Mirror Stories

This post is not just about my design journey or about a specific project. It's about family, about creative diversity and most importantly team work.

If I could see you right now, I'm sure to see a big question mark on your face and thats quite all right cos I know the above sentence might not make much sense to you. I mean, where on Earth do you find a combination like that, right?

And that very question makes me very proud to introduce you to my latest project - Mirror Stories. But a little bit of background information before that :)

25 years ago Dr Mrs Deepa Sumant started with a small Beauty Salon in Pune. Today she is trained in Naturopathy and Homoepathy. A faculty and conference attendee at many prestigious seminars across the globe. Soon after she started, her sister Mrs Roopa Deshmukh joined hands and together they have successfully made a name in the beauty industry. Like any other business, they too have seen their business flourish and experienced some rainy days.

But the thing that kept them going was dedication towards their work and faith in each another.

And it is that very faith and dedication that has got these two super talented, 50 something ladies to take a plunge, revamp their business and take it to new heights!

The existing facility that they had was fine but it was old and they felt they needed a fresh new look.

They were well aware that keeping up with the latest trends is the mantra and very important to attract new customers.

So, this is where Design Kreeda comes in the picture!

Looking at the requirements, one thing was clear to me - A total brand revamp was the way to go. 

A new name for the new look was the first thing to do. 

Re-naming an existing business is a bigger challenge than naming a new business. This is because there is a lot of history attached to the old name. Detaching the business from its old name and its existing perception is mainly difficult.

There is a need to connect with the existing audience so that they feel the newness while keeping the familiarity intact. A name that relates to the business, that is short and sweet and one that gives room to add multiple service offerings in future was the key. 

We all are different and each of us is unique. Nothing but a mirror reflects the real you. 

Day in and day out, a mirror reflects the different shades and personalities of people who stand in front of it. It sees a bubbly college girl getting her hair done so she can look good for her first date... It sees an anxious bride-to-be, getting her make-up done for the most important day of her life but also sees the sadness in her eyes for leaving her home... It sees an old lady covering up the grays to feel young and beautiful, but also sees the fine lines on her face that tell her life's story... It sees the lady relaxing with a rejuvenating facemask but also sees her hardships balancing her work and home...

 It sees, but it does not judge. For it knows, you are more than just a reflection.

The mirror sees it all and over time, weaves it together into timeless tales... Mirror Stories.

At Mirror Stories, we celebrate the inner beauty and pamper the one outside :)

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Once we gave the name, it was time for my second favorite part, the logo design.

Here is what I made -

The job was not over yet cos another important aspect was remaining - Interior Design.

Sonia Revankar, a talented interior designer and owner of 'Lively-wood' has done a fabulous job and has done full justice to the name and concept.

Our brainstorming sessions were crazy and went on for hours at a stretch. We were working in different continents and time zones but nothing came in our way. Too many ideas, great chemistry, hardly any disagreements :P and a lot of fun made it all worthwhile! You can see how we have taken the design and color from the logo into the interiors and vice-versa.

Here are some pictures of Sonia's work - 

Sonia's idea was to add elements that reflect peace and serenity. Elaborate Buddha and lotus paintings made by Mrs Roopa Deshmukh add to the beauty of the place. The ambience is warm and inviting. Very unconventional and I love the pop of colors that brighten up the place. 

The facility is equipped with the latest technology and highly trained staff. So basically, it has everything that you were looking for! :)

Do visit Mirror Stories when in Pune, India. To keep yourself updated on the services and to avail offers, please hit the like button on their page. Here is the link - 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mirror-Stories/712638622184632

All this is fine, but why did I mention family and team work at the beginning??

Well, thats because Mrs Deepa Sumant happens to be my lovely Mother-in-law, Sonia Revankar is my Sister-in-law and Mrs Roopa Deshmukh is my aunt :)

Quite a combination of family, creative diversity and team work there, isn't it?! :)

cancertainlysmile :)

Never before had I come back from a salon with such a big smile on my face! Had never experienced such joy that came from getting a hair cut. Cos obviously it wasn't just a hair cut, it was a hair donation :)

It's been almost two years since I last donated my hair and I am eager to do so again. (Unfortunately it takes a long time to grow back 13 inches!)

