Sweet returns of Blogging ...

Shruti ... over at Mindful Meanderings and Decor Delirious ... presented the loveliest award to me this morning ... Thankyou so much Shruti ... I am glad you enjoy the blog so much ,so as to get you, all decor delirious ... wow! sounds awesome to me ... ;)
Passing the good things around ... well, it can be difficult too ... there are just so many blogs I am in love with ... but ... let me see if I can choose ... talk about early morning challenges. Wee! ... here I go ... passing this lovely award to a few of my lovely blogger friends ...
Bhavna ... over at An Indian Summer ... one lady who thinks out of the box and has an awesome blog for ethnic Indian inspirations ...
Elin ... over at Monunique ... I am in love with her French Style home ...
Leigh over at Brabourne Farm .... loved her blog when it was just a few posts old and I adore it to date when I scrambling to catch up with her latest posts ... she's the lady with Santas Stash ... well all the decor inspiration stash atleast ... ;)
Coty over at Styling with Coty Farquhar ... check her blog out and you'd know why I love it ...
Sunita over at The Urban Gardener ... Oh! I just love the way she gardens ... weaves stories with her lovely picture ... of her lovely Mumbai Garden ...
Aditi over at Once Upon A Tea Time ... love her new posts every morning ...
And ofcourse, the Latin Sardar over at Latin Sardar ... love reading some of his corny stories and jibes ... and have to state the fact that dear Praji was the very first male member of my circle of friends ... and he is always the most active one on the blog ... now that sure feels really nice ... :)
Here's to all my lovely friends ... you are all a wonderful part of my day ... and there are so many more I would love to list ... guess I have to do it in a soon to come post ... :)

Ideas to light up your home ...

I wonder if I 'd call it a tray scape ... hmmm ... its quite like an instant magical touch ... well in this case ... instant Diwali Decor ...


A tray ... a few of your fav. things and flowers ... some greens ...lights ...

I was arranging the orchids in my silver tea pot ... the green glass looked nice with the silver ...along came some sand paper vine leaves ... and the tea light and candles and well ...

... a coffee table ... a console table ... your side unit ... a cozy nook ... and just about anywhere you decide ... I think you could try this arrangement ... complete with your diyas or candles ... I'm sure you too will feel the festive mood ...with some instant Diwali decor ...

If you liked this idea do share your thought with me ... would love to hear from you ... who knows two thoughts put together and we just may have another decor idea ... :)

Diwali Decor ... and a touch of green ...

A touch of green and tons of lanterns ... I saw the gardener triming the Casurinas, and oh! do I love the dainty leaves ... Sarah ( my daughter) and I picked up basket loads of the trimings ... the size of our takeaways , assured the gardeners ... daughter excused ... the mother has to be nuts ...:)

... O.k so I did use my daughter as an excuse to get all the trimmings and I won't argue about being nuts ... but I just had to use these beautiful casurinas leaves ...

Thoughts are running wild in my head ... and knowing that I may just be using these old lanterns of mine this year again ... I want a new look, though ...

... I'm sure mayur pankhi leaves (sorry, I am not sure of the English name for these) ... could be a great alternative as well ... cause they too look fresh and green for a good few days even without water ...

... emptied the whole basket loads of the greens all over my window ... since these don't whilt away like most other leaves ... I 'm looking to enjoy the decor way before the Diwali day... just to drum up the spirits before hand ... :)

Preparing for Diwali ... a 5 weeks Diwali planner...

Its 5 weeks to Diwali ... are you ... all over the place ... all loose ends ... not sure where to start ... but sure looking forward to making this a very special Diwali ... just need to figure out where to start ... Aaah! ... isn't that what we all go through ... all ideas in the head and well that's about it ...
O.k , so here's something we could all try a ... 5 week Diwali planner... for a wonderful .. different ... Diwali ... that you can actually enjoy ... Give that designer in you enough time to work the magic ... let your style show ...

... Now you need to figure out your celebration menu part of the deal ... I'll be there for the Style and Design part of the deal ... HELLOW !! ... Ladies, .... Anupy over at http://www.indianasapplepie.com/ , Zara at http://www.splitpearsonality.blogspot.com/ , Ananva at http://www.choolah.blogspot.com/ , Veda at http://www.iyengarskitchen.blogspot.com/ , Sreelu at http://www.sreelus.blogspot.com/ and all the other lovely ladies at cooking blogs ... hope you are all going to inspire a great Diwali spread ... :)

Here, goes ... a 5 Week Diwali Planner ...

Week 1 ...

.. Are you the planning major home cleaning ... well may be a good idea to have it underway ... drycleaning the upholstery... tapestry ... a fresh coat of paint you wanted to do ...

... Start the decor planning ... are you thinking of a special design element for the decor ... that'll be THE decor piece ... it 'll be a good idea to start with something you passionatly wanted to do .... that'll help you start on the next major thing ...

... COLORS... think of the colors you want to have this Diwali ... everyones getting all creative with the wedding colors and red is not the only color for a bride ... why stick to just orange and red and all the traditionally considered ... Diwali colors ... might be fun to experiment while you still got the time ...

