Musings of a bored girl

Kale Channe ke kabab

2017-06-21T22:11:00.004+05:30

Ingredients

1/2 cup Kale channe ( Black gram)
1 tablespoon chane ki dal ( split gram)
1/4 tablespoon jeera ( Cumin seed)
1 stick dalchini ( Cinnamon)
1 moti elaichi ( cardamom)
3-4 laung ( Cloves)
3-4 saboot saboot kali mirch ( pepper corns)
2 flakes of garlic
1 dry red whole chili
1 onion- chopped
2 bread slices- dipped in water and squeezed
1/4 tablespoon amchoor ( dry mango powder)
salt to taste

Procedure

Soak channa and channe ki dal together overnight.
Pressure cook channas with jeera, dalchini, moti elaichi, laung, kali mirch, garlic, ginger and red chilli and give one whistle. Keep on low heat for 20 minutes.
If there is any water left, dry the channas on fire, leaving just a little water enough to grind.
Grind to a fine paste. Add bread, salt and amchoor to taste.
Chill the mixture in the fridge for sometime.
Make flattened rounds
Deep dry 4-5 pieces in medium hot oil. Drain on absorbent paper.
Sprinkle onion rings over the kababs. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.Serve with chutney or a dip,

If the kababs break on frying, add 1-2 tablespoon of maida to the mixture. The kababs may also be rolled in maida and then fried.

Coffee Almond Cake

2017-06-21T20:55:00.001+05:30

Ingredients

150 gm Flour or Maida
125 gms sugar
3 large eggs
90gms refined oil
3 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1/4 cup heated water
1/2 tablespoon soda bicarb
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup almonds finely chopped

Procedure

Sieve flour, baking powder and soda together.
Beat eggs and sugar together till frothy. Add oil gradually and beat well.
Dissolve coffee in 1/4 cup water and give it a boil. keep aside.
Add half of the coffee mixture and half flour to the egg mixture.Mix well. Add leftover coffee and maida. Beat till smooth. Add essence and half of the walnuts. Pour into greased tin.
Sprinkle the left over almonds on the top and bake in a preheated oven at 170 degree C for 40 minutes or till the cake is done.

Butter Chicken

2017-06-14T23:50:00.000+05:30

Ingredients

1 chicken
2 tablespoon Vinegar
I cup curd
half cup cream
2 Large onions
4 Garlic flakes- minced
I Ginger- minced
Handful of coriander leaves
4 Green Chilies- minced
I tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon cumin seed
100 gms powdered cashewnut paste
200 gms tomatoes- peeled and sliced
4 tablespoon ketchup
150 gms butter
Salt and chilli powder to taste

Procedure

Clean the chicken, make deep gashes on it. Mix vinegar with salt and apply on the chicken. Set aside for 10 minutes. Mix half of the curd with the spices, 2 tablespoon ketchup, 50 gms butter and salt.
Apply thickly on the chicken and set aside for 2 hours. Grill the chicken, applying butter often till it is tender from inside.
Heat the remaining butter and add onions. ginger, garlic and chillies. Fry till it starts changing colour.
Add the tomatoes and cook till it is soft, then add the remaining curd, cream, ketchup, cashew nuts and leftover masala. ( applied to the chicken)
Cook till it is thick
Add the chicken, when the chicken is completely coated with the masala, remove from the fire.

Choco Lava Cake - Eggless

2016-12-11T23:39:00.001+05:30

Ingredients

125 gms Dark chocolate
100 gms Butter
3/4 Cup Curd
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Maida
1/4 Cup Cocoa
1 Tsp Baking powder

Procedure

Mix the curd and sugar together. Add the baking soda and leave for 5 minutes.
Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.
Add the chocolate with the curd mixture.
Add maida with baking powder and cocoa and use cut and fold method to mix it.
Keep oven on preheat at 180 degrees
Butter the cupcake moulds/ cake mould and pour the mixture.
Bake for 200 degrees for 10 minutes.

Beauty...

2016-12-11T13:50:00.000+05:30

"Beauty is not flawless, it shines through your flaws."

