of what all we baked on day 1 ....

We made the

Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
Muffins/Cup Cakes
- Double Chocolate Muffins
Breads
- Chelsea Buns
- Cheese and Pepper Loaf
Cakes
- chocolate sponge cake

Yum Yum.. I hope you guys are all regretting not hooking up for the classes on time... ;) Next time go grab it fast..

Tomorrow more pics & more items.. till then, See ya :)

Ekki -Dokki a review By Artnavy

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000+05:30

This week we have Artnavy writing in as part of Book Worm Friday

EKKI DOKKI by Sandhya Rao art Ranjan De

Tulika's Ekki Dokki, a Marathi folktale, has always been a hit with the little ones at home.

Like the names suggest, Ekki has one hair on her head; Dokki has two. The latter is rather vain and indulged by her mother. Ekki runs away to get away from Dokki's taunts and helps a henna bush, a cow and an old lady that she meets. She lunches with the elderly woman and does as she is told. She returns delighted at her long tresses that are granted to her for her goodness. Dokki in her greed for the same goes into the forest and pays no heed to the needy and is in fact rude to them. What do you think happens to her?

The visuals are bright and cheerful and that compassion and kindness are wonderful traits to have come through well.

Also this book is part of Tulika's Wordbird series and introduces Indian words to the reader in an engaing way.

It is available in multiple languages.

And like I said, the kids at my place love it. Here's a video of the author narrating the story..

A word of caution: I find myself saying this about a lot of folk tales. I do not like the story much. The punishment seems too severe and the focus on external appearance unnecessary, The kid running away from home is a mother's nightmare. Somehow the book ends rather abruptly. Maybe temper the tale with shades of grey when you narrate it.

Art also shared this lovely drawing her daughter, anush made of the main characters but with a twist

Anush's adaptation has both the girls with an extra hair each and hence a slightly different take on the title, she calls them tokki, dokki :)

Now wasn't that a treat?? :) Thanks Art for this review.. I esp like ur disclaimer cos when this story was narrated to Lil P she asked the same thing - why didn't Ekki's mom scold her when she ran away? Isn't Jungle a dangerous place.. But now, I'm sure the other mom's won't do the same mistake as me...

Have you and your kid read any book recently that you both loved and you want to review it?? Then what are you waiting for? Email the review for next week's Book Worm Friday.

Art appreciation...

2012-01-19T10:39:00.002+05:30

First things first - There is a problem with the linky at ACJan . I'm working on getting that resolved. Meanwhile, if you have a project that you would like to submit, drop me an email with the link to your blog post.

Here are some of the pages on Art appreciation & Great masters by some of my favourite bloggers.

Namitha on Jamini Roy and then we have a series of posts from UTBT - this & this and Sheela with a Mondrian inspired craft project

And Saffron Tree has excellent reviews on books about Georgia O Keefe

Our next entry for the artsy-craftsy is by Woodooz. Preethi created this amazing Arvind Kolapkar reproduction for her home.. Though it strictly does not fall under Children's crafts, one can explore the artist's works and get kids introduced to it.

Yummy-Tummy-Wednesday - Vinitha from Pooh's den

2012-01-18T10:11:00.000+05:30

This weeks entry is from Vinitha who blogs over at pooh's den :) Pasting from her blog.. Follow the link to check out Kuttyma at work

Oatmeal raisin M&M cookies

We have Dr. Sonia with an interesting food craft for next week .. Please email me recipes that would tempt a kid to eat it.. or something that's always a hit at ur place. You can optionally email me a food story and an intro to your family and anything else you'd like to share with us.

Collaborative HeArt Project

2012-01-16T10:44:00.004+05:30

----------- The Project is live and the ebook is available for download ------

Thank you Roopa for letting me know about the Collaborative HeArt Project. ..
Jamie from Handsonaswegrow is putting together a collaborative fundraiser between bloggers. This is a heart project because all proceeds from this fundraiser will go to the American Heart Association [AHA]. As part of this, She is creating a 12x12 collaborative eBook/physical book of kids' art and crafts projects that are related to 'hearts'. The details are at her blog here..Here is our contribution to that..

Melted Crayon Hearts

Please help me choose a picture to submit..

Jamie I will email you the high resolution pics.

Here's how you can make this super easy craft

Materials - A small candle preferably a votive, color coordinated crayons, an A4 sheet and scissors.
Draw a heart shape with a black marker on an A4 sheet
Melt the tip of the crayon [ be sure to remove the paper packaging before you attempt] and drip onto the sheet. Heat, Drip, Heat, Drip. Repeat till whole area is covered in dots.
Once completed, cutout the heart and paste onto a card sheet [ alternately you can craft on the cardstock directly]
The crayon dot tends to chip off after a few days. A coat of Modpodge does the trick of keeping them in place.

PS: This craft involves fire. Ideally suitable for kids aged 5 and above [ only if they are used to following instructions. No matter what age, please do not attempt without adult supervision ]

The last two are made by Lil P with intermediate hand holding. :) The Blue is for hubby and red for me.. She pasted it on a card and wrote I Love Dad and I love Mom :) I think I'm going to frame this one.

This project is open to all.. If you would like to contribute, contact
Jamie @ hands on : as we grow or
email her @ handsonaswegrow(at)gmail.com

Show me some love.. leave a comment so I know you've seen it ;) next, you'll force me to start taking attendance :p .. all those present say aye!

also linking to ..

Sankranti rangoli

2012-01-14T12:02:00.000+05:30

Sorry for the bad images. I had clicked these using a mobile phone last year at office.

The support staff had put these gorgeous rangoli designs at every floor .. Enjoy

At the reception

and then on each floor of our office

Happy Sankranti Folks! :)

Book Worm Fridays - Pooh's den

2012-01-13T06:57:00.003+05:30

Hello! Welcome to Book Worm Fridays at Mindful Meanderings.

I am Vinitha from Poohsden and this week, I am going to share with you a couple of books I read with my 2.5 year daughter – kuttyma.

At the ripe age of 2.5 years kuttyma is a bundle of energy and a sponge ready to soak in every word uttered. She likes to be independent and gets frustrated easily. She loves to talk to her toys and to sing. She loves books and she loves books with pictures and touch-and-feel effects but also wants words to point to when she pretend reads. It is a fascinating age to say the least.
Did I mention she loves books? We often visit the library and let her pick her own books. Penguins have always fascinated me and I was super thrilled when kuttyma picked up a penguin book. I found another penguin book in the preschool section and added it to our basket. Here are the reviews of the two books we read.

via

The first book is the Usborne touchy-feely book – Penguins ideal for kids 12 months – 36 months. It is an easy book for any toddler to fall in love with. The book has simple facts about penguins which will appeal to toddlers Kuttyma ended up picking up some basic penguin facts and has been more than happy to share them with anyone who would bother to listen.

Simple words – the right amount of touch and feel and cute penguins – what is not there to love?

via

We also picked up a little advanced “Little Penguins” from the Life Cycles of Australian Animals series by Greg Pyers. This book is for advanced readers – 4+ years old. It talks about the penguin species found in Philip Island in Australia. Some of the basic facts picked up from the first book are explained more clearly here. Ideal for a kid project/learning session. I was quite disappointed by the quality of pictures in this book. I was expecting spectacular pictures and the book offered grainy and blurry photos (it was a 2011 edition and not a 1990’s edition)

Yes, after learning that you can watch a penguin parade in Australia – kuttyma wants to go there – I hope we can do that someday.

And to build on the theme – we visited the zoo and saw the penguins.

We followed it up with a simple craft – paper plate penguin – doesn’t he look cute?

Kuttyma helped with the pasting and loves holding the penguin and practicing her waddle.

My little penguin

If you are looking for further penguin craft ideas or inspirations, I suggest you check out my Pinterest board. I have a collection of some super-cute and easy stuff for kids and adults of all ages there
Happy Reading and Crafting!

Thanks for having us over Shruti and do stop by Poohsden for more toddler crafts and book reviews.

P.S: I picked up both the books from the Singapore public library and have received no compensation for the reviews. All views and opinions expressed are solely mine.