What sort of hair donation you ask? It was a donation towards an organisation that makes wigs for young kids who suffer from hair loss due to various reasons such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy etc. One of my good friend who has also donated her beautiful long hair for this cause, told me about the organisation.

The entire process of making the wigs is a very lengthy process and requires on an average 20-30 pony tails, each at least 13 inches in length and close to $2000 to make one hair replacement system!

Children who are being treated for cancer, not only have to endure the physical discomfort but also the emotional and social pressures that come with the treatment. The change in appearance can cause intense emotional suffering and undermines the kid's image. It is sad that many cannot afford the artificial hair as it is so expensive. 

Thanks to the incredibly generous organisations that are making these wigs for the kids and contributing to boost their self confidence.

Many of us have the inclination to contribute but do know know the channels. I for one believe in spreading the word and helping in whatever way I can. 

I feel very deeply for the cause and therefore have designed the initiative called 'cancertainlysmile'. The intention is to spread awareness so that more people contribute hair and or money towards the cause. 

Since this is purely an awareness program,  I do not wish to name and publicise any specific organisation. You may choose any organisation that suits you. Do read the process of donation carefully before going to the salon.

Besides creating awareness, I wish to contribute in other ways too. So I have made these dangle earrings that you can purchase and show your support. The money generated is of course going to be used for the cause.

Doll Dangle earrings by Design Kreeda 

The response I have got for these is phenomenal! Specially little girls like them a lot and whats amazing is the fact that they understand the seriousness behind it. 

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Inspiration

Andreya's story - Back in Phoenix, a young lady visited my residence to purchase some products from my collection. She had recently found out that she was pregnant and shared her joy with a lot of excitement. She had a lovely glow on her face and her long golden beautiful hair complimented her color. She bought a lot of jewellery including the doll dangle earrings.

At that time I was not disclosing the purpose behind making and selling the earrings. I wanted to see how people reacted upon seeing them. She found them very interesting and asked me the idea behind making them. I then told her my inspiration and the cause for which I was actually making them.

She looked at me with teary eyes and a gentle smile, said ''thank you'' and as she did so, raised her hand and slowly pulled back her hair which in fact, was a wig :)

A cancer survivor herself, she told me how much she appreciates the hair donation programs that gave her the much needed confidence to have a near-normal and happy childhood. 

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Our Awesome Supporters

Since the time I have started the program, I have received tremendous support and encouragement from many but the best is when it comes from the young hearts!

This is Niharika, 8 years old and one of our youngest supporter :)

''I wear the dangles all the time and tell everyone to donate hair so that kids like me can look 

pretty and be happy :)'' she says.

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There are many kids who are waiting for support from generous hearts.

Please do give it a thought and contribute in whatever way you can. 

As a donor, take it from me... you will love the feeling and the kids will love you even more! :)

|Please share if you care|

Personalize it!

When you are passionate about something, you want the world to know it! Be it your hobby, your work, your interest or even something you dislike :)

I recently worked out a way to express this 'interest' of Sonia by creating a stamp for her book collection. She approached me to make something that would help her manage the big book inventory she has. She often lends her books to friends and acquaintances. ''People tend to keep it for months and sometimes forget which book goes back to whom, making it difficult for me to keep a track of my list'' she says. 

A very simple idea was to make a stamp that would go on each of her book to clearly state that it is 'her property'... of course in a much nicer way :)

So this is what I made -

She asked for a little space where she could write the date or other info about the book. So I gave some space under the design to incorporate the same.

Now she has a huge collection of books, all stamped and ready to go places :)

This is how it looks on the book -

I have made some stamps for my own work as well. I like to add that extra bit of personalized touch to the products I make :)

The products and designs are

and coming your way

So if you want to 'stamp it', you know who to call! 

Feel free to discuss design ideas with me for invitation designs to greetings, stamps, logos or just about anything you need...we'll make it happen :)

Tyre-ing but Fun!

Now this one is my prized possession and I love it dearly!