Marble Cake

2016-12-11T13:33:00.002+05:30

Ingredients

3 eggs ( 1 egg is to 50 gms of rest of the ingredients ratio) You can use 4 if you want to make a bigger cake.
150 gms maida
150 gms sugar
150 gms refined oil or butter
baking powder 1 tbsp
cocoa powder

Procedure

Preheat the oven for 10 minutes
Mix sugar and egg. then add oil. add maida( add baking powder in it) in the end. Use cut and fold method to mix it.
Take a little bit of batter separately and add cocoa powder to it.
add two drops of vanilla essence to take away the smell of it to the white mixture.
Oil the tray and pour the white mixture into it. Check for bubbles.
put the cocoa mixtures at different places and then use a fork to make random designs to create the marbling effect.
Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes
Check with a fork to see if its baked properly.

2016-05-27T22:58:00.001+05:30

Experiments with water colour

Maccher Jhaal

2016-03-14T19:57:00.004+05:30

Maccher Sorshe Jhaal is a spicym little pungent fish curry with mustard base that is best served with steamed rice. Maccher Jhaal or as others call it Sarsowaali Fish Curry is most common Fish curry in a Bengali household that gives a variation where fish is in everyday menu.

Ingredients

Rui?Katla/Parshe/Bhetki or any fish you like - 8 pieces
Turmeric - 1teaspoon
Salt- 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard oil- 4 tablesoon + 2 tablespoon
Kalonji/ Nigella seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Black mustard seeds- 2 tablespoons
Yellow Mustard seeds- 2 tablespoons
Green Chili- 3-4 /slit from in between

Take the fish and was under the tap water, marinate with 1 teaspoon turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Keep aside.

Now take black and yellow mustard seeds and put it in the grinder, alng with some salt and 2-3 green chillies. Add a little water and grind to make a fine paste.

Take the paste in a medium bowl and add 1/2 cup of water in the bowl and make the paste thinner.

Heat 4 tablespoon of mustard oil in a pan. When the oil is smokey hot, add the fish pieces. Fry till golden and take them out of the pan and keep aside. Do the same for the rest of the fish. Do not reuse the oil, if there is any oil left in the pan.'

Heat Fresh 2 tablespoon of oil. Add kalonji and chillies ( Split into half) into the pan. Fry for a while and then add the mustard paste to the pan. Add salt and turmeric and and water and let the gravy boil for some time.

Add the fried fish to the pan and boil till the gravy thickens and oil starts floating on the top. Turn off the heat.

Add fresh mustard oil before serving. Taste best with steaming hot rice.

CD craft

2016-03-14T19:15:00.000+05:30

Material needed

Recyled cds- lots and lots of it.
Adhesive
Scissors
Decoarative material- colours, glitters, beads, paper, sketch pens
Bottles, newspaper etc.

Used beer bottle and cds used to make this bottle. The cd was cut up into small pieces with scissors and then stuck to the bottle using adhesive. It gives a mosaic look. The bottle can be used for keeping small indoor plants or simply as a decorative piece. It looks amazing when different light sources strikes it, almost giving it a disco ball effect.

Cd coasters

The cds have first been lacquered with acrylic colours. It was then scratched using any sharp material like scissor, pencil, old pen etc. Any interesting designs can be made on this. To give it a finishing touch, it was given a coat of varnish and voila! The coasters are ready to be used.

The picture is self descriptive. Cd are used to make simple animals using any decorative material lying at home. These can be good creative projects for children to keep them preoccupied.

Shahi Tukda

2015-06-23T01:13:00.000+05:30

Shahi Tukda literally means the royal piece which has its roots in the Mughal cuisine. It is particularly prepared in the holy month of Ramzan and Eid. This dessert has variations like the hyderabadi double ka meetha served at functions and weddings. This is my simple version of the dessert.

Ingredients

For the bread.

4 bread slices
Oil -2tsp

For the Cream sauce (Optional)

Condensed milk - 1/2 cup or 4 tsp
Milk -1/2 cup, ( more if you require)
Corn flour 1/2
Cardamom powder a pinch

For the Sugar Syrup

Sugar- 1/2 cup
Water enough to cover sugar.
Almonds and Pistachios finely chopped for garnish

Method

For the cream sauce.

In a bowl, take the corn flour and add 2 rsp of milk and blend well to form lump less liquid. Keep it aside.
In a pan take the condensed milk and add the rest of milk. Bring to boil. When it starts to boil, simmer and slowly add the corn flour mix . it will thicken very fast so keep stirring continuously. If required the cream can be thinned by adding more milk or condensed milk. Keep it aside.