Thank you Vinitha for sharing kuttyma's favorite books with us and that pininterest is soooo tempting :)
Isn't this a great start? Who wants to be next?? If you would also like to be a part of the Book Worm Fridays, drop me an email now.

Food tales from our home..

2012-01-11T23:23:00.002+05:30

Since I haven't got any entries for the yummy tummy yet.. I'm sharing a few more food stories from my home.. Some happy, some not so happy ones..
It was day 2 in the hospital rt after Lil p's birth.. When Lil P was born she was 36 weeks and 3 days old.. weighing a mere 2.8Kgs.. We were struggling with the BF, both of us frustrated with our attempts. By second day I was exhausted.. n so was she.. that's when the nurse suggested that we try lactogen.. A new bottle was bought, lactogen mixed and administered.. and that was when we realized that Lil P had lactogen intolerance.. and a severe reflux to go with it. She vomited the whole formula.. and they had to pump out any remaining traces to stop her from vomiting further.. I had no option but to give BF my best shot.. Thankfully, I was able to express and then feed her using a tiny spoon. Day 2 she had developed jaundice and her weight dropped to 2.5 kgs which is not uncommon in kids who are underweight.. She was kept in a photo therapy machine for three days... the tiny body with her eyes taped.. in that machine.. It was heartbreaking.. I can't imagine what moms of premature babies go through. Even as a 4 day old she struggled to remove the gauge tape covering her eyes.. ok I digress..

I still find it difficult to talk about it.. Lets speed it up a little.. In short, Lil P never had formula milk and thankfully never needed to either.Funnily enough, B Milk was never a problem.. Cerelac without milk was ok.. once we started Rice and boiled veggies we never really missed Milk .. Even to this day, Lil p has a vomiting reflux if she smells milk, sees it or sees anything that looks like milk.. She will Vomit. When she was about 6 months old we tried curd and there was no looking back.. It was like curd and Lil P were made for each other..she loved to eat it on her own.. Leaving you all with a fav pic of mine - Lil P eating Curd..
Does your child have any food allergies? How did / do you deal with it?

*Kala-Tika*

Since its customary to share a recipe for Yum-Tum Wednesdays- Here it goes..
PS: Its got nothing to do with Curd..

Do you remember this trip? We were lucky to have a family who looked after our every needs.. The food was customized.. the flavors amazing. I have never felt so pampered and indulged in my life. One of the highlights of the trip was a bread crumb pudding that was served to us.. Me n my sis loved it a lot.. the rich creamy feel of the dessert that was a cross between a shahi tukda and a frozen pudding. .. Once we were back, I researched the net to get the exact recipe and found something that came really close. Do follow the link to check out the super easy recipe.

Quick Bread Crumb pudding

I'm looking forward to hearing your food stories ... Here's the format again.
1. Introduce yourself and ur family..
2. What are your family's or kids favourite foods?
3. Do you have any funny incident to share with us?
4. What is the recipe that you would like to share with us today?

You can choose to mail me the details or do a post and mail me the link

Kandinsky's water color circles

2012-01-10T20:23:00.000+05:30

Edited to add - Check out my post at Adthi's amma sews as part of a world wide blog hop. For all of you who wanted to see a pic of Lil P & me, there is one on her blog .

This whole month, as part of the Artsy-Craftsy, we will be focusing on art appreciation, understanding the techniques of famous artists & then recreate it in a simple way. But how do I simplify it so that it interests a 5 year old.. and which work do I start off with? We have a lot of art prints hung throughout our office.. and in the meeting rooms my eyes are always drawn to this particular painting.. Wassily Kandinsky's Farbstudie Quadrate or Squares with circles.I knew this would be a hit with Lil P because she loves structure and she loves colors..

via

We started off by getting comfortable at the dining table.. Lil P's friend S also joined us at the table for this art class. She is nearly 5. We saw a couple of Kandinsky's paintings.. and studied the technique for a while.. I asked Lil P what she noticed common in the few that I had shown her.. and she said I see circles.. and lines.. which was a good start in itself. I told her it was abstract art and that Kandinsky was a Russian painter who had pioneered it.. So the next question is what is abstract art? So I showed them a photograph of a flower that we had taken ... That is a realistic art form.. where you can see that rose is not real.. but you can make out clearly that it is a rose. Then I showed them this and Lil p said it was a city picture with the sun and the planets.. I asked S what she though.. and she said it looked like toys on the floor.. with books and ribbons.. and we all laughed.. so this is abstract art where the original picture that the artist had in mind is not clear.
we then moved on to actually painting .. we took A4 sheets.. and drew 12 squares approx 3 inches wide. A3 is more suited but younger kids will tire soon and so start off with smaller sizes. I told them that they could alternate between cool colors and warm colors.. and fill up each square.

The above completed picture is done by S .

You can see Lil P being extra extra careful and still coloring it.. She took her own sweet time to complete hers.. and I left her at the table while I attended an office call. The below picture is Lil p's completed picture.. We alternated between using a paint brush & painting with our fingers. So much more fun!

You can try this at home using pastels, Color pencils or tempera colors. Or you can go completely abstract and make one like this by pasting..

Jamini Roy Coloring pages

2012-01-09T05:24:00.003+05:30

I have created 3 Jamini Roy coloring pages specially for Artsy-Craftsy-Jan.. Feel free to download and print.
You can download the PDF from here . This is intended for personal use only. Kindly do not distribute or use for commercial purposes without my permission. I do not hold any copyright over the original images and all credit goes to Jamini Roy for creating these masterpieces.

Once printed, you can encourage your child to color in the original color scheme or let them use their own imagination.. Encourage the use of natural earthy colors. Here is a sample coloring scheme for you to start off with .

Images from the web..

The coloring pages can also be traced onto a canvas board using yellow carbon paper and then painted upon using acrylic colors.

New tools for the blog

2012-01-09T01:06:00.000+05:30

I am so excited about all the new stuff I've been trying. Finally a new Logo..

Then, did you notice the 3 widgets in the top left sidebar?They are Free Social Media Icons BY wefunction
You can now connect with MindfulMeanderings by Liking our FB page , by following our RSS feeds & and the big news - now we are also on Twitter.. Go on indulge me.. Click on the Like Buttons and the follow buttons.

You can now share a bog post that you like by clicking on the social icons in the footer & in the sidebar. I hope you do that and introduce us to your friends..These widgets are from here

I also have 3 challenges running now...

We have the monthly Artsy-Craftsy , The Yummy Tummy series featuring a recipe every Wednesday & the BookWorm Fridays where you can send in your book reviews for Children's books. Which ones are you participating in?

My next goal is to classify each craft by age and materials used .. any suggestions on how to do this ??

Artsy-Craftsy-Dec-2011 Winners

2012-01-08T16:21:00.004+05:30

Time to announce the winners for Artsy-Craftsy-Dec-2011 ..Drum rolls please ..

is # 25. Ornaments/ Bookmarks by Kannamma
Reuse and recycle was her mantra .
A craft that resonates with my sensibilities- a sure win. Congrats :)

is # 5. Glitter Salt Dough Ornament by Esther

Esther comes up with new crafts for each challenge with amazing creativity.

Salt Dough - a first for me and super easy to make. This had to win.

is # 19. A Christmas Toran by artnavy

An artful dodger who came up with this simple idea that got the whole family involved.

A Christmasy Toran for a Christmasy Spirit :) Congrats all.

Giveaway at kadambaby.com

2012-01-07T09:59:00.001+05:30

One of our readers - Shuchi , the owner of online store kadambaby.com is having a fabulous giveaway at her blog to promote her new venture.

Two lucky winners get this lovely set of 10 finger puppets.

and One lucky winner gets this adorable smiley cushion cover.

Go on over to her blog post and check out the very simple rules.. Best of luck Shuchi for your new venture.

Book-Worm Fridays..

2012-01-06T11:44:00.002+05:30

Keeping in line with the Artsy-Craftsy theme, today's book review is on children books about Famous Indian Artists. You can't talk about Hussain, Amrita Shergill, Jamini Roy, Ravi Verma and not think of the amazing "Looking at Art" series that Tulika Publications has come come up with.

