Mandir - a gorgeous recycled craft

Hi

I was away from my lounge for a pretty long time. My mother and nephew visited me and we had a very great time.  I could not visit any of your blog but will soon catch up with your creations.

My mother who has inspired me and imparted the knowledge & interest in arts & crafts right from my childhood days has encouraged & guided  me while I did this mandir.

Things needed :-

1. Round thermocol pieces - 2 (same size)
2. Two wooden light weight skewers - 4 Nos
3. Ice sticks (popsicle sticks) - 7 Nos.
4. Glue Gun / Fevicol
5. Packaged water bottle cap - 1 No.
6. bell without tong - 1 No.
7. Bell with tong - 1 No.
8. Beads for decoration
9. Gold Colour powder 
10. Craft glue
11. Water
12. Flat Paint Brush 

The thermocol I used had come as a spool for satin ribbons. I did some satin ribbon garland project (which I already posted here) and saved those thermocol spools for some craft project. It has come handy in the project to form the base and ceiling for my mandir.
 

Procedure :

•  Place one thermocol as a base

• Draw a square using a pencil and insert the skewers on four corners

• Fix the second thermocol piece on top to make the ceiling

• To give additional support and form a back wall, stick the ice sticks using glue on the back side to the top as well as bottom thermocol pieces. (refer the picture below)

• Place a waterbottle cap in the centre of the thermocol piece at top to form a platform, using glue

•  On top of it, place the bell without tong (this bell lost its tong hence saved it for future use and now i has come handy in my project) on top of the water bottle cap, using glue.

• Now the mandir structure is ready.

•  Mix little water, craft glue and golden powder to make a paste. Apply this all over the mandir. Let it dry for 15 minutes.

• Now you can decorate the mandir as you like using beads or sequins.

• I made a satin ribbon garland and placed it around the mandir to decorate the base. 

• Use glue gun which helps you finish the project quickly as you need not wait for long for the glue to dry.

• Now your Gorgeous mandir is ready. Adorn it with the mini idol of your favourite deity.

side view

top view

I made this mandir to keep it in our car. So when the car is in motion the bells will raise a sweet & mild sound.

Satin Ribbon Garland - 3

My third satin ribbon garland made based on the the traditional Jasmine, green leaf and rose design using offwhite, red and green satin ribbons.

To know how to make a satin ribbon garland please check this post 

In this garland I have used a crystal long bead accompanied by a silver bead on both sides. Here is the close up shot with the darshan of the lotus feet of Lord Venkateshwara for you.

Tulsi Tea (organic india)

Which is the first item that gets into your shopping cart?

Mine usually starts with Oil or Dal. The supermarket I visit starts with cosmetics from the entrace and gradually proceeds with bath requirements, clothes, accessories,..... last comes the oil, dal, veg & bakery sections. So I start from Oil / Dal section and go ahead...... by the time my shopping is over, i will be near billing section.

Orgnaic India's Tulsi tea caught my attention and swooooooooosh!...... it went inside my shopping cart. I prefer tea leaves over tea bags. Tea leaves gives a quality taste compared to tea bags.

The tulsi tea is a combination of Rama Tulsi, Krishna Tulsi and Vana Tulsi. Their other tea leaves viz., jasmine, chamomile, ginger, lemon etc have a mix of these three tulsi leaves in the ingredient list.  I went for this one. I can always squeeze in few drops of lemon or crush a piece of ginger to get the variation in taste & flavour.

The steeping process is same as the ginger honey lemon tea.

I just added few drops of honey as a very light sweetner. What a soothing tea it is!

The mix flavour is taking me... into ..... a blissful state...............................

c u with another cup of freshly brewed health tea!

bye

Ginger Honey Lemon tea

Natural Tea are rich in anti-oxidant. A cup of tea after a meal aids in digestion, dissolves cholestrol, help in weightloss along with exercise & controlled diet.  

 

Tea when brewed at right temperature, without milk & sugar, infuse good health. They taste best when they are just hot enough to sip unlike the regular milk teas.

Opt for tea leaves instead of tea bags as they make your tea taste best.

These teas help you relax, boost your health.

These tea leaves can be reused twice or thrice though the concentration may become lighter.

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Ginger Honey Lemon Tea (servings : 2 nos)

You will need :-

1. Ginger - 1" piece
2. Lemon - half a lemon
3. Honey - 2 tsp
4. Water - 2 cups

 Procedure :-

• wash, peel the ginger.

• CAUTION :- Ginger should never be used with peel. You have to remove the outerskin as the skin has the property of nullifying all the good qualities of a ginger. For any use, never forget to peel a ginger.

•  Grate the ginger and put it into a tea pot or a vessel or a thermoflask

•  Boil 2 cups water. Switch off and leave it for two minutes for the temperature to come down. Pour this water into the pot / vessel / flask and cover it with lid and allow it to steep for 4 minutes.

• Now in the serving glass squeeze in few drops of lemon juice

• Add 1tsp honey in each serving glass

•  Using a sieve filter the steeped tea into the glass. mix well.

• Enjoy your cup of healthy tea!

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BENEFITS :-

• This soothing combination aids in weightloss, boost immune system. Best during cold & flu.
• The antioxidant vitamin C from lemon prevent formation of free radicals. Good to fight cold.
• Ginger is used in therapies to control nausea, vomitting. It also helps in sweating thus assists detoxification process in the body
• Honey a natural cough suppressant, boosts immunity and a natural sweetner which makes your tea more interesting.