For the bread

Trim the sides and cut into two or four squares depending on how you want to serve.
Heat the pan, add 1 tsp oil. Once it's hot, place all the bread pieces and fry over slow flame. After a couple of minutes, sprinkle the rest of the oil. Flip to the other side. Once done, remove and keep it aside.

For sugar syrup.

In a pan, take the sugar and water, bring to boil. Remove impurities if any.
Continue boling till you get a sticky syrup which will be 1 thread consistency. switch off the flames and remove.
Dip the fried bread into the sugar syrup and remove to a plate. When you are done with all the bread pieces, arrange in a plate.
Scoop a spoonful of condensed milk cream on each bread piece and garnish with finely chopped almond and pistas.
You can serve it both hot or chilled.

Recycled paper photo frame

2015-06-19T01:37:00.000+05:30

Getting bored this summer? Here is a simple DIY photo frame which can be made from things around the house.

Materials needed :

Cardboard frame cutout ( Old broken frames can be recycles)
Paper- Newspaper, old recycled paper from magazines
Adhesive
Scissors
Colours- Acrylic (it is water proof and stays longer)
Brush to paint
Beads/ glitter/ other household things- to decorate.

I have used all recycled things lying around the house and easy to use. The first step is to start rolling the paper into rolls and then gluing it. Once it is dry, these rolls have to be rolled into coils of different sizes.

Once you have made a number of coiled rolls, lacquer it with a mixture of adhesive and water, This will strengthen the coils and the paper would never come apart. In the meanwhile, paint the photo frame base in the colour of your choice. Even though the frame would be covered but it is necessary so that tiny crevices dont look blank.

Once the coils have dried start colouring them using colours that you fancy. I like to use bright colours and mix and match. You can also add powdered glitter to jazz it up. Let them dry. Start placing them on the frame at different places. Use adhesive to stick it and dont move the frame till it is set in place.

Since the coils are of different sizes there will be crevices which with empty spaces in between. You can use beads, shells, old necklace etc to fill it up. It depends on what you find handy in your home.

The photoframe is ready. Add a photograph and place it where you please. :)

Zentangle art

2014-12-30T18:35:00.002+05:30

A Zentangle is an abstract drawing created by using repetitive patterns. This method was invented by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas.The invention of Zentangle was intended to make the art of drawing pleasurable, meditative and accessible to all. It's creation is unplanned. When you begin creating a Zentangle, we don't necessarily have a end goal in mind, the pattern reveals itself as we draw. Zentangles are not like doodle. Doodles are mostly done when someone is bored and wants to distract themselves. Unlike doodling, Zentangles needs focus and undivided attention.

This is a relatively new art form and it is based on human behaviour in which one refrains from planning and allows lines and shapes to unintentionally emerge.

I tried my hand on making some Zentangles of my own. Here are some. Hope you like them and share your inputs.

'Tis the season to be jolly...

2014-12-24T22:11:00.000+05:30

'Tis the season to be jolly.....deck the halls with bough of holly....

Hey everyone! Holidays season is here and I have been busy creating easy DIY holiday decorations with my children. Since I teach grade 1,I had to think of simple and easy to make decorations that 6 year old can make. Most of the things we used was either recycled or readily available. Here's a peak into what my class made for Christmas this year. Hope you guys can use some of the ideas.

Have a fabulous Christmas !

My class made this Christmas board where the jotted their wishes to Santa Claus.

Christmas tree made out of hand cuts.

Children traced their own hand prints and cut it out using safety scissors. They then decorated it with their own imagination using glitter, sequins, stickers, cotton, hand prints etc. We later attached it together and gave it the shape of a Christmas tree. It is quite easy to do and fun. It can be an interesting project for children to work upon. The small gifts on the tree were made by using recycle

match boxes covered in old gift wrapping paper.

The same hand print cut out was used to make this Santa. Children decorated it using paint, cotton and googly eyes.

Reindeer made out of hand print cutouts. Cotton dabbed into red colour was used to make nose. The antlers were made out of flexi- wire and shaped accordingly.

Christmas wreath- made out of the same cutouts. It was embellished with simple ribbon and glitter.

Christmas night through window.

Children coloured white sheets with dark blue wax crayons to give the impressions of night. On a separate sheet of paper the doodle pine tree using sketch pens, moon and Santa's sleigh. We pasted it on the window panes and in the end added golden star cut outs and small cotton balls to represent snow.

