Wednesday 4 April 2012

Hennaed Candles...

Are you fond of henna and have your hands painted with those gorgeous henna designs?...Indian, Arabic, Tribal, Moroccan...My friend Shakuntala taught me how to paint those henna designs one summer. She made me practice endlessly on paper and only when designs "simply floated" in my head, she allowed me to graduate onto the hand. Thereafter, everyone in my building became the victims!! I would plead with them to lend their hands for practicing a design. This was followed with some bridal mehendi practice sessions..

While practicing those henna designs, I realized I could actually draw...until then, drawing and painting was just not my cup of tea...I could now fill up sheets of paper drawing those swirls, flowers, stems, leaves... intricate designs reminding me of those gorgeous jalli work found in havelli's...Alas, I no longer paint henna designs, though I do use the concept in my paintings sometimes...

This weekend while spring cleaning my home, I found some spare candles and my old Mehendi art book! I was now all excited to paint some henna designs on the candles. Couple of minutes later, I realized, I am so out of practice! My new goal for the next couple of months is to perfect my henna painting...

Until then, my first take on painting a simple henna design on a candle...

Ingredients:
Mehendi or a henna cone or make your own. I make my own..., Candles, Mod Podge (i love it!), a painting brush and some glue and some jewelry stones...and yes a toothpick...
I made my henna mixing - tea water + lemon juice. Noticed when i made the henna with only water, the henna did'nt come out dark..


Paint your  design, very similar to how you paint henna on your hand...let it dry...


Glue in your jewelry...this is where you need those precious toothpicks...

  
Paint Mod Podge on the dried design gently, as if you painting a canvas...let it dry and lo behold! it dries to an absolutley translucent finish, giving it a lustre...and most importantly is a fabulous holdfast...I simply love Mod Podge (PS  - watch out for some more mod podge DIY stuff...)


Ohhh lala...the finished product...


Did you like it? Adious until next week...
~Anpu

15 comments:

  1. Wow... Anpu.. This is incredible... Very creative... Love the finished product... looks soo glossy and beautiful !!

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  2. Thanks Emreen...it was fun painting the candle

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  3. absolutely loved it...i saw these candles somewhere and so much wanted to make ..but didnt knew how to do...thank u so much for it :)))

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  4. This is sooo beautiful... Every time I visit Colors Dekor I learn something new!

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  5. very creative..never thought henna could be used this way too :)

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  6. super....using henna on candle...it cud have never occured to me....very interesting idea and the finished glossy end product looks gorgeous:-)

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  7. wow It is interesting and looks pretty too.
    viji

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  8. Very beautiful! I wish my hands would be steady...I just cannot do any painting without shaking! Kudos for all those intricate designs!

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  9. Very creative...and the mod podge finish truly awesome....

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  10. Very pretty work, I dont know much about Mod Podge, Can you please enlighten me ont that?

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  11. That's a great idea. Looks like you painted the design onto where the wick is? So what happens when you light the candle? Does the design burn up?Wouldn't it be better to do on the sides, so you can still see the design as the candle burns all the way down?
    @ Shruthi, Modge Podge is basically decoupage medium. Usually use it for paper mache etc. You cna get it at Micheals, JoAnn, even Walmart.

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  12. Thanks Surabhi...yes pls go ahead, do a couple and share pictures...we would love to see them
    @ Sunyana, @Anisha,@Viji, @Bindu@Surabhi,@Aparna-thanks ladies...you sure made my day...
    @Viji- it is ok...so what if you hand is not steady...your paintings will be a little squiggly...but unique...a la Viji style...so go ahead....
    @Vidya- this is only a decor item..no lighting...yes the design burns away...but you get candles with tea lights ...those are ones you can light and get away with no issues
    Actually the plan is to make them on Pilar candles...this was trial stuff....
    @Jhopri- yes Vidya is right...Modpodge is available in all those shops...you get them as a white opaque liquids paste...and guess what you also get them as sprays...:-)

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  13. really lovely idea... mehendi designs have wide range of application in arts and crafts

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  14. beautiful.. inspired and tried on candle but the henna dries up quickly with cracks and keeps flaking off.. I have tried all methods to keep it off from flaking. pls help!!!

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