My Name is Amrita. . . born to be an artist
by Anjali Raghbeer

Barefoot Husain by Anjali Raghbeer

A Trail of Paint by Anjali Raghbeer

The Veena Player by Anjali Raghbeer

For an art lover these books are collector material.. :) I love how the author has weaved a story around the artists and made it appealing to kids. I also love the illustrations and the thumbnails of the masters original art that are included in the book. Some of Amrita Shergills drawings were new to me also.

Lil P loved Jamini Roy's paintings as they appealed to her a lot.. Ravi Verma, she was not too enthusiastic as she thought he had taken photos. When I told her that Amrita Shergill's dad used to take a lot of photos of her paintings when she was a kid, Lil P insisted that I take pics of all her artwork too. Lil P was very curious why Hussain saab walked barefoot.. Didn't the stones prick him? Didn't the heat burn him? and that he must have got scolded a lot by his mother for making the floor dirty.. :) To say we loved the books would be an understatement.

I wish there were more details about their unique style and strokes so that kids can try some easy techniques for themselves. But then these books were meant to introduce the artists and their works and that goal is achieved successfully.

Choxbox has written an excellent review at Saffron tree about these books. Do read it..

What do you think of the Book Worm Fridays?? Interested in writing book reviews for children's books? I'd love to hear from you.. Do drop me an email.

A Jamini Roy by Shama

2012-01-05T08:42:00.001+05:30

PS: Did you check the Yum Tum story this week? I saw no comments there.. Would love to hear your food stories..

Jamini Roy (11 April 1887 – 24 April 1972) was one of the most celebrated artists of modern India.I love the simplicity in his paintings.. Whether its krishna asking for some butter or Rama ready for his vanavas what stands out are the use of basic colors, accented by white.. Those beautiful kohl lined eyes.. and the clean lines.. I could go on and on. But here's something to kick start our artsy-craftsy with a bang...

Shama tried to recreate the magic of Jamini Roy's mother daughter painting using pencil colors..

Jamini Roy would be suitable for kids 8 yrs and above.. Which artist are you exploring today??

Yummy-Tummy-Wednesday

2012-01-04T17:11:00.000+05:30

Hi There..

A funny incident happened at home this week. Now people who know Lil P are aware that Lil P is a very very fussy eater. A typical kid most of you would say.. Now, she usually sticks to the same versions of Rice , chappati, noodles, pasta .. hardly tries anything different. Even the rice has to be same texture and color.. Chappatis have to be of exact shape. I was mildly surprised when she announced that she wanted to eat something different. She is a big fan of "I can cook" series that comes on Cbeebies. Inspired by the recipe of the day we decided to make banana pancakes. So we researched the net and selected the recipe with the perfect picture. She helped me mash the banana, add sugar, milk, vanilla essence etc etc.. and was happy to help. However once the pancakes were ready, She refused to eat them as she thought they were different!! Can you beat that??... Its a different story that me n hubby relished the banana pancakes for dinner that night while Lil P stuck to eating her curd rice. Sigh.

Do you have a funny incident to share about your kid and their food preferences? or any favourite recipes at home that your kids relish.. Well mail them to me ASAP. I want to focus every Wednesday as a Yummy-Tummy-Wednesday featuring a recipe and your food stories... Here's a format if you'd like to participate..

1. Introduce yourself and ur family..You can optionally share a pic if you like
2. What are your family's or kids favourite foods?
3. Do you have any funny incident to share with us?
4. What is the kiddie recipe that you are sharing with us today?

You can choose to mail me the details or do a post and mail me the link .. You can add more questions.. or choose to skip a few questions mentioned above.. at a minimum, I need a recipe with a picture to go with it and I'll add it to the linky.

You can add this code in your blog post to add a link back to the Yum-Tum page.

<a href="http://mindfull-meanderings.blogspot.com/2011/03/yummy-tummy-wednesday.html"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-44sU1rTGg-I/TZKxROlQtfI/AAAAAAAAPpc/Z-erugWpB4g/s1600/YumTum1.JPG" /></a>

For this week, I'm leaving you with a recipe by Tarla Dalal.. Follow the link for the details.

Cornflake Cookies

by Tarla Dalal

Artsy-Craftsy-Jan-2012

2012-01-02T20:56:00.002+05:30

The Theme for Artsy-Craftsy-Jan-2012 is "Paint your own Van Gogh"

This month, explore the art of famous artists from around the world- Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Amrita Shergill, Jamini or Hussain.. Copy their style and create your masterpiece. Your post needs to have the original inspiration.. Your child doesn't need to paint an exact copy .. just their expression of the original. I know its a tough one.. But imagine how much you can enrich your child.

Here is my Pinterest board with some inspiration for you
Please add a link back to this post for each entry.

I have a inlinkz tool at the bottom of this post. Please link your entries in that only.

Here are the rules of the challenge.. Do read the ones in bold and yellow.

Stick to the theme for the month.I reserve the rights to delete an entry that does not have a backlink or is not related to the theme.
Last date for sending your nomination is 30th of Jan, 2012.
If you have a blog, add the above image in a post with a link to this page and add the artsy-craftsy pic in your sidebar [ HTML code below]. You don't need to be a follower.
If you don't have a blog, mail me the pics at mymindfulmeanderings[at]gmail[dot]com. Add copyright info and steps on how you made the craft.
Add your blog post link in the inlinkz tool below.
Resize the pics that you send / upload to a max of 1024x768.
Please provide pics and details on how you made the craft. Links to another site which has the instructions is also fine.
The winner will be chosen based on how easy yet stunning the end result looks and will be announced on the last day of the month.
The entry has to be child-friendly. Keep it simple though.
You can have more than 1 entry .. and increase your chances at winning.
This challenge is open for all kids, ladies, gents, moms, dads , followers, lurkers... everyone.

Code for your sidebar [ Enter this in a HTML/java code widget]

<a title="Artsy-Craftsy Challenge" href="http://mindfull-meanderings.blogspot.com/search/label/Artsy-Craftsy">
<img height="150" alt="Artsy-Craftsy Challenge" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hwjgdnA6iy8/S0Q7mC8U8XI/AAAAAAAANxI/6ExgE4FVFaM/s1600/artsy-craftsy-side150.jpg" width="150" border="0" />
</a>

Go on get artsy-craftsy :)

Happy New Year people :)

2012-01-01T23:33:00.000+05:30

Hope you all had a wonderful time in 2011 and 2012 turns out much much better :)
Do mail me a kiddie recipe for YumTum Wednesdays .. and a Childrens book review by Thursday.. If I get emails from more than one of you, I'll just schedule the latest post for next week? How does that sound? :) I'm so looking forward to hearing from you guys..

For all you folks who took part in Artsy-Craftsy-Dec .. Muah n Hugs. You people keep me inspired. :) I will reveal the winners soon. and if you have suggestions for AC - Jan 2012, do mail me pls..

My 2012 started with some decisions hopefully in the rt direction.. I got myself a complete checkup at the Gyneacs including a pap smear. I'm determined to tackle that PCOS head on.. Have also scheduled a full dental checkup this week. Hopefully no surprises there.. I'm also thinking of getting a lasik surgery for my eyes sometime this year.. I have -1.5 Power thats constant from many many years.. I am tired of Specs and lenses .. Gosh I do want some permanent solutions. I also need to put some concrete plans in place to control my weight gain.. I feel very optimistic.. I feel determined. and I know I can do it. :)

As a kid I always believed that what ever I do on the 1st I would keep doing it the whole year.. LOL. I remember waking up early on the1st and studying. Not that it did much good ;) .. But the 1st day always fills me with hope and I so look forward to the new year. I really hope that 2012 is not the end of the world as the mayans believed. I have so much to do .. so much to experience and live and cherish.

Do you think I'm a hopeless optimist?? :)

New year, New features .....

