all soupi's

Book case

2011-12-04T22:37:00.001+05:30

This weekend made several changes. This is one of them. This is the stand we used before buying wooden shoe cabinet. Later I kept it in dry area to store paper and other stuff. Today while browsing this idea stuck me. Here is the end result. Probably next weekend going to keep a painting beside this to cover hanging wires.

Added Green

2011-11-27T23:18:00.001+05:30

Yes, after four months with my newly added plants. Again we have moved to a new place. This time shifted to a bigger space. I am in full swing decorating our new palace urf place :) Added new curtains and bought beautiful hanging lights. Hopefully share those in my next weekend.

Table Lamp

2011-07-19T21:27:00.001+05:30

From so many days, this project was pending. This Sunday finally I made some time to finish it. The result is pleasing. Yes, I'll change table decor soon. For now this is good :)

And when I went to purchase wire n other stuff, shop owner was surprised!! Why he consider electrician work as 'man thing', I don't know. A lady can fix these things. Its so easy to make. No so called MAN is needed for this or for fixing tube light or changing bulbs or connecting wires for decorating lights :)

Here are the simple steps;

come back with Upama :)

2011-06-18T17:46:00.002+05:30

Yes, after five months, I am blogging again :) I thought to share my weekend tiffin with you. Here is my favorite Upama urf Uppittu. I love this so much that I never say NO to Uppittu , any time of the day. Actually I learned to make it right by my roommate's father. He thought me "the secrete ingredient"(refering Kung fu Panda) of preparing best Upama :)

My process as follows ; heat oil-add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1tsp urd dal n chana dal-add chopped green chilly, ginger n curry leaves-add chopped onions n a pich of haldi-add one cup suji rava-fry little-add 1tsp salt n 1/4tsp sugar-add chopped tomatoes(if needed)-add 2cup boiling water-lower the flame-cover it up for 3to 4 minutes-open n mix the stuff once-if its done close the lid and put off d flame-after a minute add lemon juice and garnish with coriander n coconut shreds.

balcony garden

2010-12-05T18:00:00.001+05:30

This weekend I spent changing plants arrangement and adding some new plants to my small n happy balcony garden. I am reusing plastic bottles and cups as earlier. These are easy to carry while shifting to a new house. Earthen pots are heavy and packers and movers don't take responsibilities of pots breakage while transporting. And I love reusing my plastic containers :)

I changed lotus plant container. First I was using old broken bucket and now I replaced it to another unused bucket. This time I have planted lotus in smaller containers and kept them under water. Before I directly poured soil into bucket and later added water. That resulted into muddy water. Now I have very clean water and I can notice small cute leaves emerging from lotus seed. This IDEA is taken directly from ‘my sunny balcony’s garden makeovers :)

new space

2010-11-17T21:21:00.002+05:30

Ye, this is my new place and these snaps belongs to earlier settings. Here I hv balcony which I always wished to hv and nice flooring. The problem was with the living hall. Hall is quiet small compare to old house. In that old house, we had 'L' shaped room and my dining n sitting arrangements seem separate. Here its in long rectangle quite complicate to adjust the things. So as it was summer, I had placed single seaters in our balcony so that my hall looks little bigger :) In one chair my hubby used to sit and draw and opposite I used to sit n chat while sipping chai. This arrangement lasted till first rain.

Now, I hv changed the setup. Balcony is now having small garden, TV table once again 're' used as computer table (its original form). Another big computer table is sitting in store room and holding most of my decor items. As I am going for work, I am scared of my maid. She already had broken one elephant while cleaning and I don't want other items to follow same route. I hope I'll find out some safe method to redecor. My DVD cum book stand moved to kitchen (space problem). DVDs into wardrobe and lucky books are happy at dressing table :) while others are wrapped under storage bags.

Really its difficult to move from one space to another. While purchasing new things teanants has to think twice, like will it fit in another '3X6' Mumbai homes? Let it be. It seems more challenging. I'll come up with new arranging ideas.

Old Abode

2010-10-30T22:18:00.004+05:30

Yes, I was out of blogging space; moved to new place, new home, again resettling, redecoring and changed my status into working woman again, ..........lot of happenings. :) I miss this quiet, happy world :(

Let it be. I am back again, hoping to post at weekends.

This was my old sweet home. I still miss that place. I used to rearrange whole setup atleast once in a month. So one can see lot of difference in these photos.

And about my new place, I'll post next week. Till then ....... Happy Blogging.

baking

2010-04-23T00:29:00.006+05:30

This is my first baking experience n happy with the result. I tasted theses to some of my friends who have given me 5star rating! But for me taste was OK kind of thing.