... Deciding colors will take care of your options for ... flowers ... linen for the table ... colors for the rangoli (floral or powder) ...

... Decide your lighting options ... outdoors and indoors ... string lights ... lanterns ... candles ... diyas ... votives ... oil lamps ... ???

... gifts ???

Week 2 ...
... Most of planning under way ... a lot of decisions in place ... start collecting your pieces ... that means ... SHOPPING ... and while you are at it ... keep a good load of extra pack of tea lights or diyas (depending on which you have decided on this time )... handy anytime for all the corners that can be awesome with just a little lighting ...


Week 3 ...

... shine by the silver ... polish up the brass ...

... iron and starch the linen ... all ready to go ...

... pull out the outdoors lighting ... making sure alls in working order ... so no last minute surprises ...

... plan out your decor layout ... are you having guests or is it just family ...

... you've decided the flowers ... now may be a good time to think up your arrangements ... the containers ... the vases ... are you getting garlands to decorate ... make sure you have with you a good idea of the lengths you need and the no's .

Week 4 ...

... order your flowers ...

... get ready all your Chinaware ... flatware (cutlery) ... glassware ... don't want to end up with flowers in what was to be ... well ... ;) ... or floating flowers in what was your serveware ... thatyou instead need for the serving ;)

... depending upon how big or elaborate your outdoor decor is going to be ... you may be happier dealing with it a week in advance ... there will be plenty of last minute things ...

... with things to hang ... prop up ... light up ... a good idea to check all the nails .. hooks ... the wire extentions you'll need ... while the handy electrician and carpenters are not acting too dandy ...

Week 5 ...

... its the final week ... the weekend sees you all set for Diwali ...

... you've got most of the things dealt with ... early week can be a good time for self indulgence ...
... day before Diwali make sure flowers are delivered or picked up ... you can be ready with your flower arrangements the night before ...

... set the mood for the celebrations ... light up outdoors... why wait for just Diwali day ...

... your Diwali decor can get its finishing touches the day before ...

... your linen...serveware ...china ... flatware ... glassware... can all be ready and waiting in the flanks for you to lay it out the next day ...

... if flowers are all arranged ... you can as well lay out your ... indoor lanterns or votives except in case of diyas ... which is best placed as they are finally lit ...

... float your flowers on the Diwali day ... they may not remain fresh till next day ... if you float them earlier ...

... try and leave just the rangoli and table laying for the D-day ... this will give you ample time for your own self ...

... just a few things ... to make your celebrations more about you and the way you love them ... you design ... you style.

Would love to hear from you ... if you think I missed out on something ... and if this helps you ... I'd love to hear that bit too ... and have a Happy Diwali ... :)

Image Sources :- Image 1 ... http://www.indiamike.com/ , Image 2 ... via http://www.coutureventsbyd.blogspot.com/ , Image 3 ... via http://www.hostessblog.com/ , Image 4 ... http://www.marthstewartliving.com/ , Image 5 ... via http://www.zwedding.blogspot.com/ , Image 6 ,7 ,8... unknown .

Flowers and a tablescape ... another day ... another look ...

Now, this is a funny thing ... I shared the picture of this flower arrangement with you on the Independence day post ... and tell you what this is the same set of flowers in the very same pot ... that I did for the post ... http://rajeesood.blogspot.com/2009/07/flowers-for-monsoons.html ... :)

Cheeky me ???.... ofcourse, it cheeky me ... but I couldn't help taking these pictures after a couple of days ...

... the drawing room ... the flowers ... they all looked sooooo .... different ... even the light in the room was so different ...

On a soaky ... soggy monsoon morning in Mumbai ... I felt like sharing some of these with you ... just a lil' morning perky up feeling ... ;)

Sharing memories of a past Diwali ...

I'd love to share some old pictures of mine with you ... not the best ones ...guess, back then ... I never knew then I 'd have a style and design blog :) ... but never the less ... here they are ...
I used to have a balcony through beautiful french doors ... this particular Diwali I decided to hang lanterns from the ceilings ... along the railing

... my candle collection went all the way up the staircase ... I like the Diwali feel inside the house as much as it is outside ...

... I was the mother of a toddler ... with time and energy being a premium ...

... but never the less ... when its Laxmi puja ... lights all over the house ... all the sweets in pure ghee and silks finding their way out of your wardrobe ...

... it just has to be Diwali ... that special time of the year ... :)

Thankyou again ... Blogadda ...

If you enjoyed the last post ... Diwali ... time to float the flowers and light the candles ... well looks like folks over at http://www.blogadda.com/ did too ... this post is picked to be part of their Spicy Saturday Picks section.
Thank you blogadda ... it always a great feeling to be featured on your website .

Diwali ... time to float some flowers and light the candles ...

If you are thinking ... of a floating flower arrangement this year ... and still wondering what

are your best options ... well why not try your trays ...

... set the color theme with the flowers and the floating candles ...

... remember to trim the flowers as close as possible to the base ... this will help them float better ... hope you discover all your lovely dishes can turn into beautiful centre pieces ... :)