Latest Nisms

N's growing up real fast... I mean its crazy sometimes. He's been talking a lot, doing a lot of new things and making us laugh too. 
Here is a few of his latest conversations!

S, N and I are in the elevator along with another 40-ish man. N turns on the fan in the elevator.
S to N - Did you turn on the fan because you are you feeling hot?
N - Yes
S - Did you ask uncle if he is ok with the fan?
N to 40-ish man - Uncle are you hot??
40-ish man - Very hot!!

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N is in class at playschool. His teacher is showing pictures of objects that start with the letter W. Once she shows it to them they repeat after her.
The whole class says W for wall clock. N says W for W clock
The whole class says W for watermelon. N says W for lemonwater

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N's first sentence with a conjunction - please note the logic put in all by himself.
Me to N - Hey what happened on your elbow. Did you get hurt?
N - Ya mama. I got an ouie (boo-boo) in Jenukallu (a nature resort we had gone for a weekend).
S - Oh! So then we shouldn't go to Jenukallu again? You got hurt there.
N tries to kiss the boo boo on the elbow, manages to kiss somewhere close then says "Mama we can go to Jenukallu now because N kissed his ouie. He ok now"

Green table decor

Happy Monday everyone!!
This weekend was spent on some much needed retail therapy and some birthday party fun.
I have been having some sit down dinners ever since moving to Bangalore. So I thought of ramping up my table decor collection.
I have these beautiful lime green organic cotton placemats and dinner napkins that my sister had gifted to me and I thought of adding components around it. So I went shopping to FabIndia for a table cloth and this is the end result. I tried my best but couldn't capture the rich green colour of the table cloth. Its a beautiful and deep mehendi green and the pictures don't do justice to it.

The dinner plates are from Corelle (Coastal Breeze design). This dinner set was a gift from S's brother and sister-in-law when we got married and were setting up our home. It was a perfect match for the setting.

The crystal wine glasses are from Cristal d'Arques, Paris. These were a gift from my mom who has been collecting stuff from all over the world for me and my sister :)

The table cloth is in organza from FabIndia. Its a square piece which I put on in a diamond shape on my oval 6 seater and it was perfect!

I need to add some accessories like candles or flowers or a nice centerpice maybe and that will complete the picture I guess! But consider it a work-in-progess for now. Do you like this?? Tell me!

I am going to send this to Patty's Weekend Wrap up 15 over at Colours Dekor!

Giveaway at P&P and sales all around

Hello folks!
Happy Friday - seriously I LOVE Fridays!! :) They make me happy and excited.
So here's to make you feel better too - Gagan at Of peacocks and paisleys is hosting a giveaway. CSN stores will give away a $45 gift card, which can be used anywhere on their site, in any of their 200+ stores. The giveaway is open to U.S./Canadian residents. Residents of other continents may still enter for a loved one in the U.S./Canada.
This giveaway is only open a week so hurry up now and hop on to her blog.

And for folks in India - Crossword bookstores start their Clearance sale today. They will have up to 80% off so lets go book shopping.

Have a great weekend!!

Console Tables - wish list!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have started the hunt for a console table. I had this vision in my head since ages about having a console table in the entry way in my house. And finally in our current apartment (even though its not ours - but is a rental) there is the kind of space where a console table would look great.

So S and I did go out and look at a few tables last weekend. Liked a few and it got me thinking - If I had the choice what sort of console table would I really really want to have? Here are a few that got me drooling!

I want a console table with a mirror, absolutely! Mirrors make the room bigger and brighter and pretty too! So this one was an easy favourite -

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I also have this bias towards semi circular or half consoles like the one below. I like the little bit of detailing on this and the fact that it has a lower slab - more opportunity to keep and show stuff!

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This one is simple, clean and the colour is deep and choclaty - love that!

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This one is from Pottery Barn. It is elegant and restrained. Love the green plant in the white holder. Isn't that so fresh and beautiful?