I mixed some internet recipe n followed my own like this: 3 tea spoon Ghee mixed with 3/4 small cup sugar powder, added 3/4 small cup milk n curd, 1/2 tea spoon vanilla essence, One small cup wheat floor(!) mixed with 3/4 tea spoon baking powder n soda, mixed well for two to three minutes, pour the mixture into cake mold, baked for 20minutes at 150 C.

My style_02

2010-04-13T22:40:00.001+05:30

This photo was taken a year back.I don't have this dress now. Still I have these necklace n wristband made up of buttons. I had picked them from Bangalore local market near Bank Colony. This set is with me from past 4 years :)

rocking chair

2010-04-12T22:19:00.006+05:30

It was very difficult to choose a gift for my friends two year daughter. I was searching every item available in the mall. Then this small cutie stuck me. I was not sure whether I can gift a 'plastic' item or not. Then after a thought decided to choose this rather than the Barbie/teddy-bears. For my surprise she liked it very much and started to play from the day one. I was overjoyed.

Whenever I see small chairs, my mind falls into nostalgia. When I was a small kid, I had a small cane chair about which I was very possessive. It was with us till my high school days. And later when we were shifting the house, that chair was given to somebody else. I was very sad at that age too :)

Paper mache decorative

2010-04-08T22:15:00.001+05:30

Here is my paper mache decorative project. I followed "Poopscape Projects". But it was utterly a failure. Why? Yes, its because of "The great Rats". I did this work at night, and then stick both of these on my balcony garden wall. When I got up next morning, both were missing. I found them on the floor without eyes and nose :D Rats have smelled ata/flour in them and ate aramse. They feasted on my work :( Because of these rats, how can I give up my idea? So, now I am going to try with POP. Better work next time! :D

SIMPLE Steps: Soak paper cuttings overnight-Grind it-Drain the water-Mix flour and salt-Knead it well till u get desire consistency- Den make any shape out of this as you wish-Color them as u like-Dry them in shade-Hang/stick and Enjoy your craft with hot chai/tanda lemonade/what u love :D

Seashells

2010-04-07T17:05:00.000+05:30

These are my Sirsi Jatre(fair) findings. I love those small ones(cowrie shells) called as "Kavade" in Kannada. These are used in playing Choukabar and Pagade ata(game).

My style_01

2010-04-06T21:48:00.001+05:30

I am not much stylish person. I have my own way. The whole set was bought from Pantaloons, Mulund.

Home grown veggie-Sambar Soppu

2010-04-05T15:39:00.003+05:30

This is called as "Sambar Soppu", widely used in North Canara district. I make Chatney & Tambli of this soppu (leaves). Its binomial name is "Plectranthus Amboinicus". It has medicinal properties and called as "Ashmantaka" in Sankrit.

Milk Paint Trial

2010-04-01T22:36:00.036+05:30

I was amazed to learn about the milk paint concept through Marthastewart. Then I decided to try it out. As I reside in a rented apartment, I don't have permission to repaint the walls :( So what to do? After much more deliberation, decided to try it on under beneath portion of the washing basin. And also it was looking very much untidy.

Here is the process;

1. Chosen wall in its original condition.

2. Started with dampening the wall with wet cloth and used washing brush to remove the old paint.

3. Leveled the wall using a wood piece + applying my own mixture of lime n Fevicol

4. Mixed lime + milk solids in equal portion (no color added)
5. Painted using an old brush.(strokes are visible)

As I have mixed the milk solids and lime in wrong proportion, paint was sticky. So next day, I went out and bought a new brush and color pigment bottle.

6. Tried with 4:1 proportion.

Result was good as compared to old one. Paint was not sticking to my fingers. It’s done! Now, I am satisfied with the result. The color is bit odd. Thought to repaint with the white color, may be some other day.

This is my first wall painting experience. One can notice uneven brush strokes. Still, It is Ok for me. Next time better work :D

If you are interested to know more about 'Milk Paint', visit The Earth Pigments. Here you will get step by step guide about how to prepare milk and lime paint. This site also gives you variety of information about wall paints.

clutter cleaning_02

2010-03-31T19:32:00.004+05:30

This is time, I cleaned and re arranged the upper portion of same old pc table. Hope this arrangement remains uncluttered at least for a week :D

Blossum

2010-03-30T22:22:00.005+05:30

This morning, I was very happy to welcome second water Lilly at my balcony garden :D

Clutter cleaning_01

2010-03-28T16:05:00.003+05:30

Yes, which I do it "occasionally" ;) only twice in a month :D. This is the 'great work' done for clearing my pc table. I hv used tissue,cake,.. boxes as my storage bins.

Guess, what is this?

2010-03-27T16:17:00.004+05:30

Yes, It is Malabar spinach (basale alba) seeds. Just now 'harvested".

