Collage it.

The more I give and receive gifts, the more I am convinced that some of the most thoughtful gifts have come from people who believe themselves to not be "creative enough". I have begun to realise that gifting is one great leveler of creativity, because unlike the other arts, here lack of creativity is not a deterrent in making masterpieces. So long as one is willing, and the gift is heartfelt and thoughtful, nothing else matters. In fact, many times I have seen that one comes up with some really innovative and good looking solutions to perceived lack of creativity, and the gift becomes even more enduring a surprise.

I realised this largely when I saw my sister doing "art" while listening to her music. Inspite of inheriting the same creative genes in me as my incredibly innovative mother, my sister for the longest time has believed herself to be non-creative. Bored in her long post tenth grade vacations, she decided she wanted to make an inspirational poster. After rejecting all the ideas I gave her from word clouds to symbolisms, she landed up making this little collage in less than an hour (including finding magazines, finding the words, taking ice-cream breaks) and it looks wonderful.

Siddhi's Inspirational Poster

We both think this is a great gifting idea. Not necessarily for birthdays, but for the times when you want to gift someone something to lift their spirits, or when someone is beginning something new. Its fun, its stimulating, and it looks wonderful. One can personalise it further by adding small speech bubbles with personal comments, one's own pictures, stubs of tickets from movies/plays/concerts that have inspired both of you, people that you look up to, stanzas/lines from poems, songs, stories that have touched a cord… the possibilities that collages show are endless.

For those who live together (roommates, spouses, siblings, live-in couples, or just anyone who hangs out too much), the collage could be an ongoing thing too. One could have a large canvas/wooden frame, just paper, or wall space installed in a personal corner, and keep updating it with whatever inspires through their time in the house. A canvas or some item like that would also ensure that one can take it along anywhere they go.

So what are you collaging today? :)

© Jayati Doshi

Dancer-toes Jingle Box.

My cousin recently had her Arangetram. I do not know much about her except that she is a 16 year old teenager, dancer at heart, girly in most of her quirks. So I got her a safe gift - a jewellery/thrift box and decided to personalise it based on the theme of dance/Bharatnatyam.

I bought some small ghungroos and lace that matched the box. I stitched the ghungroos on the lace at regular intervals, and then stitched it on to the edge of the box. It was slightly hard to insert the needle because of the box, but I had a hang of it after a while - the trick is to take small stitches on the cloth very close to the edge. For the handle I made a bunch of ghungroos and stitched it on again.

Then to make it her very own, I printed her invitation on thick handmade paper, and cut out her name, picture and Ganpati drawing, and made a little collage on the box held by fabric glue.

Once the box was made, I added small accessories inside the box including earrings, rings, Body shop lip balms, etc. To add the personal touch, I wrote a small note on the mirror with a marker.

I think it was a rather adorable jingle box. Oh, I love the sound of ghungroos! :)