2011-12-30T10:20:00.001+05:30

I love new beginnings.. and new years are no exceptions. I make plans to redecorate, think of a new theme for my home, Losing weight always figures somewhere.. but I rarely get to it. 2012 is def going to be the one where I take a stock of my health. Get into better shape and increase my stamina. It has been a good year so far.. Lots of trips , some new features, a new home and a new camera!!! Its funny because after 12 years me n my hubby have found a common passion.. Photography. We squabble like kids on who gets to take the shot. In 2011, I also made plans to complete 3 certifications .. Completed two. The PMP one has got postponed to end of Jan. I have been ignoring it the past 2 months but I will get back to it seriously in 2012. I am also working on a new project at office. I'm very very excited about it. I'm learning new technologies and the adrenalin rush of a short cycle agile methodology has got me all pumped up. I've always fared very well at challenging stuff and this is the first time that our QE [ Quality Engineering] team is working on Jruby, Groovy and Cucumber... In short, I might be blogging much lesser in 2012. But I have some exciting plans for Mindful Meanderings ..

1. I want to change the the Artsy-Craftsy mascot .. make her more Indian..Do you want to give that a try?
2. I want a regular feature on Yummy-Tummy Wednesday.. Calling all food lovers, if you would like to be a part of Mindful Meanderings team, drop me a mail. One kiddie recipe of yours will be featured every Wednesday.
3. I also want a regular feature on Children books.. maybe every Friday. It could be a post on your kids favorite book and reviews . You could also post information about book shops and fairs, or compile your age wise lists.. Again, I want it limited to children books ages - 0 - 16. Any interested parties who want to be a part of Mindful Meanderings team?

What are your plans for the new year?

Article in Mom n Me

2011-12-29T20:48:00.000+05:30

Had written an article for Mom n Me's newly launched website way back in November.. .Do check out :)

http://www.momsdiaries.in/activities/get-creative-with-string-lights-this-diwali

Its a start and I'm very excited :) what topics would you like me to write about?

Macaroni angels & pasta snowflakes..

2011-12-28T13:35:00.002+05:30

I found these really cool ideas for making my own Christmas ornaments this year.. From Suzy's Sitcom

Macaroni Angels

She made name tags, I used them as ornaments on my tree..

And Macaroni Snowflakes by Stephanie

Sorry.. I will need time to download my pics and share.. Till then, do try out these awesome craft and let me know if you had as much fun making them.. :)

Lil P tales

2011-12-24T13:29:00.001+05:30

From the last month in our endeavor to spend more ~~quality~~ time with Lil P, hubby has taken upon himself to tell Lil P a story at bedtime.. While I stick to published books, hubby has been recalling stories from the Hindu mythology and has been regularly telling her a story each night. They huddle up on her bed , dim the lights and tales of Hanuman, Bal krishna, Rama, shabari enthrall her..Hubby has been feeling all proud about this. On one such day, I volunteered to tell her a story instead.. and Lil P insisted that she wanted her pappa ONLY. Hubby puffed up like a peacock and came by her bedside and I asked - why do u want only pappa's stories?? and Lil P goes - "Because pappa's stories make me sleeeeeeeepy" .. Boy! that was fun! I almost fell off the bed laughing.

The other day, Hubby was telling Lil P the story of Rama & Sita and story of the golden deer Maricha ... so when Lakhsmana goes to find Rama, hubby very dramatically mentioned that laxmana drew 3 lines and asked Sita to never cross it.. and that line was called Laxman Rekha to keep all demons away. .Lil P immediately said.. ahhh like how ajji in kumta (hubby's mom) draws the laxman rekha around all food to keep cockroaches away.. LOL. The things this girl co-relates!

After the story, Lil p gives her pappa 5 kissies and they have a nosey fight..rub noses and whoever plants a kiss first wins.. after all the endless good nights, i love u mumma and i love u pappa .. she insists that he switch off all the lights. As soon as he goes to the living room, she'll call him again.. and ask for a glass of water. Every day! If he tries to be smart and gets a glass before she sleeps.. she'll come up with some excuse and makes him go get a fresh glass of water.. Really daughters have their dad nicely wrapped around their fingers.

I love watching such dad n daughter moments.. makes me love hubby more than ever. I hope Lil P remembers it too even when shez all grown up..

Edited to add a few more of her jems..

To my dad when he made finger chips for her " Ajoba, you are the best cooker in the whole wide world"
To me - "Mummy I love you as high as from the floor to the space.. and as wide from India to America "
On why we have proxy Santa Claus in India - "Because Santa is busy in America.. as they only have Christmas festival.. In India we have soooo many - Diwali dusera, holi, so my teachers dresses as Santa for him"
to every Tom Dick n harry walking on the road, when we bought a English to Kannada CD for her - "Now I know Kannada. I have Kannada CD"

"I want it NOW NOW NOWWWWWWWWWWW!"

New Artsy-Craftsy Entries

2011-12-18T18:32:00.000+05:30

There are entries from Shama , Roopa, Esther, Kannamma, Dr Sonia and our latest Member - Sharada :)

Please follow the links in the thumb-links below to check out their entries..

21. Gingerbread man

22. star ornaments

23. SNOW MAN

24. Simple Christmas Cards

25. Ornaments/ Bookmarks

26. Glitter stick bows and flowers

27. atiya

28. Old Bangles ornament

29. Dr Sonia S V

The wandering penguin..

2011-12-15T18:30:00.000+05:30

Lil P's penguin from here was last seen exploring Antarctica.....

A toilet roll, newspaper scrunched into a ball , yellow & black card sheets, a scissor, black & white acrylic color, Glue & googly eyes.. are all you need.

Scrunch up the newspaper into a ball and stick it onto an empty toilet roll about 6 inches long.
Paint the head & body black . leaving a small inverted U section for its tummy.
paint the tummy white. cut 2 sections of cardsheets with deep U shape and paste on either side.
Cut a triangle for the beak and 2 W shaped feet.. and stick.
Stick on the googly eyes and you have a penguin ready..

Sports day & Carnival

2011-12-14T08:24:00.001+05:30

Last week Lil P's School also had their sports day and a viva carnival. Since it was on 2 working days ( damn the school!! ) we decided that hubby would apply leave on Sports day and I would take off on the day of the carnival.... What I love about this school is that each kid is encouraged to take part in every activity.. Like in the annual day every kid is part of the skit.. some kids may not dance or sing or deliver dialogues but they will form an integral part of the show. Coming back to the sports day, Lil p is no sportswoman.. infact she finds it difficult to run very fast because of her flat feet. So what if she can't be the winner.. She can def pose as one :)

Usually she is ok when she doesn't win.. But this time her best friend came 3rd so Lil P was very upset that she had not won anything. I tried to reason with her but she was very upset and even woke up in the night crying.. So we sat and made a medal (3rd prize ) with a red ribbon that resembled the one her best friend had won. I was not sure if I was doing the rt thing.. I'd rather have her accept her friends victory with humbleness than feel jealous or upset about it. But making her own medal calmed her and she went back to her friend happily. Any pointers how I should have handled this situation?

The next day I had taken leave from office and decided to spend the whole day at her school with her. They had a drawing competition, a dance with props & a fancy dress for kid and parent for kids of nursery, Jr kg & sn kg. Since i was not sure if I / Hubby would be attending, I took the safer route and enrolled her only for the drawing competition. The theme was 'Nature's best shot' .. You guys will scold me but I was so busy that I couldn't get her to practice any thing.. I asked her what she wanted to draw and she said flowers and butterfly.. So I left it at that. Here is what she came up with all on her own .. She forgot to draw the butterflies though..

Some of the drawings were soooooo amazing .. I was surprised that a 5 year old could draw n paint so well. After the drawing competition, there was a carnival at school with tattoos, sugar candy, popcorn , pizza etc etc to eat.. there were many games to play and lots of stuff to buy.. She met the kids of my ex neighbor and they all had a good time at school..

At 3pm, the school had conducted a workshop on Puppet and mask making.. Though I was reluctant to take part, Lil p kept pleading that she wanted me to come, I did not have the heart to refuse. It was fun.. We make a Penguin from a toilet roll & a hand-print mask.. Here are some pics clicked by her teacher at school.

Annual Day at school

2011-12-13T07:25:00.001+05:30

This Sunday, Lil P had her annual day at school.. She had to go dressed in a cute kimono provided by her school.. All I got from her was that she was dancing for Japan.. I kept asking her which song and she insisted it was in Kannada.. I asked her to hum.. but she said "No! You come and watch me dance" and so we went ..