We had shifted into a rental apartment and as many of you would agree... it is not very easy to set up a rental home. My apartment was brand new, huge, airy and even Vastu approved! And oh the highlight - it was on the tenth floor overlooking the beautiful landscaped city of Pune.

BUT it was rented and that means a lot of compromises!

People who move often will know better that a rented apartment, no matter how new and spacious will have shortcomings like not being able to break down a wall or not having anything permanent made for decorating purposes.

So I knew I had to make peace with reality and give up some great ideas for home decor (at least I thought they were great :p)

 And as if thinking about workable and movable ideas were not enough, hubby darling adds 'budget' and 'low maintenance' to the list! I agreed to the 'low maintenance' part but ahem ahem, budget definitely was a touchy topic. I know all the wives reading this are nodding in agreement suppressing their smiles :)

With all the constraints, I was taking a whole lot longer to set up the house and it was driving my husband crazy. He even gave me an ultimatum that he will go out and buy stuff on his own. WHAT??!! Let a guy decorate the place!!! NOOOO!! 

But I wouldn't blame him for the urgency. Poor guy didn't have a coffee table to put down his coffee mug and it was very inconvenient when the guests came over as we had nothing in the living room to place the snack bowls. ''Think fast darling'', I said to myself at that point trying to avoid eye contact with my angry husband. 

The next day I happened to drive past a couple of garages or tyre shops on my way home from office. I always wanted to do something with a tyre, something creative, something workable but had never given it a serious thought. I really like the form, the rugged feel and thought it had huge potential for up-cycling.

I am a total re-cycler/ up-cycler whatever you want to call it! Hope you have seen my previous posts on this topic.

Anyways, so the next day I went to one of the tyre shops and asked if I could get one of the shabby, useless tyres that were thrown in the corner, all piled up. I actually don't know why these shops keep the useless ones but it worked to my benefit :)

So I bargained and finally got one! How I convinced those boys to help me carry it all the way to my house is a funny story but I'll share that some other time.

Oh by the way, I missed telling you one thing... it wasn't just any tyre... it was a TRUCK tyre! :) Weighing more than a 100 pounds!

I knew that was it! It was going to be my centre table! 

My husband gasped as he entered the house and stared at the dirty, black, round heavy thing sitting in the living room and then looked at me. His expressions read - You better have a plan to make it work!

Of course I had a plan :) I had it all conceptualised. Now it was time for action!

I cleaned up the tyre thoroughly before applying paint on it. I wanted a smooth finish. After almost 4 layers of base paint that took about 15 days to dry, I finally had it ready for the design. 

I used a bold, colourful palette to compliment my living space. Bright pink, green and blue were primary. My living room had a lot of ethnic dominance so I went the semi-traditional yet contemporary way rather than the geometric and modern.

Had my glass cut to place as the table top and now I had to finish the piece with the placement. 

The challenging part was to make it movable. A huge tyre weighing almost 100 pounds was not easy to push around when mopping the floors or pulling closer when sitting on the couch.

So I designed a frame that was made of wrought iron. I placed strong wheels for ease of mobility and got it all put together with the tyre.

Here is how it looks -

Its my very own, one-of-a kind coffee table that I designed from scrap (also scratch :)) 

It has worked beautifully as a prop to display my products -

It has beautified many lively parties, strolling happily from person to person, gracefully serving sumptuous food. And today even though I am miles away from it, it sits proudly in my sister's house who uses it in her own unique way!

You can call me crazy for thinking of putting a rugged piece of scrap from a garage in the middle of my living room but hey... it worked! :)

Do check out my other posts to see my re-cycled, re-used, up-cycled products here and here!

'Kids Need To Read' is Design Kreeda's new friend!

I know... I am writing after a long time! I feel a blog is worth writing only if the content is interesting and worthy of reading. Dont you think?

This is one of my exciting (and challenging) tie-ups! Recently joined hands with an organisation called Kids Need To Read - An organisation run by an enthusiastic group of people who are dedicatedly working towards 'inspiring imagination'! And what better way than BOOKS to do so!!