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This one has got some storage too but what I love most about it is the small lamps on the console. The right lighting can do so much to your room and mood.

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Well lets see what I finally end up with. I hope I find what I like or like what I find :)
Happy Thursday - Friday is almost here!!

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was my first at home in the New Year and after my vacation. So it was all about sorting, cleaning and organizing. I also gave my house the what-does-it-need look and I noticed that I need to add more masks to my collection.
I recently started collecting masks - fascinated by the variety of art forms and cultural influences in masks and inspired by some fellow bloggers. I already have 3 in my collection, they are on different walls right now, but I plan to put them up on one wall when the collection grows bigger.

My existing collection -
The one on the left is from Indonesia. It is a wooden mask and is etched and painted. The black one on the right is a Bastar tribal handicraft from Chhattisgarh. It is wrought iron painted black.
S and N even have names for these - The wooden one is "Samba uncle" and the black one is "Basanti aunty" (aunty because she wears earrings).

 

And my latest addition is this pair from Arunachal Pradesh. These are hand carved wooden masks. They are supposed to be Samba uncle and Basanti aunty's babies. Their names are Kalia and Bhedia - don't ask me why! I wasn't part of the christening ceremony.

This time on vacation one of my aunts - a very smart, independent and loving person and a favourite of mine had us over for lunch. I saw these masks at her place and these or something similar are next on my list!

Love the golden yellow bronzish finish on these ganesha masks/wall hangings. And the terracotta ones below are eye catching too!  

We also started hunting for console tables. More on that later!! Happy Monday!!

This is my entry to Patty's Weekend Wrap Up 14! Check out what other people were doing over the weekend!

N the pirate!

This is my entry to Artsy Craftsy Jan 2011 over at Mindful Meanderings.

N's playschool had a fancy dress show as part of their Christmas celebrations. This was his 1st time in a fancy dress apart from the Halloweens N has been part of while we were in the US.

A pirate is what I thought of - easy to do and a different look. So the basic dress was a pant with the ends tucked into his socks to make them look like polo pants. The shirt was tucked into the pant and a kamarband or broad belt was wrapped around the waist.

I added a moustache and a mole on his face with a black marker. A bandana on his head and an eye patch completed the look. The eye patch was cut out of silver paper glued onto a black chart paper (chart paper can be of any colour). I added a string from a face mask to the eye patch so that it could be worn over the eye.

This is what N looked like that day -

A closer look -

And to my pleasure N went up on stage and shouted out "I'm a pirate. Want a ride anyone?" without being self-conscious at all.

Renovation - Sofa

My mom has this old sofa which has been in the family for a very long time. Its been passed on from one generation to another.
Over the years the chocolate brown cover had faded to a dull and patchy brown. I decided to give the sofa a make over and hence bring a change to her living room.

This is how the sofa looked like before the makeover. It is a 3 + 2 seater and had arm rests on ends. I decided to get the arm rests from the 2 single seaters removed, this would make them look less bulky. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture with the arm rests. But at least you can see the before picture.
I love the intricately carved cupboard next to the sofa - have been eyeing it for quite some time now ;) This is also a family antique.

The 3 seater before the change - 

In the picture below - The cream fabric with a self design that I used to replace the plain brown. I checked a couple of high-end stores including Seasons for fabric but everything was so pricey (Rs 650 to 700 per metre). And I needed about 11 metres. Finally a shop in the local furniture market had this beautiful fabric at just Rs 220 per metre. Great deal I tell you and this is exactly what I was looking for.

The 3 seater is all done! Doesn't this look so royal and elegant? I love it!

The single seaters minus the arm rests.

And the best part is that the new look compliments the rest of the furniture in mom's living room perfectly. We even got 2 slip covers of the same fabric for the cushions on the Kashmiri settee (can be seen in the picture below on the left)

I loved doing this project. It was fun and am very pleased with the outcome.
What do you think?