FAIRY LIGHTS RANGOLI WITH CANVAS
This is a time when India's every street each home gets to decorate with candles and lights because it is the time to celebrate the Diwali festival here. The purpose of RANGOLI is decoration and its a thought to bring good luck. It's a traditional art form that varies from place to place within India too. Its usually done by women and girls during the time of festivals, auspicious occasions, marriage celebrations, and other similar milestones and gatherings.
RANGOLI is defined as some simple geometrical shapes, flowers and lights (traditionally use terracotta Diyas ) and with different powder colors. The main material is required to make this powders are Rice or flour. You can mix this powder with Haldi (turmeric) to form Yellow rangoli powder, can mix sindoor (vermilion) to get Red Rangoli powder and likewise you can mix some chemical powder to get more colors too.
If you ave no time to prepare all these procedures, then you can use some creative method to decorate, which I have done it here, It's like a last-minute decoration idea which can light up your home and workplace and you also can use this later as a wall hanging too.
I have done it for my home, and my thought turned out beautifully. Then I thought to share with you all so that I will get more pleasure if I will give small happiness to you. So let's start to make this.
Supplies
PREPARING CANVAS
First, you have to take a round-shaped canvas board (stretched canvas). Then mark its diameter with the help of a ruler and a pencil. It makes the canvas into equal two sections, now you should do it again means you have to divide each section into another two equal parts. Now you can easily get the center of the circle.
Now by the use of rounder, you can make some circles over the canvas board. I just keep it spacious so that I can draw some big geometrical or floral patterns.
The pencil art I have drawn here is so simple because I did only floral pattern i.e. Petal to cover entirely the canvas. It's just different sizes of petals (You can visit its attached video part to watch its making).
The best part of this is, when you already done with diagonal lines and circles it seems more easy to draw petals on each segment.
COLOURING CANVAS BOARD
On the coloring part, I have used glass colors. You can use acrylic colors also. But glass colors give an excellent effect when you decorate with lights and that's the reason I have used glass colors here.
Before using the color bottle, just squeeze it gently over a tissue or a cotton fabric to make the air bubbles out from the bottle. Then use it over the board surface with a gentle finger press .
Better you start from center to periphery of the canvas. But there is absolutely on thumb rule to color. Just remember a thing that you should not color any adjacent pattern at the same time, otherwise, the color will flow and mix up quickly. So always give some short duration at least to set the color or do some pattern apart from the area you did just before.
Now after coloring each petal and gaps, let it dry on a dust-free place.
TIPS:
1. You will find some air bubbles when you will do the coloring part. Just take a toothpick or safety pin to pop out the bubbles. Do it quickly so that the bubbles can't set on the canvas.
2. If you squeeze hardly somewhere, don't worry, just spread it with a toothpick or remove the extra with the help of the earbuds.
3. Before going to use the bottle, remove the air bubbles on a tissue.
4. Always place the canvas on a plain surface, otherwise, the colors will flow downwards.
3D LINING AND RHINESTONES PUTTING
Now you can differentiate the texture and shine, which you can't get with acrylic colors. I have taken a golden 3D cone liner to give outlines to the drawing so that each petal will feature out.
Always remember one thing, you are doing this part inward to outward so that you will not mess up on the canvas.
If You want to design it with Gold Liners, then you can do it simply. I have done some leaves directly over the petals. It's so easy to do. You should decorate the canvas in such a way that, you can use it both rangoli and also for wall decoration.
Now keep it aside to be dried off completely.
Then put some rhinestones with the help of craft glue to decorate the canvas. It will enhance the beauty of the canvas quickly. And the main reason to put the rhinestones is, we can able to use it later as a wall hanging or a table decor item.
POKING HOLES
Flip the canvas and place this against the light and let the light pass through the canvas board. Glass colors are so transparent that it allows the rays to pass easily so that you can mark the points where you want to put fairy lights.
Now take a sharp object like a pointed screwdriver and poke some holes where you have marked already.
FIXING THE FAIRY LIGHTS
Its the last part of the making, where you have to fix the lights. The thing you have to do is, just push the string light on each hole from the backside to the front side and place it properly by putting cello tape on the backside of the canvas.
Follow the same procedure, starting from the center to the outer periphery. You can also start from out to inward, but the thing does not put here and there, just fill the string light on each of the next holes and continue till the end. And finally, fix all the weirs on a place with the help of masking tape.
I have used a battery operated string fairy light. So I fixed it on the backside of the canvas with the help of masking tape. If you have cello tape, you can use that also to fix it.
Now our project is ready to decorate, but as I have discussed Rangoli, so I am doing to do it with further steps.
FLOWER AND DIYAS DECORATION
For rangoli, terracotta Diyas are the must thing to should have. I have painted some raw terracotta diyas previous years and It look so fresh till. So I am going to use those.If you wish to learn the coloring technique then go through this link.
Also, take some flowers because as I said you it is a last-minute project. Took some marry gold flowers and some roses. Pull out all the petals from the flower and spread it on the floor. The size of the rangoli depends on the number of flowers you have.
Just keep some vacant space in the center to place the canvas.
Decorate the flowers with some terracotta diyas and candles now finally switch on the battery of string fairy light, put it over the area you want.
I am just running out words, how beautiful it looks. I can only feel the soothing vibes.
Wish you all " Happy Diwali ".
Thank you so much for reading my articles on Instructables. Let me know your valuable feedback upon this project.