This year's theme for the annual day was 'The world' .. a lil boy is confused choosing the best country in the whole wide world .. so he travels from country to country learning abt their culture - first to China, then France, Russia, Egypt, Japan and then back to India.. while in Japan, my lil girl danced ;) to a Japanese song.. Here's the pic of Lil P in her costume.

It was an evening show and the kids danced really well.. Its soo cute to watch lil kids dance with absolute abandon.. Their innocence and smiles lit up the stage.

After the show we went to the nearest Mac D to celebrate .. :) Are the annual day celebrations over at your child's school?

Monkey maze and the Bangalore Metro

2011-12-12T15:59:00.004+05:30

Ever since we're back from the rajasthan trip, Lil P has become very clingy .. extremely,annoyingly clingy... A major reason could be that we have both gotten really busy with work and she feels left out.. so we are consciously trying to spend more time with her.. Friday, hubby was home early and we played a game of carrom.. I made some pizza and it was a lot of fun.. The next day we decided to take Lil p to Monkey maze at Indranagar as she had been asking to go there from a long time. It was deserted in the afternoon and Lil P started acting all prissy again.. She doesn't like adventurous activities ( *looking away - Don't blame me!) and is really scared to try out anything new.. Esp when I'm around, her nakhras increase multifold. Monkey maze has a half slide .. where u need to jump off the edge at abt 3 feet above ground and she kept dithering .. She has a lot of bravado in her talks but zero in action.. she kept climbing up.. and walking down.. but wouldn't touch the slide.. until another (smaller) kid arrived at the scene and did it with much gusto.. thats when she tried it out too..
How do you encourage your kid to try out something that you know is safe but he/she is scared of? With Lil p its best ignored.. She does a lot of natak just for our attention.. No matter how much we cajole / threaten it only makes things worse. If we ignore her she behaves normally and will typically try to observe and learn.
Anyway from there we met up with a family friend of ours and decided to take a joy ride on namma metro.. We took the metro from Indranagar upto MG road.. got down, ate dosas at the hotel next to gangarams and took the metro again from MG road to Indranagar.. We loved it.. though a Saturday evening was not the best choice for a joy ride. It was way too crowded. Having seen metros only in KL before, we couldn't help but compare that the platforms seemed a little too small .

Did you try the Bangalore Metro??

and er - did u guys notice the new header pic??

I learnt a bit of GIMP in the process and I'm hooked.. Next I'm planning to make some nice side buttons :) Do leave your comments, it keeps me encouraged to try new things..

Giveaway at Adithi's amma sews

2011-12-11T13:49:00.000+05:30

Adithi's amma is having a fab giveaway.. Here's what you can win...

Its is from the brand ROSEE which makes their products only using vegan leather!

Check it out :)

Latest Christmas Crafts for the AC-Dec

2011-12-08T18:28:00.001+05:30

All links are at the bottom of this page...

The latest entries for Artsy-Craftsy-Dec-2011

17. Chubby Little Snowman@craftisland

18. straw and tri bead ornament

19. A Christmas Toran

20. cHRISTMAS TREE

Christmas card ideas

2011-12-07T00:03:00.000+05:30

3-D Christmas Tree Card

Origami Christmas Tree Card

Thumbprint christmas lights

Thumbprint Reindeer

Santa Card

Which of these fab ideas are you gonna try this year??

Link in your Christmas cards & crafts at the Artsy-Craftsy-Dec-2011

Chubby Little Snowman

2011-12-06T20:57:00.000+05:30

Entry from Shalini for artsy-crafsty-dec

Chubby Little Snowman

Christmas crafts by Indira Tanwar

2011-12-06T20:54:00.000+05:30

Please welcome our new member - Indira with her entry for artsy-craftsy-dec

Christmas Wreaths

Christmas crafts by Esther

2011-12-06T19:30:00.000+05:30

Juice Can Santa Claus

DIY Nativity Scene: completed

Santa Claus Mask/Ornament

Tiny Hand Nativity scene Ornaments

Christmas tree

Christmas fridge magnets: Craft stick trees

Kids Christmas Craft: Glitter Salt Dough Ornaments

Kids Christmas Craft: Jingle Bracelet/Ornament

Magnetic Christmas countdown

Links

4. kids jingle bracelet/ornament

5. Glitter Salt Dough Ornament

6. Craft stick christmas tree

7. Number magnets countdown

8. DIY mini christmas tree

9. Tiny hands Nativity scene

10. Santa claus mask/ornament

11. Recycled Nativity scene

12. Juice can santa

Ranthambore Tiger Reserve

2011-12-05T20:47:00.006+05:30

Check out Udaipur , Bharathpur & Agra stories before reading this post..

We had planned to start for Ranthambore on 23rd early morning.. but after the marriage celebs we were really too lazy to get up n go.. Our alarm did not ring and we woke up with a start at 8.30 and all hell broke loose.. Bags had to be packed.. a sleepy 5 year old had to be woken up and gotten ready.. There was a gorgeous bathing tub at mansingh palace and Lil p insisted on having a leisurely bath in it. .. ok I digress. The point is that we were ready only by 12.30 and any plans of attending a safari on 23rd were dashed.. the road was also pathetic and we reached Ranthambore only at 6.30 pm.. We decided to rest that evening.. went off to sleep early and Hubby woke up at 5 am on 24th to stand in Q at the reserve gate. We all meanwhile got ready and reached by 7AM. Safari was to start at 8.. To say it was cold would be an understatement. Lilp was wearing 2 layer thermals, socks, shoes, a sweater a muffler and a woolen cap. All of us were wrapped in layers too. some people turned up with blankets. We chose an open jeep canter that seated 15 ppl.. They have a computerized system of allocating a zone.. I think the safari is split over 4 zones [ not sure abt this] and only 15 jeeps + canters are allowed at any time. We got the Zone 1 .. Zone 3 and 4 are more popular or so we read on the web.

There had been zero tiger sightings for the past 5 days in all zones... and we were also told that there was just 25% chance that we would sight a tiger.. mainly because it was so cold and there was water everywhere so the tigers did not venture out much.. The 8 am ride got delayed to 8.30 because the other people who had booked, had to be picked up or turned up late and we watched in sadness as each jeep entered before us.. The popular belief is that there are more chances of a tiger sighting for the early jeeps.. We kept joking that at this rate we wouldn't even see a single deer.. Finally after the ranger checked each person's Id proof.. and the 2 foreigners who missed getting their passports came back.. we finally entered the gates at 8.20 AM..

The ride is really rough.. If you are a person with back problems or are pregnant - DO NOT GO. [ just to clarify - I'm neither] . Just looking at the wilderness, we were astounded. The tiger could be calmly sitting in the bushes 2 feet away and we would 100% not be able to spot it. Anyway.. everyone was keenly looking into the horizon trying to spot the elusive tiger / leopard or atleast a deer.. something .. ANYTHING.. :(

One by one as the sun rays came out we could spot some small animals and birds .. far away.

A long tailed monkey

A spotted deer

About an hour into the ride and still no animals.. we saw a flock(?) of peacocks and peahens ..

This drew many excited shouts from the foreigners.. By now we were so used to seeing peacocks everywhere in rajasthan that Lil p answered " I have already seen it" and refused to even look out of the jeep.. We also saw many of the safari jeeps n canters return with disappointed results. No Tigers, they all sighed.. 1.5 hrs into the ride and kids had started getting edgy .. we saw an eagle sitting far away.. an owl's nest with 3 sleepy faces staring at us.. lots of birds.. all really really far away.. Lil P dozed off and was a pain (!!) to manage in that rumbling tumbling jeep.We saw a family of sambar deer and this cute lil fella with his mommy at the water front..

We stopped at a place where the rangers stayed for the night (deep inside zone 1) for open air toilets.. most people were scared and sat put in the canters waiting for the driver to return.. here we saw this fearless fella again. We had met him at Bharathpur before..The Rufus Tree Pie is a long-tailed chestnut-brown bird, with sooty head and neck. It has a black-tipped tail and greyish-white wing patches. Our guide told us that these birds are the tigers best friends.. after a full meal the tiger opens its jaws for this bird.. and the tree pie picks out all the meat stuck in its teeth. We carried ragi for this bird and it ate right out of our palms..Lil p also woke up in time to feed the bird

From here it was time to return back... with heavy hearts we went back the same way we had come in.. rt at the zone 1 entry ( abt 3 kms from main gate) we saw a mongoose ..

