How to Celebrate Diwali!

How to Celebrate Diwali!

Diwali or Deepavali is a Hindu holiday celebrating the festival of lights!

The festival is 5 days and Diwali is the 3rd day, the climax of the festivities, the celebration of light conquering darkness.

Here's some ways to DIY and Celebrate Diwali!

Diwali is celebrated as part of the New Year Celebration, this year Diwali falls on November 12, 2023.

Diwali, Dewali, Divali or Deepavali is Sanskrit for "series of lights", hence the various forms of Romanized spellings.

Diwali is a victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.

Diyas are traditional oil lamps that fill the darkness with glowing light, and are a big part of the festival of lights.

They are fun to make and decorate as part of the holiday.

Make holiday cards to share with family and friends!

I'm going to share 5 Diwali Craft ideas with you to help you celebrate!

• How to make diyas with Air Dry Clay
• How to Paint Pour diyas
• How to make a Window Cling
• Watercolor diyas holiday cards
• Happy Diwali Cake Topper

Diwali Craft #1: Air Dry Clay Diyas

Supplies Needed:

• Air Dry Clay

Get a ball of clay about the size of a gold ball. 

Pinch it into a mushroom cap shape, big enough to hold a battery operated candle.

Pinch off one point to make the traditional wick/lamp shape and set it on a flat surface to create a flat bottom on the diya.

Let them sit 24 hours to dry completely.

Diwali Craft #2: Paint Poured Diyas

Supplies Needed:

• FolkArt Drizzle Pour Paint (in various colors)
• Plastic Cup
• Wax Paper or Silicone Surface
• Small plastic cups
• Diyas (Air Dry Clay handmade version from above)

Start by squeezing some paint in the plastic cup.

Alternate colors of paint, squeezing different colors in the cup on top of the last colors.

Prop the air dry clay (dried) Diyas on the small plastic cups on top of wax paper or silicone work mat.

Decide if you want to pour the paint on the underside of the diya or in the middle of the diya.

I did three of my diyas with the paint on the outside and three with the paint on the inside. 

I actually prefer the ones with paint on the inside, candle surface of the diya as opposed to the outside of it, but I like the variety too.

Pour the paint all over them and let them drip dry.

Once dry, I added some metallic gold paint to some of the diyas.

Add a battery powered candle to the diya for the perfect holiday lamp.

You could use a tea light as well, just use all the safety precautions.

I would not actually pour oil and put a wick in these diyas, as the paint will not do as well with the oil sitting in it.

The bright colors are fun and cheery.

They are the perfect craft for the whole family to help create for Diwali.

Diwali Craft #3: Mandala Window Cling

Supplies Needed:

• Gallery Glass Paint
• Plastic Sheet Cover or Laminated Paper
• Pattern (I did not use a mandala pattern, but I should have)

Squeeze out Gallery Glass paint onto the plastic laminated sheet, if you have a pattern, slip it in the page cover for optimal tracing.

Let it dry completely, I set it aside overnight.

Then peel from the plastic sheet, by peeling the sheet of the gallery glass and not pulling on the gallery glass paint.

Then stick the mandala on the window--it looks like candles!

Diwali Craft #4: Happy Diwali Cards

Supplies Needed:

• FolkArt Watercolor Gelz
• Watercolor Paper
• Gold Metallic Paint
• Dot Maker

Begin by cutting your watercolor paper to the desired size.

I just cut a 9x12 sheet into quarters.

Then pour out a little watercolor gelz paint in a palette.

Pick your favorite bright colors.

Add a little water to the paint and paint a little half circle dish on the watercolor paper in a lighter shade of watercolor gelz paint.

Then paint over the half circle in a darker shade, leaving a little visible original color, and adding a peak to the half circle.

This is the diya, facing front.

Alternate through the 4 cards and the paint will dry while you are painting the others.

The dot maker or back end of a paintbrush is great for adding details.

Add a flame to the top peak of the diya.

Rotate through all the painting and decorating, then set them aside to dry completely.

I like to take a whimsical approach to my art, making these little candle holders look like dancing ladies or something like that.

Add highlights of gold lines and dots.

Finish off the cards with a little calligraphy or hand lettering!

Write on a little "Happy Diwali" and send cards to family and friends!

I think these are a cute decoration, gift tag or hand painted card.

It's really fun and therapeutic to paint them, so gather up your supplies and give it a try!

Oooh, here's a bonus craft, I didn't mention at the beginning of this post!

I had an extra handmade air dry clay diya, so I decided to do some mandala dot painting on it.

I am not a pro dotter mandala painter. 

It doesn't relax me or anything like that.

Some people are so amazing at symmetrical dot painting...I just love it!

So paint it however you want, use bright colors and my favorite FolkArt Multi-surface paints!

Finish off the edges with some metallic gold paint because it's awesome.

I will use any reason or excuse to add some gold metallic paint to finish off a project!

Let the diya dry completely and then seal it if you desire.

Use a battery light or a tea light depending on your level of adventure.

Light up the whole house with brightly colored diyas and battery lights.

Diwali Craft #5: Happy Diwali Cake Topper

Supplies Needed: 

• xTool M1 Everything Bundle
  
• 3mm Basswood
  
• xTool Creative Space Software
• Gold Metallic Paint
• Gold Glitter Dishwasher Safe Mod Podge

Make the perfect festive cake and topper to celebrate the festival of lights.

I ordered the perfect cake from @somethingspecial_custom.cakes

It was the perfect texture and color for this fun Diwali themed party!

I did a quick hand lettered "happy Diwali" on my Ipad pro using ProCreate and uploaded it to xTool Creative Space.

It's pretty easy to take an image and make it cuttable on the xTool.

Then have the xTool laser cut your cake topper design from 3mm basswood. 

I love my xTool M1, it's so easy to make decor and gifts in a moments notice!

Finish off the cake topper by painting the words in metallic gold.

Again, any reason to use the metallic gold paint and I'm all in.

Let the gold metallic paint dry and then add a shimmery finish coat of Dishwasher Safe Mod Podge Gold Glitter!

The Mod Podge has 3 different sizes of glitter bits in it and adds protection to the cake topper so it can be cleaned up easily and saved for next year.

I left the stick bare since it will stick in the food.

Let the Mod Podge dry completely before adding it to the cake.

Place the cake topper in your cake for the perfect party centerpiece!

Wash it off and save it for later.

I love being able to create the perfect party decor with my home crafting arsenal.

You could cut out something similar on the Cricut too!

Phew!

That's a bunch of crafts absolutely packed into one post!

If you made it this far--thank you!!!

Enjoy Diwali this year by celebrating the triumph of light over darkness and some handmade diy crafts for the ocassion.

Make all the diyas out of air dry clay.

Paint them in various ways with bright colors and fun textures.

Watercolor handmade cards to send to friends and family.

Put all the crafts together with a fancy cake to eat on Diwali night.

How else do you celebrate Diwali?  

Check out this post full of handmade gift ideas!

That's it!

Thank you for scrolling through all the fun Diwali crafts and DIY's I did to celebrate this year.

I hope this inspires you to celebrate, learn about other cultures, and help teach others about the beautiful festivals around the world.

Let me know in the comments which project is your favorite!

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