Ganapati repaint

2010-03-26T18:09:00.004+05:30

This Ganapati wall hanging was the birthday gift given by my friend. Personally I don't like silver or metal colors. So, thought to change its color. I kept gold color untouched, so that one day I can repaint it again :D

After a break

2010-03-26T00:19:00.014+05:30

Yes, I was offline 4m last couple of months due to my system crashed down. During this break, indulged myself into various little projects (will be sharing with u). Still I was very much uncomfortable with my daily routine. I was so addicted to blog surfing that I was feeling like a prisoner between these four walls. Now with my system returning to home, I got my life back :)

During this period I went to my native place during Marikamba Mela. This one is the largest Jaatra/mela in Karnataka held in my native place Sirsi. Please check my flick ID to see some moments at this most visited Fair.

Water lilly replanting

2010-03-24T19:31:00.014+05:30

I had brought Lilly seed from my mamma’s home. I kept it in a little earthen uruli. After some days I changed it to a bigger pot and kept outside. Then the problem begins. Daily I used to feed pigeons. Those pigeons made that pot as a birdbath. They used to sit in water and play. And due to this all newborn leaves used to torn. I tried different methods to shove away the pigeons, but all went in vein .Then I decided to replant and allow pigeons to use that old pot to play.

I took an old, tattered bucket, and removed its upper portion using knife. Then folded news papers and pin around its edge. Later put soil (1/4^thportion of the bucket) and placed Lilly seed on the soil surface. It should not be placed pressed inside the soil. After that, filled the bucket with water and started to wait for the leaves to emerge. Maybe after a week, leaves started to show up. And one fine morning, after a month from planting, I was delighted to see a flower bud. Finally next morning flower started to bloom. It took 2-3days to fully bloom. Then it bend in water and died giving birth to new seeds. Now, I am eagerly waiting for another flower to emerge from water.

Here are the snaps of the process and the end result;

Another set

2010-03-21T21:44:00.004+05:30

this time I hv bought choti dabbis again, here r they;

Earings hanging stand

2010-01-07T18:25:00.002+05:30

I hv some hanging earrings. I wanted to store in a easily accessible pattern. So from getting inspiration from some blog ( as i don't remember now) I prepared my own earring stand using a wooden tile and rubber bands. But rubber bands were tearing because of the tension. So this time I hv used black thick thread. And here is the result. :)

All new "Soupi's" detergent powder !

2009-12-03T11:40:00.001+05:30

I have lot of leftover detergent pieces. At first my old bhai used to take home with her. Now, the new one does not want to take it away. So i am with full of scattered pieces. :(

Here is my Tarale* Idea, hows this?? ha ha ha
grind + mixed with detergent powder. ye, u can call me kanjoos :D

*tarale=kannada word=crazy/mad/extreme/nutty

Recyling

2009-11-12T14:29:00.003+05:30

I never throw used bottles or plastic container or plastic bags to garbage. I used to dump them in a plastic bag and give it to my bayi(housemaid) so that she can sell it n earn money for herself. For them five or ten rupees is much bigger amount.

But after seeing some of the post in appartement therapy, new recycling ideas stuck me. Here is the result. I have used instant noodles containers and water bottles.

Rearranging

2009-11-04T23:19:00.003+05:30

Just now I rearranged these two miniature paintings. Actually these are not original paintings. These are printouts collected by my hubby from Salar Jung museum, Hyderabad.

I hope you have noticed peacock feathers. This is inspired from my 'decor photos collection' (saved from other decor blog's ;) The original photo has lot of peacock feathers arranged esthetically. But I had only three feathers :( Don't mind, just kept in a corner :D

My Deepavali_09

2009-10-21T15:00:00.006+05:30

As compared to last time, I didn’t spent much time on decoration. On the evening of Dhanteras, I went to goldsmith shop with my friend and bought silver Laxmi coin. On Choti Diwali, I went with my husband to his office for Diwali bash. We worshiped same Laxmi coin on Badi Diwali and bought home theater on that eve. Now I am able to understand English movie dialogues. Before that I used to listen with the help of Headphone. New systems give me gyan that there was problem with the TV speakers and not my eardrums! I invited my neighbors on Govardhan pooja and hosted a small party. At last on Bhai Dhooj, I spent time with taking some snaps. Here are some of my snaps;

Laxmi Mandala

This is my new experimental kandeels, made by folding A4 paper.These are the Rangolis done for Diwali. I tried different pattern each day. I am not an expert, still tried :)

Home grown veggie-Basale soppu

2009-09-14T15:49:00.005+05:30

We, Kannadigas call it as Basale soppu(leaves). Its binomial name is Basella alba . It's from by balcony garden. It is very easy to grow. I usually prepares sambar and Hasi(raita) out of this.