At the gate.. the ranger said that one of the earlier jeeps thought they saw a tiger near the watering hole and that we should maybe go and check.. by now 2 hrs were up and all the earlier safari jeeps were already out of the gate.. there were 2 other jeeps from zone 2 & 3 who decided to accompany us back into zone 1 and investigate [ remember the watering hole where we spotted the sambar? ] .. Normally there are warning calls by langurs & deer which signal a tiger nearby.. but no such luck.. We took a different (rougher) path and then suddenly we spotted him :).. A magnificent male tiger named T-24 lazing around in the stream..

Hearing all the commotion he slowly walked out and sauntered across the other end..

Our jeeps followed.. we found him resting rt next to the road

and we all watched as he moved in absolute royalty.. he was nearly 9 feet wide, about 4.5 years old .. and his coat shone brilliantly in the sunshine..

He disappeared as quietly as he arrived.. quickly hiding into the dense foliage.. and we returned with memories for a lifetime.. just counting our blessings at this rare sight and thanking our luck for the various delays which had earlier annoyed us.. cos if we had left Agra on time, we would have taken the safari the earlier evening - No tiger.. and if the foreigners had not forgotten their passports we would have been the first jeep in and out.. and again no tiger.. Everyone was just dazed and we pinched ourselves to be sure this was not a dream.

We reached our rooms and started for Jaipur, our next stop.

Fathepur & Agra

2011-12-04T11:13:00.002+05:30

Read Udaipur & Bharatpur details before this post ..

After the Mehendi, we were off to Agra for the wedding on 22nd. The next morning was again foggy .. Our Tour guide suggested we visit Fathehpur enroute to Agra.
We need to park the car and then take an auto Rickshaw to the Fathepur fort.. tip #1 Negotiate a ride .. to n fro costed us 60Rs. and after that too you need to walk 100 mtrs in absolute muck.

This was built by Akbar to honor sufi saint Salim Chisti and was the Mughal capital for a long time.. Right now it lies in a very pathetic condition. The surrounding areas are very smelly and dirty.. and the interiors too are hardly maintained. After visiting Udaipur, this was a shock to us.. We have to leave our footwear outside and we did so with great reluctance. The whole fort is littered with bird poo.. and I kept getting distracted with that more than the magnificent monument. tip #2 - Wear socks inside - n then once u are out ..chuck them !

There is the Bulund Darwaza , Diwan e khas, Diwan E Aam, and the Tomb itself..

You can buy beautiful carved stone artifacts inside .. I picked up this tea light holder for myself. Tip #3 - Negotiate - start with 50%

We had lunch at the Taj Mahal hotel and then checked in to the fabulous Mansingh Palace

From there we went to see the Taj .. Agra was chilly and the fog just seemed relentless.. We went by Electric jeep upto the main gate .. the Taj is a beautiful place and it was fitting that we got to spend some time here as a 6th anniversary celebration.. We were late for the marriage and hurried out .. longingly looking at all the taj memorabilia being sold there Tip #3 - Keep some time to check the shops around the gate. You find lovely macrana work products and tiny tajmahals to carry back home with you.

and then it was time for K's marriage...The arrangements were really grand and I got to witness my first north Indian wedding.. My god what a lavish setting.. and my friend K looked gorgeous.. Don't u think so? I have intentionally left out pics which show her face clearly..

The marriage rituals ended at 4 AM.. .. n next day we started for Ranthambore. ..

How to Draw a Snow Bear - Post from artprojectsforkids.org

2011-12-03T01:47:00.000+05:30

How to Draw a Snow Bear

Bharathpur, Rajasthan

2011-12-02T07:16:00.004+05:30

Part 1 - Udaipur trip pics

Part 2
Now my friend K is from Bharathpur and this whole trip materialized because K was getting married.. and the fun part is that K is my colleague (n my fav baccha) at office and she also happens to be my sister's roomie.. Bharathpur also has an amazing bird sanctuary so hubby WANTED to go there.. We caught the Gwalior Express from Udaipur to Bharathpur .. and were greeted to a cold foggy morning.. Thankfully by 10 am the fog cleared up .. We checked into the quaint Sunbird Hotel near the sanctuary gate..
Had Garam chai n breakfast and we were ready to explore the bird sanctuary.. You can access the park by cycling or hiring a cycle rickshaw / horse cart.. We did not hire any guides as K had said that the rickshaw drivers are more enthusiastic and quite informative.. They charge 70rs Per hour per cycle rickshaw.. we chose 3 cycle ricks.. Lil P was more interested in driving them herself.. ;)

We spent nearly 5 leisurely hours inside the park.. the only sounds were the chitter chatter and playful squawks of the birds there.. We saw many birds...
Jungle Bush-Quail
Indian Peafowl
Lesser Whistling Duck
Ruddy Shelduck
Spot-billed Duck
Eurasian Wigeon
Asian Openbill
Black-necked Stork
Woolly-necked Stork
Painted Stork
Indian Black Ibis
Little Egret
Purple Heron
Grey Heron
Indian Pond Heron
Indian Cormorant
Brahminy Kite
Crested Serpent Eagle
Shikra
Common Moorhen
Sarus Crane
River Lapwing
Yellow-wattled Lapwing
Spotted-necked Dove
Eurasian Collared Dove
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Spotted Owlet
Indian Roller
Common Hoopoe
White-throated Kingfisher
Indian Grey Hornbill
Brown-headed Barbet
Indian Pitta
Black Drongo
Rufous Treepie
Jungle Crow
Jungle Babbler
Pied Starling
Pied Bushchat
Purple Sunbird
Yellow Wagtail
Red-headed Bunting

In the middle of it all, at the canteen wash basin, a golden wasp bit Lil p in the middle of her forehead.. she screamed n screamed n it was dark ..I don't know how, but I did not panic. Just picked her up and ran out of the rest room.. We were in the middle of the forest.. almost 10 kms away from the main gate.. I had no cream with me and Lil P has a big list of things she is allergic to. It was freaking crazy.. There was a foreigner couple and the lady had a lotion of pure aloe. She quickly applied it and Lil p calmed down after some time.. The ranger told me that normally they quickly heat up a key (anything metal / iron) and apply to the bite.. it leaves a mark but cures instantly.. since Lil P was small and it was her face, they were at a loss too.. Thankfully it was non poisonous & lil p did not develop any allergies [ I did give her alerid as soon as we reached the room tho] ... This episode has instilled a new fear of all insects in Lil P. Tip #1 - carry alerid, insect repellent, aloe / lacto calamine lotion with you at all times.. be careful of dark watery washrooms as it attracts wasps.

Coming back to the birds, Sorry, I don't have many pics.. its awfully difficult to capture birds with a 200mm Lens.. But there were so many and so pretty n chirpy.. it lifted our moods. A MUST visit with older kids..

Do u see the lone duck - its the brahminy duck -- an interesting fact ( don't know the validity) these birds are always found in pairs during the day but are alone at night.. apparently the male n female were making such a sound that it disturbed a rishi who cursed them that they would be together during the day but always separated at night.. so sad.

Some special pics -

We saw a turtle wade out of water and cross the road

Shikra catching a moor hen

The really scary looking Indian Monitor Lizard

and an eagle swallow a whole mouse -- See the tail hanging out of its mouth..

Once we were back to our rooms, it was 6.30Pm and time to attend the mehendi function at K's Home..

There was nice sangeet.. with naughty songs..

My friend K's mehandi

Lil P also got some mehendi on her palms too..

Coming up next - Agra

Winners for Artsy-Craftsy-Nov & Oct 2011

2011-12-01T09:16:00.001+05:30

Artsy Craftsy -Dec is up .. Do check it out too.

is this entry from Adi & Ani [ Only 1 winner because of the less entries]

is Asmita for her entry - Diwali card

is Dr Sonia for her Dinosaur card

is the very talented Jui for her entry - diwali card

Artsy-Craftsy-Dec-2011

2011-12-01T00:00:00.001+05:30

Esther - Just for you ....