Christmas ornaments- Children were given cutouts in the shape of Christmas ornaments where they wrote their wish of this years Christmas.

For more ideas on how to make DIY Christmas decorations that a simple and different- refer to the older post on Christmas. (http://mindgoneastray.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-is-here.html )

Quick to make cards

2014-04-20T23:05:00.000+05:30

Running out of ideas for cards?? Here are some simple card ideas using every day items. All the cards would hardly take half and hour to make. Most of the things used to make them are found around the house.

Materials used-

Scraps of paper
Cartage sheet for the card
Glue
Scissors
Sketch pens
Paint and brushes
Things to decorate- ribbon, glitter, coloured paper

Simple Birthday cards made out paper cut outs and ribbons. Old gift wrapping papers can be used for the cut outs.

Recycled CD's used to make owl cards. This can be stuck to a base or the other side of the cd can be used to write the message using marker pens.

The next card is done by making simple paper coil flowers. Cut a circle from a paper and starting from outside cut out a spiral shape. Beginning from outside start coiling this to the centre. Loosen it a little and you will get a flower. Use your creativity and make a lovely card !

Easter Bunny card

Draw a rough sketch of the bunny and then cut out its parts separately. Glue it together on the card using double sided tape to add the three dimensional effect. Simple things like Easter eggs, basket, chocolates, ribbons etc can be added to jazz it up.

Christmas card

Old buttons used to replicate Christmas ornaments in this easy to make card.Bells can be made instead of the ornaments, glitter ribbons could be added to the card.

Malpua

2014-04-20T23:03:00.000+05:30

Malpua

Malpua is a type of a Indian sweer dish, very similar to pancakes. It is prepard from a batter of flour, milk and cardamom and then soaked in sugar syrup. These pancakes are usually fried till they are crisp and soaked in the syrup. It is usually served with another sweet dish called Rabri.

Ingredients

Plain flour- 1 cup Maida
Saunf/ Fennel powder- 1/4 tsp (optional)
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt- pinch
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Milk - 2 cups
Ghee/ clarified butter or oil for frying- 1/2 cup

Sugar syrup

Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water 1/3 cup
Cardamom- 1/4 tsp

Garnishing (optional)

Rabri
Almond
Pistachios

Method

Bring milk to a boil and simmer till it reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Turn off flame and allow to cool to luke warm temperature.
In a bowl, add cardamom powder, sugar, salt and half of the boiled milk. Add half of the flour and mix it well till there are no lumps.
Add the remaining flour and mix well. Slowly add the milk till it forms a smooth flowing batter . Keep mixing for 3-4 minutes and set aside till you make the sugar syrup.
To prepare the sugar syrup, add sugar in a stainless steel vessel and allow the sugar to melt. Simmer the sugar syrup for 10-12 minutes on low flame. Add cardamom powder and turn of heat. Set aside.
Heat Ghee or oil in a pan on low medium flame for 3- 4 minutes.Pour a ladle full of batter in the center of the pan without spreading it. The batter will spread on its own. Do not touch the pancake till it is golden brown along the edges.
Flip it over and cook on medium flame till it is golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to drain the malpua and place it in the sugar syrup immediately. Fully immerse the Malpua in the syrup and let it sit for half a minute. Remove with a slotted spoon such that the sugar syrup drains off the Malpua and then place it on the serving plate.
At the time of serving, place Malpua on a serving plate. Spoon some rabri on top of the malpua ( optional) and garnish with chopped pistachios and almond slivers.

Tips

If more milk is required to make the malpua batter, do add more.Add milk as required for a flowing batter.
If the batter has become too thinm add a few tbsp of flour to thicken it.
Use and old ketchup bottle to pour the batter in the pan. The batter can be filled in a plastic ketchup bottle and used to put the batter on a non- stick pan to make it uniformly round.

Best out of waste

2014-04-10T14:19:00.002+05:30

News paper Jewelry basket

Things needed :

Newspaper- lots of them
Scissor
Glue
Brushes
Acrylic colours
Varnish

Simple as it looks ! Take old newspapers or waste paper and start rolling it. Turn these rolls into paper coils and start gluing them together. To give a look of a box. wrap paper rolls around the coils.

Stick them together and let it dry overnight to make it sturdy.

