Tomorrow begins the celebratory week of Diwali, our Indian New Year, which is on Thursday, October 23rd, 2014. Diwali, the festival of lights, is about celebrating one’s health, family and prosperity with colorful lights and sweets, and most importantly, spending time with your dearest loved ones. This year, as we do every year, we’re having a small ceremony at our store, Nina Jewelers, to pay thanks to our Gods for all they have given us and continue to bless us with. We wanted to share something that we do every year in honor of this holiday. Here is our DIY Rangoli Thali (or tray) that we make for our ceremony. The process is quick and easy and we wanted to share this DIY project with all of you! Check out the step by step tutorial of how to make your own gorgeous thali for Diwali this year! This is also a GREAT activity to share with your kids. Be sure to instagram your masterpiece with us at #RunwaysandRattles.
Collect the components. A bag of white, long grain rice, distilled white vinegar, food coloring (the indian store one has a strong pigment so we love to use those for this project) and diyas (fancy tealight holders). You will also need some flour (any that you have in the house will do). You can find all these items at your local Indian grocery store.
In a container, pour 1.5 tablespoons of white vinegar, add 1/4 teaspoon of food coloring (you can add/subtract food coloring depending on how dark you want the color of the rice to be). Swivel around those two things at the bottom of the container until they are mixed together. Add 1 cup of white rice to the mixture and shake, shake shake!
On a piece of wax paper, lay out all the rice colors and let dry for an hour. Once they are all dried, place all rice colors individually in bowls.
With your flour, add water and make dough (make sure the dough is on the softer side so it is easier for the rice to stick to it.) Roll out the dough and place it in your tray.
With a pen, lightly draw out the design you would like to lay the rice out in.
With you fingers, start placing the rice in the color combination that you desire and make sure to press the rice firmly into the dough so it sticks on there. When complete, place the decorative diya in the middle with a tealight in the center and you are done!
Please do share your DIY thalis with us below or at @RunwaysandRattles.