When I first learned about the concept of distributing books to kids with a goal in mind ... I was amazed! I think it is a brilliant way to spread the joy of reading :) 

They work on various topics to create a culture of reading for children by providing inspiring books to underfunded schools, libraries, and literacy programs across the United States, especially those serving disadvantaged children.

I consider myself very lucky to have bumped into Denise Gary - Executive director of KNTR  and Robert Gary - A photographer at one of my exhibitions. Denise was one of my happy customers :) She bought a tote bag and I remember clearly cos other than the colors, motifs, craftsmanship, she was thrilled about the peace symbol on the bag (she calls it her 'peace bag' :)) 

Little did I know that an amazing concept was in her mind and up for execution - Kids-N-Peace!

Peace - A very important topic that needs to be understood and practiced by kids today. 

We were lucky again to bump into each other at another event and once we got talking... ideas started floating, meetings got fixed and excitement was at its peak! She explained how she and her team were working on the topic 'Peace' and was looking for ideas/products/services to spread the message.

I visited their work place... a very pretty, cozy house turned into an office with books everywhere :). It felt like sitting in a huge bucket of books! 

I learned a lot about the organisation and the entire concept of KNTR. 

I kept thinking why they were so eager to do the peace project. I mean sure, it is a very important aspect of life and kids must understand it but I got to know the seriousness of it only after Denise explained that according to the survey, most kids who drop out of school... as early as eighth grade is because of being bullied!! 

That was rather sad and also an eye-opener... So taking this very seriously, KNTR is compiling book sets for different age groups of students and distributing them to various schools and libraries. They are doing extensive study on student behaviour and accordingly conducting counselling sessions for kids.

When Denise approached me for this project, I had no reason to say no. Design Kreeda is extremely happy to contribute for this cause and thankful to KNTR for considering me and giving such a great opportunity to try and make a difference :)

It was very thoughtful of KNTR to mention Design Kreeda's contribution in their newsletter - 

http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3910e70f47748eddc0e1326ee&id=d264d60b0a 

We will be doing fundraisers and book events to spread the message. Many Peace products are in the making and will be available for sale at the Peace events and online store very soon! :)
 
So here's me signing off on a happy note... off to make the goodies! :)

More on Kids Need To Read -
Website : http://www.kidsneedtoread.org
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/kidsneedtorea
Store : http://stores.ebay.com/Kids-Need-to-Read

Fabric Care - It's easy!

When you like a garment or any fabric product, the first thing that comes to your mind is its care.

Will it be tedious to maintain, will it need extra care, will it be expensive to preserve? and such are the questions that sometimes make you keep the perfectly good looking fabric back on the shelf. Isn't it?

It's not really your fault... Sometimes products do not carry care instructions making it even more difficult for us to decide. And sometimes the instructions despite of being attached, add to the confusion because we do not understand it.

Care instructions are standardized and not very difficult to understand. In this post I will simplify the symbols for you. 

But before I start, I would like to highlight an important fact. Something that we usually very conveniently forget - Fabrics are perishable. 

Yes, they are. We often get attached to our favorite dress, linen etc. and hope that they will remain as is cos we are following the care instructions. And when it looks old, loses it's shine, we blame the manufacturing or the seller. Please bear in mind that the instructions are a guide to help us understand what suits the fabric best and help keep it intact. It does not prolong its life till eternity.  

Each fabric possesses a unique quality, has a different life span and reacts differently to weather, water, heat and soap. 

Below are some care instructions that are most commonly found on care labels and come handy while purchasing.

There are many more symbols but I will update you with that information in my next post. Learn these by heart till then :)

Along with care symbols, I thought of sharing some tips on washing, drying and ironing.

Tips on washing

• Always be sure to check the pockets of all garments before washing and drying. The stains and damage which can result from one hidden lipstick, lip balm, stick of gum or crayon goes beyond words!
• Wash all of your clothes inside out to protect the fibers against damage from the
  washing machine drum or from e.g. zippers in other clothes.
• Sort articles by color, keeping whites, darks, and medium colors together. Lighter garments can pick up dyes from darker colors. 
• Wash heavily soiled, dirty, items separately from slightly soiled items. This will help prevent fading and keep colors brighter.
• Garments which generate lint, such as fleece sweat shirts and towels, should be washed separately.
• It is recommended to save energy and water by washing at low temperatures.
• Most modern washing machines produce effective results even when they are completely full. Therefore, you should fill the machine completely instead of running it half full.