The Theme for Artsy-Craftsy-Dec-2011 is "Christmas Crafts"

Share crafty ornaments that you made, Reuse, make cards, make your own wrapping paper..

You can link in previously linked crafts too.

Please add a link back to this post for each entry.

I have a inlinkz tool at the bottom of this post. Please link your entries in that only.

Here are the rules of the challenge.. Do read the ones in bold and yellow.

Stick to the theme for the month.I reserve the rights to delete an entry that does not have a backlink or is not related to the theme.
Last date for sending your nomination is 30th of Dec, 2011.
If you have a blog, add the above image in a post with a link to this page and add the artsy-craftsy pic in your sidebar [ HTML code below]. You don't need to be a follower.
If you don't have a blog, mail me the pics at mymindfulmeanderings[at]gmail[dot]com. Add copyright info and steps on how you made the craft.
Add your blog post link in the inlinkz tool below.
Resize the pics that you send / upload to a max of 1024x768.
Please provide pics and details on how you made the craft. Links to another site which has the instructions is also fine.
The winner will be chosen based on how easy yet stunning the end result looks and will be announced on the last day of the month.
The entry has to be child-friendly. Keep it simple though.
You can have more than 1 entry .. and increase your chances at winning.
This challenge is open for all kids, ladies, gents, moms, dads , followers, lurkers... everyone.

Go on get artsy-craftsy :)

Udaipur, Rajasthan

2011-11-30T09:38:00.005+05:30

We started our journey on the 18th.. Took a flight from Blr to Ahemedabad late in the evening and stayed at a small motel for the night.. The Picnic started early when we hired an innova to drive us from Ahm to Udaipur. You know you are in Rajasthan when start spotting sights like this..

Red Juicy guavas dotting the highway

Traffic Jams of the animal kind..

and colorful Truck Bumpers

We stayed at the RTDC hotel Anand Bhawan facing Fateh Sagar Lake. we couldn't get any good deals as it was Season.. but if you get a chance, book a room over lake pichola. scenery is way better.

Rooms were pretty comfortable with furnishings inspired by the Victorian era.. Rooms were spacious with 20 feet high ceilings.. Fun start to our trip..

a quick lunch at Hukam [ I rate it a 2/5]and we were off to see the Lake Pichola.. and the famed Jag mandir.. But it was the wedding season and unfortunately the access to this hotel was blocked.. There are normally 2 tickets one a Boat ride across pichola for 100 rs and another with a stop at Jag Mandir that costs 550 per head. Since our this plan was squashed, we decided to check the Palace instead.

Covered with bright frescoes..

view of the Udaipur city from the intricately carved window grills

It was already time for sunset and lake pichola did not disappoint us

View of the palace from the boat ride along Lake Pichola

From there we went to Ambrai [ I rate it a 5/5 just for the view] for our dinner.. and the view from this place is AMAZING.. tip #1 - Do book your table in advance. They had live music - an artisan playing the sarangi to rajasthani tunes. Lil p danced for over an hour and half giving free entertainment to the foreign crowd. ..

With views like this what more can you ask for...

The highlight of the dinner was the unexpected display of fireworks at the Jag Mandir which we got to enjoy..

The next day we woke up to the incessant chatter of the Jungle Babbler..

and the friendly Squirrels who ate right out of our fingers much to Lil P's delight.

From there we drove back to Lake Pichola and took the cable car to Karni MataTemple on a hill top. You get a spectacular 360 Degree view of Udaipur city.

There were camel rides,corn cob, and we took some cute pics of Lil P in traditional Rajasthani outfit..

From there there was one thing on our minds - Shoppinggggggggggg

We bought whole lot of stuff from the handicraft emporium.. [ Tip #2 - Buy ur stuff in jaipur.. its way cheaper]

Miniature paintings..

From there we went to the Vintage car collection museum and had sumptuous veggie rajasthani lunch at the Adjoining Garden Hotel[ rate it a 3/5 ]

Post Lunch it was again shoppinggggggggg :D.. what do u expect when there are 3.5 ladies in a group ;)

Some heavy duty saree shopping happened at the nearby shop - Bandhani , lehria, Gota work.. The pic below is a 6 .5 mtr saree..

From here we drove down to Monsoon / Summer palace.. for some sunset shots..

On the way back the driver stopped at a school for folk art where we saw a live demo at how miniature paintings are done. Bought a lovely radha krishna painting for 2100 .. pics later..

Finally we went back to the vintage car collection as it was open till 9PM and also picked our saris that had gone for Roll Press

Quick dinner at Nataraj [ Rate this a 4/5 for food and 2/5 for ambiance] .. we reached the Udaipur railway station at 10 PM for our Next stop Bharathpur ...

I want to talk n talk n talk..

2011-11-29T08:45:00.000+05:30

Thank you all for the lovely comments here .. I am feeling much much better.I very rarely feel low.. I have too many good things happening .. but when I do, you guys do make me feel instantly better.. n I can't stay away for very long. The reasons for my absence however were many - One, I had a major release happening at office. Two, I'm moving to a different team from 1st Dec and the transition work had to be completed before I moved. Three, We went on a trip to Rajasthan - A crazy 9 day , 7 cities, 5 state trip with a Big wedding bang in the middle of it all... and finally it was our 6th Wedding anniversary this Sunday.. Phew! Thinking abt it is itself hectic!

We travel a LOT.. I've just not been able to post abt it very often, that's all.

Ok so this was our trip details

More details and pics in the next post..

Button craft ideas from the web

2011-11-28T22:06:00.000+05:30

1. Decorate a purse with them

via

2. Make a Button candle holder

via

3. Fancy a button curtain ?

via

4. Make Christmas ornaments

via

5. Make a valentines day card

via

6. or simple bake some edible cookie buttons

via

Tiny Blue Buttons..

2011-11-26T21:28:00.000+05:30

Save water collage using buttons.. Try this creative craft as explained by Jui

Button cards by Swapna & her daughter A

2011-11-26T20:42:00.001+05:30

Are your entries ready?? Last 2 day for this artsy-craftsy to end..

Button wall art by Somu -Woodooz

2011-11-26T20:42:00.000+05:30

Welcome our newest member to the artsy-craftsy family Somu aka Woodooz with the entry - Button wall clocks

Aren't they the prettiest? Small kids can be encouraged to try this on a paper plate :)

Button crafts by Shama

2011-11-25T21:33:00.000+05:30

Try out these cute crafts submitted by Shama.. our latest entry to Artsy-craftsy :)

BUTTON STAMPED BUTTERFLY

FRIENDSHIP BAND /KIDS FRIENDLY BAND

Artsy-Craftsy-Nov-2011

2011-11-14T09:05:00.002+05:30

The Theme for Artsy-Craftsy-November-2011 is "Button Art"

Use the colorful buttons to make some felt flowers, some jewelery, a card maybe..

You can link in previously linked crafts too.

Please add a link back to this post for each entry.

I have a inlinkz tool at the bottom of this post. Please link your entries in that only.

Here are the rules of the challenge.. Do read the ones in bold and yellow.

Stick to the theme for the month.I reserve the rights to delete an entry that does not have a backlink or is not related to the theme.
Last date for sending your nomination is 29th of Nov, 2011.
If you have a blog, add the above image in a post with a link to this page and add the artsy-craftsy pic in your sidebar [ HTML code below]. You don't need to be a follower.
If you don't have a blog, mail me the pics at mymindfulmeanderings[at]gmail[dot]com. Add copyright info and steps on how you made the craft.
Add your blog post link in the inlinkz tool below.
Resize the pics that you send / upload to a max of 1024x768.
Please provide pics and details on how you made the craft. Links to another site which has the instructions is also fine.
The winner will be chosen based on how easy yet stunning the end result looks and will be announced on the last day of the month.
The entry has to be child-friendly. Keep it simple though.
You can have more than 1 entry .. and increase your chances at winning.
This challenge is open for all kids, ladies, gents, moms, dads , followers, lurkers... everyone.

