A New Year..A New Hope

Everyone looks forward to a New year, even though, we all know that nothing magically happens overnight. Nothing changes when the clock strikes 12. Debts do not magically disappear, diseases don't get cured overnight, wars may not end, poverty will still exist, broken relationships may not get fixed... But New Hope arises at the dawn of a New year! ... There is nothing stronger than Hope. It is greater than fear.  

Faith in God and Hope is what keeps us going every day and new year's eve serves as a good reminder. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." - Romans 5:1-5

So looking back, I look ahead with faith yet again. Knowing that the God of Hope will see me through the new year as well.. So I wish you all a hope filled year... "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13

DIY: Hanging Garlands (Home made Decorations)

These are simple, yet elegant hanging garlands for all occasions. You can change the colors and shapes and adapt to any occasion,  birthdays, baby showers, graduations or even Christmas. You can hang it against walls or free flowing. Trust me, they look much better in real than in the photos here. I found this DIY a while ago while browsing, and the first thing I thought was, darn! I missed doing it for my son's birthday. You can have a look here for more detailed tips. 

What you'll need:

• Color papers of your choice
• Something round (To trace)
• Scissors
• Thread or thin ribbon
• Sewing machine or glue 

Steps:

• Cut out circles in different colours and sizes. I used 3 different colours, red, green and white. And 2 sizes in each colour.
• Next thread the sewing machine and start sewing. You don't have to be an expert in sewing to do this. Just start the machine and start feeding a circle, then leave a gap (continue stitching without anything, a chain of blank stitches will appear), then feed the next circle.
• Don't worry about the distance between each circle, its all random. That's what makes it look good. 
• Just randomly feed any colour paper, at any distance.  
• If you don't have a sewing machine, you can use a thin ribbon and glue, instead of thread. 
• You can make a garland as long as you want, and then cut it into the length you like. Or make a lot of small ones, I leave it to your imagination. 

DIY:Simple Knight Costume for Boys

Here's an easy costume idea for little boys. All you need is little fabric and (any) same coloured pant and t-shirt.  I saw this idea on this blog and was waiting to try it out on my son. So this Halloween, he went as a little knight to his play school. 

What you'll need:

• 1/2 meter or more of red (or any color) fabric.
• White scrap cloth.
• Black scrap cloth.
• Brown ribbon or regular belt.
• Iron on adhesive tape or needle & thread.
• Scissors.
• A t-shirt for marking size.
• Picture of a shield.

Steps:

• 
  
• 
  
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• Fold fabric in half, in a way that the folded part is on top (Shoulder area).
• Now fold it again in half vertically. Fold the T-shirt also in half vertically and measure and mark the shoulders, cut the fabric at the mark.
• Next cut the neck portion, as seen in the picture above. Make sure the opening fits the child's head.
• Open the fold and iron to make a crease at the shoulder. 
• You don't have to stitch the sides, its like a robe. 

•  
• Print out a picture of a shield. Cut out the shield.
• Place it on a piece of white fabric, trace and cut.
• Then cut the middle cross off the shield (paper), use it to trace it on a black fabric and cut. 
• Stick or stitch the black cross on the white shield. I used an iron-on adhesive tape.
• Then stick or stitch the finished shield on the red robe. I stuck the shield and then made a fancy running stitch around with red thread. 
• Next, use a belt to complete. For younger children, you can do what I did. Use a brown ribbon with a little black hollow square in the center. Stick or stitch the ribbon in place so it does not move. On the back use a velcro on the ends of the ribbon, to tighten.

To complete, make your child wear matching pant and top of your choice (preferably black or white). It does not need to be a plain t-shirt, just the sleeves need to be plain. And then, make him wear the robe on top of it. 

Ps: Pardon the messy living room :) 

DIY : Turtle Neck Sweater into Cardigan (No sewing)

Fall has arrived and its time to bring out the sweaters and jackets. As I was sorting through winter clothes I realised I had these 2 turtle neck sweaters that I had bought in India 5 years ago. They no longer flatter my body type and decided to donate them, when I luckily remembered seeing a sweater DIY in a blog long time ago and decided to try it out as I love DIYs and cardigans :) 

What you'll need:

• Any old or hand me down sweater (or any t-shirt works too), not necessarily turtle neck. Don't buy a new one just for this
• Sharp scissors 

Steps:

• If its a turtle neck sweater, identify the neck line and cut it off above the joint.
• Front opening: Fold the sweater in half length wise and mark the middle and cut an opening from bottom to top on the front alone. 
• If you like the neck as it is, your done :)
• Else, bring both the cut edges together and mark an opening from the neck line down and cut. 
• And your cardigan is done :)
• Unleash your creativity and add buttons, flowers or any other embellishments. 