Tips on drying

• Follow label instructions for drying your clothes. Some fabrics require that you tumble dry them in low heat, or that you don't tumble dry them at all.
• Do not dry colored fabrics in direct sunlight. This can cause the color to fade.
• Dry the fabrics flat to avoid wrinkles.

Tips on ironing

• Be sure you read the care label for the proper ironing procedure and temperature setting to use.
• Do not iron items which are dirty or stained. Heat from the iron will set stains.
• Keep the iron and the ironing board cover clean to avoid soiling the clean garments/fabric being ironed.
• Garments which are drip-dry should be pressed while damp on the wrong side, using a cool iron. If finishing the right side, use a pressing cloth.

Tips on stain removal - for treating specific stains on washable fabrics.

• Deal with the stain as soon as possible. The longer you wait the more time the stain has to soak in and/or dry, making it more difficult to remove.
• Lift or gently scrap off any excess material from the fabric. Use a cloth or a towel to gently blot and soak up any liquid. Don't rub! Rubbing can spread the stain and cause it to penetrate deeper into the fabric.
• Identify what caused the stain. In order to know what to do for the stain, you need to know what caused it.
• Follow the instructions on any presoak, prewash or stain removers. It's best to test a small out of the way area of the fabric first.
• If stains aren't entirely removed after washing, try rewashing the item. Allowing the item to dry, or putting it in the dryer, can set the stain for good.

So...from now on you wont feel bad for yourself for losing out on a stunning dress or a great decor fabric. Now you can make an informed decision.

Happy shopping :)

SILK... the ageless fabric!

We wear it! We flaunt it! We love it! 

Don't you wonder whats so great about Silk that we can't seem to have enough of it?

Most of us have used this fabric in one or many forms. Be it clothes, upholstery or to beautify our living space.

I think it is the remarkable process that plays a big role in turning merely nothing into a beautiful precious fabric. I learnt a lot about the process, literally stage by stage during my recent visit to China and I think that's one of the best take aways from the trip :)

I'll take you through the process with the help of these pictures that I took at the Silk Museum in Shanghai.

We all have studied the lifecycle of a silk worm in school so I'll not get into details but this was very interesting and as they say 'practical is always better than theory' ....I agree completely :)

 

Stage 1 to 4 : The female moth lays tiny EGGS, the CATERPILLAR hatches out of the egg. It feeds on Mulberry leaves and grows bigger into a LARVA and starts spinning a cocoon of silk threads around itself. Inside the cocoon the caterpillar changes into a PUPA.

Stage 5 : The Pupa changes into a moth and comes out of the cocoon. 

They mate again and the cycle goes on...

What they leave behind is the silk cocoon!

People unwind the silk thread from the cocoon to weave silk cloth.

They keep the cocoons submerged in cold water for hours. That loosens out the silk and makes it easier to remove off the shell. Once the silk is soft and loose, the thread gets attached to the winding machine and starts spinning on the winding tube.

Once it is spun, it is put to dry on an inverted U shaped pipe. (see the picture below) 

The dry weave is further processed to make usable fabric.

Now this is amazing and fun!! The weave that you saw in the above picture is stretched manually from all sides to cover the length of a king size blanket!! YUP! All from that small swirl of thread. Its a single thread that goes round and round to give one entire layer for the blanket! Many such threads are spread layer on layer to make it thick n fluffy.

That was the amazing part... and the fun part was when they let US do it! :) The blanket is unbelievably soft and is all weather! I got myself two :) 

Well, Im lucky to get a chance to visit a place where I can see the trasformation from eggs to blanket but we dont get such a chance every time we are buying silk right? So I thought I'll also share tips that will help you distinguish between pure and fake silk. 

How to differentiate between pure Silk and Look alikes?

A lot of times its confusing when the seller poses a particular fabric as pure silk. Of Course, the need to differentiate between real silk and look alike is the basic reason of cost. Silk costs a lot more than the “fake silk”.