Go on get artsy-craftsy :)

Feeling Desperate

2011-10-31T08:07:00.002+05:30

Feeling very jittery.. and I don't know exactly why..
A never ending release, a big trip planned soon , my good friends all gone from the company , PMP , recurring health issues , Guilt , exhaustion , desperation .... Frustration.
Just one of those days when I need a hug. :)

And we have our first burn

2011-10-28T08:47:00.000+05:30

Sigh.. Diwali can get so unpredictable. One min Lil p was jumping with joy, holding a sparkler and the next moment she is screaming in pain.. She burnt her forefinger (slightly) trying to hold the sparkler at the wrong end once it got over. Double sigh. Couple of things I'm thankful for
1. That it was not a serious burn. She was howling in pain and guess it scared her more than anything.... But she slept well.
2. There was water handy and some quick thinking parents applied toothpaste!! surprise surprise it cooled the area and the blister was minimized.
3. Its her right hand that got singed and she is a lefty.

We applied Burnol in the night and she was alright. But be safe people... Do keep water handy and ur eyes open. Kids forget all that u have told them about safety in the excitement..

Diwali 2011 - in pictures

2011-10-27T12:45:00.000+05:30

The rangoli stamp put by Lil p using a plastic mould.

The rangoli in front of my house

With diyas during laxmi puja

and noise free crackers.. celebrations in our apartment complex.

Diwali is here ...

2011-10-25T08:41:00.001+05:30

The lamps are lit..

the earthen urlis are filled with floating candles and flowers

and the house smells of sweet incense.. and a happy glow

How are you welcoming Diwali this year??

Linking this to

and

Traditional day at school

2011-10-24T16:15:00.002+05:30

As part of her Diwali celebrations Lil p had a traditional day at school on Friday. She went dressed in her cotton zari border Langa that I had bought for her for Dussehra. I had also bought traditional (artificial) jewelery for her to wear. I'm too scared to put gold on her and I'm not that rich either ;)

The pic is from our trip to my in-laws place for the Dussehra. .. More pics of that trip in a new post soon.

You guys must be aware that I had my first round of training for PMP over the weekend.. This was the first time after 9 years that I was attending a 9AM - 7PM class. But i must appreciate the trainer. He was amazing and kept the class very charged up and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are 2 more days of training - 29th & 30th and I'm already looking forward to it.This also meant that hubby was taking care of Lil P on his own from morning till evening. Dad n daughter had a great time. They went to Monkey maze, solved puzzles together.. Lil p loved their play area and the ball pool , monkey wall and something she called the half slide.
Later that evening he also took her to the planetarium. Lil p had been asking to see the moon and see the "earth" from up in the sky.. I'm told, father n daughter enjoyed the day a lot.. On Sunday they went with another family friend of ours to Bangalore Fort .. that was also quite adventurous.. but Lil p hurt her finger a little and there was a deep scratch.. (superficial of course).
She was all fine till she saw me.. happily eating junk food through the day. as soon as she saw me.. she cried buckets saying "mama, my hand is broken" and me n hubby couldn't stop laughing.Love you my little drama queen.

Diwali craft ideas for the kids

2011-10-23T23:17:00.000+05:30

Consolidating a few of my favorite Diwali crafts from the web

Diwali Lanterns

A Diya wall hanging made from a paper plate from the kiddyhouse

Diya Mobile from the activity village

Diwali rocket from activity village again

Pooja Thali From the art-platter

Door Toran

Diwali Food Craft from the Little Food Junction

Cracker Lanterns ( Traditional kandils )

Diwali Lamps (Diya)

First trip on a aeroplane

2011-10-22T23:19:00.001+05:30

Its been long since I actually sat down to write what I planned to write for that day.. each day its a mad rush to capture the happenings. I forgot to blog about Lil P's first flight. You might remember our Kerala Trip last month..On our way back we took the flight to Bangalore.
For records :
Date - Sept 1st, 2011
Flight - From Trivendrum To Bangalore
IndigoAir - 5.40 Pm

I don't know who was more excited, Me or Lil P !! I was boarding a flight after 5 years.. and I was more excited that it was her first time.

She loved the fact that she got a window seat and that the seats had a seat belt.. We gave her a lollipop to lick so that the air pressure would not affect her. She glanced at the air hostess and then completely ignored her.. I was hoping she would be excited abt meeting one up close and personal after dressing as one in her school. She seemed fascinated ( or scared?? ) at the huge size of a aircraft.

Once we were up in the air, She loved the clouds and then again got bored and started fiddling with my mobile, playing games.

Before we knew it, snacks arrived and with it her gift. She choose a Barbie voice record and play mike from their online catalog . I was at my happiest best and indulged her. Infact I wanted to buy a toy pillow shaped liked the indigo airline.. but hubby refused to cater to fancies of a 30 year old kid!

The kandil at the door

2011-10-21T08:39:00.000+05:30

We don't have a bulb holder to put our kandil (lamp) outside the door.. and the options in the balcony are also limited. So we made this kandil craft to welcome our guests..

I had a couple of Foam sheets that I had got from the US. The cardstock and tissue paper roll was over and so we decided to make do with what was available at home. Once we stuck the plain foam sheets we felt that it looked too plain, so I gave a rubber stamp to P and she stamped a pattern on it .. Then blotches of glitter glue gave it some shine ..Finally the leftover crepe ribbons from her bday party was added .

Welcome to my home Guys! :)

and in other news, My blog now has 600+ posts .. and I start my PMP classes from tomorrow (22,23,29 & 30th) Wish me luck :) and pray I don't fall asleep in the class. So not used to attending lectures from 9 - 6!!!

Linking this to

and

Diwali crafts from the artsy-craftsy home

2011-10-20T12:19:00.000+05:30

Thanks to Avanti who asked me for suggestions on making a few Diwali crafts with her son, I decided to ask the in house expert ( Lil P :D) if she would be interested in making a few cards for her grandparents. The lil imp had many ideas abt the what she wanted, the embellishments and who she wanted to give what..

Here's what we made today. We had Glitter Glue, construction paper , starry stickers , and foam sheets.

The first card we made were glitter fireworks.. made by Lil p

She helped me with this card.. why do I like her version more??

I so so love her tiny fingers..

Then she drew this awesome diya on her own.

Then I cut the diyas using foam (animal) stickers and lil P stuck them on cardstock

Where are your entries for the artsy-craftsy-oct??

Featured on women's web

2011-10-19T16:14:00.000+05:30

Thank you Aparna :) .. the interview was so much fun..

The new lamp

2011-10-17T15:42:00.000+05:30

I always wanted to have a lamp for my Ganesha corner. My hubby however is not too fond of them and so it remained on my wish list for long. Moving to this house, I changed the decor from fuchsia- green to a sober Black - cream - gold - brown look. I checked out Lifestyle, Home town and @home for a simple lamp that fit this theme.. Every lamp that I liked costed above 5000 rs. Then my sis took me to a small shop off commercial street [ Next to Mac D ] we found this lamp. Its a simple wooden lamp with carving and a beige top. What do you think?

Diwali Decor

2011-10-16T23:31:00.003+05:30

Ahh the festive fever is in air. Diwali does that to you rt? I found this gorgeous Moroccan tea light holder at Commercial Street , Bangalore yesterday..

Needless to say, I fell in love

It comes in a set like this... A cast iron stand, and 2 tealight holders.

The lighted lamps are shining on my dining table right now..

Aren't they beautiful? The come in various colors, Blue, red, yellow, pink, purple and green.

I chose the pink & the yellow.. Nice contrast rt?

There is a whole bazaar for Moroccan lights now.. From tea light holders to large mosaic lamps, you can find them all. I paid a measly 700 Rs for the set above.. Hehe. Go on feel jealous. What has been your Diwali find this year? I have a lot more goodies to share.. but that's for another day.

Linking this to

and

A special message

2011-10-15T01:23:00.000+05:30

On behalf of Sunayna..

There is a local NGO based in mumbai that is trying to raise funds through selling diya's

I am a volunteer with the organization - Touching lives. I have an initiative called "Art with Sunayna" I make earrings, greeting cards, coasters, frames and other products from upcycled paper.

Every year, Art with Sunayna conducts diya sale to raise funds for the ngo - the complete profit goes to the ngo.

a few links that might help

www.touchonelife.org

www.artwithsunayna.wordpress.com

Mail her at sunayna.navani@gmail.com for details.