Once it is ready, paint it with acrylic colour of your choice and let it dry. Finish it off with a quick coat of varnish so that the colour stays longer and it becomes water proof.

Use it to store simple knick knacks, pins, jewelery and anything you want !

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

2014-03-30T22:43:00.002+05:30

Makes 20

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup oats
1tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
I cup flour /maida
1tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
Chocochips - as per your taste

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 360*F or 180* C
Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy,
Beat in the egg, then add the oats, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat together until well blended. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together and stir the mixture. Stir in the choco chips pieces.
Place desert spoon full of the mixture on the prepared tray and flatten it slightly with a fork.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until slightly risen and firm. Remove from the oven and cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

Enjoy with a hot cup of tea.

Donuts

2014-01-20T14:07:00.000+05:30

Recipe

Ingredients

Serves 6

70 gm butter
500 gm plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
70 gm sugar
1 egg
260 ml milk
oil for frying

Procedure

Sieve flour and baking powder in a bowl and rub in the butter. Mix in the sugar.
Beat egg and milk together. Make a well in the flour mixture and then pour in the egg mixture. Mix together to make a soft dough.
Roll out dough on a well floured surface to about 1 cm (1/2in) thick and cut to shape of choice. You can use 2 different sized biscuit cutters for this.
Fry in hot oil for 30 seconds approximately, turn over and cook for further until golden brown.
Drain on tissue paper until cool. Roll in sugar or decorate with icing as desired.
Melted chocolate can be used to glaze it, as well as sugar syrup,

Quilling me softly !

2014-01-20T14:00:00.000+05:30

Quiling is an art form that involves using paper strips that are rolled,shaped and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is then glued at the tip and these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves and various ornamental patterns similar to ironwork.

Basic Quilling shapes

Quiling has become an easy craft these days and many many tools are available in the market. Pre-cut papers, needle, embossing tools, paper crimpers, quilling combs etc are easily available to create even the most complicated designs.

With a little bit of patience you can create many wonderful things. I have created these without using a quilling kit but only paper strips, rolled by hand.

Quilling cards

Designer bottle with quilling

Handmade photo frame with quilling work

Quilled book marks

Said the butterfly...

2013-03-09T12:55:00.001+05:30

I just realised some of my absolute favourite quotes are about butterfly and how it gives a sense of freedom and transformation. Sharing some of them.

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has enough time." - Rabindranath Tagore

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower". - Hans Christian Anderson.

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you". Nathaniel Hawthorne

" Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time".- Deborah Chaskin

" We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever". Carl Sagan

" I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free." - Charles Dickens

Art Attack!

2013-03-01T21:37:00.001+05:30

Art Attack!

Recycled Bottles

Don't know what to do with old bottles lying around? You can try selling them off, but that hardly gets in any bucks! Here are some ideas to use your creativity and reuse, reduce and recycle these bottles. All the ideas are Eco-friendly and mostly made of waste material around the house. You can use them in any way, as a plant holder, pen holder, or simply as a decorative piece.

Bottles decorated with Warli painting and wool

Braided bottle.

Bottle decorated braided wool. Lots of old wool and ribbons were used to make this which was braided together to make a band and then glued together on the bottle. Instead of making a big braids, make small ones and glue it together.

Madhubani painted bottle

Wool lined bottle

If you choose...

2013-02-06T20:16:00.001+05:30

" The chief beauty about time

is that you cannot waste it in advance.

The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you,

as perfect, as unspoiled,

as if you had never wasted or misapplied

a single moment in all your life.

You can turn over a new leaf every hour

if you choose".

Arnold Bennett

Cashew Jam cookies

2013-01-27T00:38:00.001+05:30

Cashew Jam cookies

Ingredients

240 gms Flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/8 tsp Salt
120gm Butter
120 gm powdered sugar
3 tbsp Milk
8-10 cashew- crushed coarsely
3-4 tsp of Strawberry jam- for decoration

Procedure

Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together.
Cream butter and powdered sugar till light and fluffy.
Add the flour and milk. Mix gently to make a stiff dough.
Allow the dough to stand in a cool place for 20-30 minutes.
Once the dough is set , roll them into ball and set them into cookie shapes.
Crush the cashews and spread it on a plate. Then take these cookies and roll them in the crushed cashews.
Put the cookies in the baking tray and put a small dent in the middle of cookie with your thumb. This would be filled with jam.
Take 3-4 tsp of jam and mix it well to make it thinner and then fill in the space created by your thumb.
Bake in a moderate oven at 180 degrees C/ 350 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes.
Take them out and let it rest for 5 minutes so that the cookies become crisp and it is ready to eat.