Polyester and Nylon are the most common fabrics that are passed of, or can be used to look like silk. It is

relatively easy for all of us to differentiate between cotton and synthetic fibres. But the properties of

Polyester and Nylon make it possible for them to be passed off as Silk. 

So this is how you can differentiate the real Silk :-

Cut a small piece of fabric about 1 to 2 cms, or if your situation does not permit, take some threads from any one of the corners (Even 2 threads of 1 inch length is sufficient). With a matchstick or a lighter make a flame and slowly bring the threads in contact with the flame.(Be careful not the burn your fingers). Do not burn the entire threads, just a little on the edges. Observe the thread as it burns.

If the sample is pure Silk the threads will burn and turn to black ash. It will stop burning as soon as the threads are taken away from the flame.

If instead, the threads burn, and when the thread is taken away from the flame it continues to burn a little. Just observe the ends of the thread remaining after the burning. If there is a formation of small glass like(plastic like) beads at the ends of the threads, the said sample is not Silk but Polyester or Nylon. 

I hope you enjoyed reading the post and from now on you need not worry about getting duped in the name of Pure silk!

Please share your feedback, comments and any additional information you think will be useful to our friends :)

The world on my coffee table!

  

Coasters!!! The one thing I never forget to pick up when I am in a new place.

It could be a restaurant, a bar, an exhibit, a craft centre, a new city, a new state, a new country!! Basically any part of the world :) I have been collecting these beauties since my college days. And so you can very well imagine the number that I must have touched by now...its 248!

My constant re locations don't allow me to carry all of them everywhere but the collection is on and since my friends know that Im crazy for them, they get me some too :)

What I like about the coasters is that each one of them carries so much more than just the name of the place. It carries the culture, the tradition, the vivid colors, messages, facts and what not!

I specially love the hand made ones. Here are two that I got from my recent trip to Sedona and Flagstaff in Arizona. The one in brown is from Sedona and is made from a single piece of original mountain stone. Further etched with the traditional Zuni art symbol.



The black and white one is from Flagstaff. Made from pure white stone that is found only in that area. It has black powder dust painting on it and carries the traditional symbol from the ancient Navajo culture.

These little items are a great of source of inspiration too. They give you a sense a belonging and get you attached to the places instantly. That sure happens to me :)

I would love to share more pics and share the story behind each one of them but..... lets do it little by little!

Collecting coasters is probably the most easiest, compact and interesting way of getting back home a piece of every place you visit. That's how I mange to fit the world on my coffee table :)

Future is in safe hands...

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY!

Hmmm just another glorified day...  Huh! just another way of making money... Sell cards, make posters... They make an issue out of everything... What's the point of keeping one day for mother earth...huh.. as if that's gonna change anything!... some would say

BUT

There are some who do care and are working silently behind the scenes in their own innocent ways...

Everyday we see so many people promoting their products and services through multiple mediums but seldom do we find a 5 year old promoting and supporting a serious concern such as 'Save Earth'... impressive isn't it?

Meet Mishu, the little environmentalist in the making. I don't know him personally but saw some of his work while searching for some environment related images. I was amazed to see his creations, some of which are his own ideas! His mother, Himadri of course plays a huge role in all of this. It's really wonderful to see how much effort this mother-son duo are putting in to spread awareness.

Here is some of his work -

Lush green forest!
Made from play dough and sticks. How simple and cute :)

He says - This is my forest!
He used wood shavings, ground nut peels, water bottle caps, egg shells, corrugated sheet,

''Mishu said some really interesting things. While we were pasting trunks he said, “Aur tree lagao”(Put more trees or you can read the universal message-PLANT MORE TREES).''

Love thy trees!

Mishu used play dough (green, orange and yellow), cookie cutters, plasticine moulds, corrugated sheet, thermocol (to cut clouds), gravel, shells and other tools.

To cut 'heart shaped leaves' was the kid's idea!
It's true, you can't hide your love! :)

Taddaaaa....!!!

Isn't it absolutely adorable!
