Ganapati Feast-09

2009-09-12T23:26:00.000+05:30

This Ganesh Chouthi, I prepared modaka, ellunde, karjikayi, holige, panchakajja and chakkuli for the lunch. We didn't do any pooja at home; still I was feeling like festival. It's really good to see so many eatable in a single thali :)

Rotary

2009-05-26T23:31:00.001+05:30

Done this hanging using mobile catalog.
If you feel interested, check the tutorial here .
Thanks to folding trees for giving this link.

Bombay Times hand fan ;)

2009-05-22T23:49:00.000+05:30

I do this hand fan whenever there is power cut. Its very easy to make and take less than five minute. It easily sits inside money purse/jeans packet after folding. Moreover to make this all you need is a paper and a stapler.

Don't forget to send me pictures of your hand fans :)

Have FUN!

(Tip: can be done from single color card sheet- attach peacock neck+head to the feather-can be more decorative with paper collage................)

Collage card

2009-05-06T21:22:00.001+05:30

This one was my personal wedding card. Actually I wanted to make something new crafty card and ended up with this idea. I had made more than 30 handmade cards, each one carried images of different tourist spots near my native place. The envelopes were made with newspaper. Now I have left with this single ready piece to remember my fetish.

Goli puzzle

2009-04-30T14:56:00.001+05:30

I used to play this game in my college days. Now, after 5 long years I thought had forgotten how to solve this riddle. I was trying to save single Goli form last week. I remember only the starting part. So, every time ended up with 2-4 golis :( Today I solved it, I saved single GOLI ! hurrrree!! Thanx to my brain :D

Gulab Jamun

2009-03-03T23:11:00.000+05:30

Yesterday afternoon there was no power. So spent some quality time in kitchen. My hubby loves Jamunu :) I too love it. Sad thing is I cant have more. I am dieting, u kno ;)

Colourful tea

2009-02-21T18:15:00.002+05:30

My evening tea with featured home of Sai and Shakti Anand ( Times Property, today edition). I really liked their home, very colorful and earthy.

At night

2009-02-20T12:56:00.001+05:30

This is my living room corner. You can see Lantana furniture, clay tree, Buddha, four painting display form big bazar, dvd collection, books, dairy........etc, computer table turned into TV stand, marble tiger, marble Taj gifted by my sister and............................ All these are illuminated by bamboo lamp shade :D

X'mas gift

2009-02-18T12:37:00.001+05:30

(small Xmas tree done referring foldingtrees.com and paper box referring a craft book)
Meghana is a cute 5yr girl lives upper stair. She daily come to my house with lot of questions. On Xmas, I kept these in a paper bag and hanged them outside their door. I knocked the door and quietly came down. Later her mom told me that meghana was surprised to see the gift and thought its really from Santa :D

Extra chair

2009-02-18T12:25:00.001+05:30

due to lack of space, i removed a chair from dining table and arranged like this in our bedroom.

Pepper and salt

2009-02-18T12:12:00.001+05:30

i got these from bigbazar, i love these small cute ones, matching with table color :)

Oil dabbis

2009-02-18T12:02:00.001+05:30

new addition :for coconut oil, ghee and sunflower oil :D

Deepavali celebration

2009-01-26T22:01:00.001+05:30

preparing for Arati and oil massage

Godess Laxmi pooja

Laxmi Mandala

Deepavali dishes

2009-01-26T21:33:00.001+05:30

hurana holige, chakkali, kobri mithai, besin ladu and khara

Wooden jars

2008-10-20T23:36:00.002+05:30

I always wanted to have wooden salt and pepper set.
Instead of that, I bought this from my native.
Cute na? just for 200 Rupees . Now, I can store mukhwas.

Gannpati fest dishes

2008-09-05T14:19:00.001+05:30

hurana holige, panchakajja, hittina modaka, ellunde, karji kayi and kodubale

Mysore paak

2008-08-27T21:38:00.001+05:30

for further detailed photos check this
and read her notes too.

thanx Shilpa.
may be next time I'll get that brown shade.

Color color what color

2008-08-23T00:19:00.001+05:30

my new "Dabbis"
yesterday I bought them from Big bazaar.
very much liked their color and exchangeable lids :)

Paper star

2008-07-25T22:20:00.002+05:30

Curtain holder

2008-07-22T18:15:00.001+05:30

used old metal bangles as a ring holder for window curtains

Toppings

2008-07-22T18:11:00.000+05:30

Paper crane

2008-07-22T18:10:00.003+05:30

Here comes my 1st origami

Chikki

2008-07-15T17:56:00.000+05:30

Banana Cake

2008-07-15T17:42:00.000+05:30