Egg Sikim

2013-01-24T13:20:00.002+05:30

Egg Sikim

Has it ever happened that unexpected guests have decided to turn up with just a moments notice and you have absolutely nothing in your kitchen? Don't worry because here is very simple recipe that can be whipped up very quickly and used as a starter. All you need is eggs ! Yes the entire recipe is made out of egg itself and some added ingredients. This recipe would take around 30-40 minutes to make.

Ingredients

Boiled egg ( as many as you want, depending on how many people you are expecting)
One raw egg for coating
Grated Mozzarrela cheese
Coriander leaf
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder
Oil to fry.

Procedure

Boil the egg and carefully peel them.
Cut the eggs into half. So if you have used 12 eggs you will have 24 pieces to serve.
Now carefully scoop out the egg yolk and collect it in a bowl. Mash the yolk so that it can be mixed with the other ingredients easily.
Grate the mozzarella cheese and add it to the mixture. Also add salt and pepper to taste. If you like you can add chopped coriander to it.
Mix all the ingredients together and neatly put it back into the egg white. It will resemble the original boiled egg that you initially started with.
Once all the eggs are done, whisk another raw egg to be used as the batter for the coating.Add a pinch of salt to it. ( not too much as we have already added salt in the mixture).
Coat the eggs with the whisked raw eggs and shallow fry it on a pan and it is ready to serve.

Christmas is here!

2012-12-23T00:38:00.000+05:30

Christmas is here and the festivities have begun. Don't want to waste too much money on expensive Christmas decorations from the market? Don't have the time to make them yourself? Here are some easy to make Christmas decorations which doesn't require too much time, effort or money. All you need to do is raid your cupboard and take out anything you can lay your hands on. Paper, glue, ribbons, glitter, wool, paper cups, buttons and a little bit of imagination!

These are simple tree ornaments made out of paper, ribbons and quilling. Quilling or paper filigree is a art form in which paper strips are rolled, shaped and glued together to make decorative designs. Paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape.There are many quilling kits available in the market to make the perfect shape with exact precision but I have made these by hand and it hardly took 20 minutes. I have used simple round shapes and diamond shaped and glued them together to make flowers and other designs.

Ribbons have been put together to make this ornament. You can use your creativity and make any design you want. Most of these materials are recycled. These can be made by kids too. I have used it in my class in grade 3 for a Christmas project. Kids love making these. To make it easier for them, these paper strips can be rolled over a pencil to get the instant curls.

What is Christmas without a Christmas tree? This Christmas tree is made out of styrofoam cups/ paper cups which has been covered with green wool. The cups have been attached together with a wire. The star on top was made with quilling and some beads were added for decorative purpose. Rest of the Christmas tree was decorated with buttons, glitter, mirrors and anything I could lay my hands on. This is a great project for kids and doesn't require too much help from the adults. You can add cotton to make a white Christmas tree or hand painted gingerbread, bells, stars etc.

Recognize this odd looking fellow??

Every Who
Down in Who-ville
Liked Christmas a lot...

But the Grinch,
Who lived just north of Who-ville,
Did NOT!

The Grinch hated Christmas!  The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why.  No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

Yes he's the Grinch from Dr. Suess's The Grinch whole stole the Christmas.Hes been made out of styrofoam cup covered in green wool. His face is hand drawn an pasted. A print from clipart can also be taken for this. His hat is made of out paper folded in a cone and then glued together. Then it was decorated to with cotton to look like Santa hat. Don't allow him to steal your Christmas but you can use him to add a little spice to your decorations.

Cut out snowman : quite self explanatory I guess :). Use cut to make this cute little snowman, which can be used for tree decoration or as a book marker.

The last easy to make decoration is this paper wreath. It is made out of strips of green paper. They were cut into strips and then folded like a loop and then glued together. You can use a circular cardboard base and then stick these strips on it .Use a red paper strip at the centre. Finish it with sparkling some glitter on it.

Hope you liked the ideas. Here's wishing you a very Merry Christmas!