DIY : Tissue Paper Flowers (Carnations)

I love flowers, it gives any room an instant face lift. But fresh flowers don't last more than a week, and that's a stretch. I don't know about you, I have a tough time throwing them out as well, so I kinda let them stay till they wither away. But by then its also a big mess. And with a toddler around I cant keep them anywhere I want, cos the next second there would be a disaster with water on the floor and poor flowers would be beaten to death or more so banged to death (or do flowers die as soon as they are picked???)

Anyway, I decided to make flowers rather than buy plastic ones. So I went on a search and this is what I found.  These tissue paper carnations looked almost real and were the easiest to make. I am not gonna invent the wheel again and write the steps like it was my idea, you can follow the steps from this blog. 

I tried doing it red, but I think you should stick with white and pink tissue papers alone.They look more real in my opinion. If you don't have pipe cleaners, use any flexible steel or plastic wire. I could not find green floral tape so used green tissue paper and glue stick to wrap around the stem. Some of my pipe cleaners were green so I did not wrap them (due to laziness). You can see the difference in colour through the vase. The vase is an up-cycled  jar. It had tomato purée in it, why waste a perfectly good glass jar :) 

DIY : Upcycling - Storage containers

Converting waste cardboard boxes into cool storage containers...

I saw this DIY long time back but never came around to doing it until couple of months back. I will not take credit for this creative idea, but when I did see it, I thought now why didn't I think of that before wasting all those diaper boxes. So I thought I will share the idea with everyone since it is a great way to save the environment, some money and be happy you made something good out of nothing. And don't we always seem to need some extra storage where we can hide those not so appealing things :) 

Things you need:

• Any empty cardboard box
• Gift wrap or colourful paper of your choice 
• Glue 
• Or Self adhesive paper - some gift wraps and shelf liners come with glue on it. You just cut, peel and stick.
• Scissors 

Steps:

I am sure just by looking at the list, you would have figured it out :) 

• Measure the sides of the box
• Cut the paper
• Glue it
• Let it dry. If using a self adhesive paper, there is no dry time.

The polka dot ones I glued. The brown boxes are self adhesive paper. Feel free to unleash your creativity with the design, this is just an inspiration. I saw some boxes with ribbons for borders, glitters and stick-on stones :)

You don't have to be a mother, to be a mother.

Mother's day is celebrated with great pom and splendor here in Canada. It is celebrated in India too, but not to this extent. Its kinda in your face here... you cant miss it :) you cant forget its mother's day tomorrow.  Its great to honor our mothers, we need to, we have to in fact. For all the sacrifices they have done for us. But I think it should not just be a one day event or be limited to mothers only, that is, limited to women who have biologically or adopted children only.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and a woman was wishing someone in line for mother's day. Then she asked me and the cashier if we were mothers, I said 'Yes' and the cashier smiled said 'no'. So the lady in line ahead just wished me and left. I kinda think its not polite, to skip people when wishing. So I wished the cashier and she was very happy. In some ways Mother's day kinda segregates women who have children from women who don't. I don't think its fair. I personally know of many women who do not have children of their own, but they nurture, care for and love children in their own way and go beyond what is called for. Be it in church as a Sunday school teacher or a youth leader, as a teacher in school, a nanny, a care giver, a social worker, or as a loving aunt to her nieces and nephews... the list goes on... there are thousands of women out there who would love to become mothers, but due to situations cant, and thousands of women who are blessed to be mothers, but do not do justice to the title of motherhood. So its not fair just to wish 'mothers' alone. Mother Theresa did not have her own children, but she is the epitome of motherhood. Any woman who loves, nurtures and cares for people around her is a 'mother'.

So, Happy Mother's Day to all my lovely family and friends! :)

PS: I hope I have not offended anyone with this post. I'm sorry if I did. This is just my opinion.  

Coconut Macaroons

Yesterday I suddenly remembered that I had saved a recipe for Coconut Macaroons (biscuits) somewhere last year. I had found it after I baked a fruit cake for Christmas and had some shredded coconut left. So I decided to find it and bake it. It turned out really well, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside :) 

Its a very easy and simple recipe. If you've read my previous blogs you'll realise I bake or cook that which requires minimum ingredients and steps. Not becos I am lazy, its becos I have a little son running around. He can do some serious damage if left unattended for a long time. So I tend to simplify recipes to suit my time constraint.

Ingredients:

• Shredded sweetened coconut (dry)- 1 1/3 cups
• Granulated sugar - 1/3 cup 
• All-purpose flour - 2 tablespoons 
• Egg whites – 2
• Vanilla extract – 1/2 teaspoon

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a bowl, combine coconut and flour.
• In another bowl, whisk together the egg whites, sugar and vanilla.
• With a spoon or spatula, mix in the coconut-flour mixture to the egg mixture. It will be dense mixture. Now your ready to bake.
• On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, scoop the mixture with a spoon and place it 1 inch apart. I used a 1 tablespoon rounded measuring spoon. 
• Bake until golden brown, must be for 15-18 minutes, based on the oven. Let macaroons cool. When hot it will not be crispy on the outside.

Tip: Once cooled, transfer to an air-tight container. Or it will loose its crispiness.