You know, this is my third draft before I could finally compose my post. I was going to write about eco-friendly fabrics, what to buy, what not to buy etc. but I was having a very hard time moving on from this kid's wonderful works and to stick to the main topic of the post i.e World environment day. So ill just leave it at that for now. Will write about the fabrics very soon :)
As far as environment day goes, I don't really need to say anything more after sharing the lil one's work and effort. Isn't it?


So point taken master Mishu!
With thoughtful kids like you in this world, we know our future is in safe hands :)





With all due credits to Himadri pachori -
http://mumpaintslives.blogspot.com/2011/06/this-is-my-forest.html

Useful - Useless - REUSE!

Hey there!

Hope you liked my earlier post and are now busy making your own jewellery bowl! :)

Isn't it hard to part with your favourite clothes, kitchen ware, furniture or anything if it gets damaged?
You wish it could be yours forever and remain in the same good condition...

I love some of my furniture dearly but it's no more in a usable condition and unfortunately I am not as lucky as Joey to have Rosita - a chair that heals itself! Sigh!

I couldn't throw my favourite chair away! So I decided to use it differently... I was in my study room, searching for some small note. I searched on the table, in the drawers but nope, I had lost it.
I wanted to buy a pin up board for my table but the idea of a typical board was just not clicking. Something had to be done before I lost more valuable information I had written on small chits of paper...Oh so clumsy me! I thought and turned around only to see my poor little broken chair shoved under the cupboard.

Eureka!! I knew what I had to do next... my problem was solved!

See the transition here -


Before - A beautiful, wooden low-seating chair, finally succumbed to my friend's giant body! i dare not take his name ;P

 After - Make over into a colorful board on the study table

NOW - I finally have something to stick my notes on!
           - My collection of coasters are mounted on it neatly!
           - Interesting knick-knacks also found a place for themselves!
           - And what's best? I didn't have to drill in my wall to put a boring pin-up board!


Hey Joey! My chair doesn't heal itself, it transforms into a better thing instead! :D

Storing your earrings - no more a problem!

You love accessories.
You buy loads of it.
You love to experiment and try different styles of dressing.
BUT, more often than not, you end up wearing the same earrings/tops/chains etc. and complain that you don't have enough...right?


That's maybe because your jewellery box looks like this! :)

That was exactly my problem as well and this is a picture of my own bowl - a total disaster!
I was really tired of going to and fro with choosing the jewellery while dressing up and as it's the last thing one wears while getting ready, I ended up wearing the same stuff most of the time.

It's not only tedious but also boring to empty the bowl every time when you have to find the second earring and waste a good 10 minutes searching for it.

I had to put an end to this everyday madness!

While thinking about an easy solution, I tried various options like the small pouches that are readily available in the market, the very common and absolutely boring jewellery bags with millions of compartments (these are good but still not very good to store earrings/tops. Good to keep neck pieces ) or a thermocol sheet which I could poke these earrings on! Not a lasting option.

So here is my answer to the problem -

This one is a very easy and long-lasting option if not permanent...

All you need is -

1. A bowl/ box. Preferably with a cover cos you don't want dust to settle on your favourite tops.
2. Clay - I suggest clay in different colors. Single color is boring :)


Make your own -

1. Clean the bowl and ensure that it is completely dry. Select your favour color of clay and take a big chunk. Almost as big as a cricket bowl. On a flat non-sticky surface, roll on with a rolling pin/Belan to make it flat and even like a thick roti. Match the size of this roti to the base of the bowl.

2. Neatly place the clay roti in the bowl and lightly press on the ends so it stays stuck to the surface and there are no openings to let air/water seep in. To make it look neater, you can put another thin tube-layer around the edges (refer to the picture).

3. You can make any designs on the edges to make it attractive. Leave majority of the surface free to pin your earrings onto the clay.

4. Place your earrings in pairs. This way you can see all your earrings at once, remove and replace easily and TADAAA... no more last minute searching!! :)


Note: Please go for regular clay of a good company. Do not use synthetic clay as it dries up fast and becomes hard within days. You can get the clay at any toy store.

Isn't it quick and easy?!!

Now go on, make your own and share the picture soonest on design Kreeda's facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Design-Kreeda/263405977073356


Happy dressing,
DK