As I plan to make a smart little jute bag for myself that can hold my world, I came across these wonderful resources on the web for handmade bags.

Lot of great ideas, oodles of creativity, yet simply simple to make – these Top10 ideas are the best tutorials that I have come across. These creative individuals (and great bloggers) have, in their own special ways made professional quality bags out of simplest of materials. And along with the great products, they have shared their the best, simplest and most helpful step-by-step tutorials for making these bags at home.

Here is my list of favorite handmade bags DIY tutorials.

1) Sew Mama Sew has made a striking red handbad with wooden handles in no time. Love that color – for color’s sake. Another excellent visual tutorial-treat. You can experiment with toned down colors and still come up with a chic bag in no time. My must try.

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2) Purl Bee’s Music Bag is one of the simplest organizer that can be made very easily. I would like to use plain colors or some other desing to make this one. This basic tutorial rocks with easy steps and so many photo guides. Great resource for those who are attempting to make bags the first time.

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3) M M M Crafts gives us basic messenger bag ideas with those lovely simple motifs add to the charm. Instead of photos,  find line drawings and patterns to get a good idea of how to go about making this high-on-utility messenger bag. You could go creative with the motifs and make custom patterns for girls and boys.

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4) Purl Bee’s bag making tutorials are the benchmark for most DIY enthusiasts. This is the best bag making tutorial on the web that I have come across. Simple, illustrative and seems easy-to-make – her bag tutorials rock. Check out her other DIY tutorials as well.

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5) Eva For Eva has made a green bag made from recycled materials but what I am focusing on is the simple DIY tutorial that helps me make simple stylish eco-chic bags in no time. Love that rustic and down-to-earth feel of the bag.

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6) A Mingled Yarn may call it a diaper bag but I find an excellent messenger bag turorial here. Lovely colors and design inspiration here. From diapers to laptop, all can go in here, in style.

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7) Chubby Hobby has made this perfect market bag which doubles as an excellent laptop bag for me. I fancy elongated-padded- rectangluar bags for they can hold lot more things without looking cramped. Check this tutorial out for the fine detail work she has done.

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8 ) Craft Apple makes perfect finish bags and sells them. Here she shares her step-by-step bag making approach. Look for the fine stitch details and imagine this one in toned colors Very chic and easy to make this lovely bag. Do experiment with colors and designs.

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9) J Caroline Creative has some stunning and easy-to-make tote bags which can take in anything, yet look elegant. Easy tutorial for great chic cloth tote bags. You can also find great tips on stitching on the zipper and basic finishing techniques.

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10) Image Fabric has this kitchy kitch tote bag that can be made with many interesting colors and combinations. The net effect is very casual, jazzy and stylish. I could do a similar one in toned down colors. What say?

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I am supposed to be listing my top 10 tutorials for bag making ideas. But here is the irresistible one I have to share with you. Curbly has the most strikingly stylish hand purse with wooden handles made with an old book. Yes, an old book and a great recycling idea

So here was my list. If you have come across any great handbag making tutorials or have made a great handbag yourself, do let me know. You gotta be known here.

And watch this space for my Jute Bag Tutorial – soon.

Fire Within - Oil on Canvas

Here comes another painting which took woefully long time to finish. Layer after layer, colors tones and hues kept changing till I could look at it from distance and say – done. Painting in midst mayhem does tell upon the canvas. I guess it is evident here.

Fire Within painting takes my passion for impasto to another level. The only catch is that I have not used any modelling paste or gesso to get the thickness. Those are the oils; thick strokes of dense colors that lend in their highlights, when viewed from sides.

This oil painting is related to Deep Rooted series but is changing its colors and emotions drastically. The tones are getting darker and deeper with every stroke. The photo does not show its colors and hues well enough. Sometimes I wonder if it is done yet. But if I do not say that to myself, I will probably never be able to move onto another painting.

It took a long time for Fire Within to reach where it is.  Today it stands dried and ready on a 36″ x 24″ box stretched canvas, that needs no framing and is ready to be hung on the wall.

Dried Flowers and Twig Accents for Corner piece Arrangement

 Good things in life come in small packets. In here, few dried flowers, small twigs and sticks are being used to make a striking centerpiece that does not wilt or sag. 

Dried floral centerpieces are easy to make, look great and last for as long as you can make them last. They also need less maintenance, no-watering and care. Far away from the artificial and synthetic flowers, these flower arrangements are natural, eco-friendly and bring in the much needed color burst into any setting. 

Dried flower arrangements are hassle-free so they are perfect for daily decoration. But when special occasions call for exotic decorations,  the same can be achieved with dry flowers and twigs such as this wonderful eco friendly wood-roses wreath for Christmas. Another advantage of dried table centerpieces is that they can be scented with essential oils and kept fragrant. 

Here is a quick tutorial to show you how easy it is to conjure up a simple and elegant dried flowers & twigs table centerpiece.  

Any floral centerpiece needs to take into consideration the platform on which it will be placed and the area surrounding it. The idea is to either blend the centerpiece into the surrounding or make it stand out. The floral arrangement can be of any shape, follow any geometric pattern, or borrow the ikebana logic in the centerpiece arrangements. 

But for a dried flower table arrangement, it is very important to make it simple with a lot of space around it. You can either bunch up similar flowers or twigs to tie it up into a simple and elegant centerpiece, or use varied flowers and twigs sparsely to create a medley of interesting figures and patters, whilst letting light and air in and through. This DIY tutorial uses the latter technique. 

Tools and Essentials for Making Dried Table Centerpiece

Take special care to balance the arrangement with a good vase or the base holder. It is always important to have a vase or container that compliments the arrangement. Here, I have chosen the terracotta earthen pot (more so because I had nothing else to play around with or rather the pot was too inspiring). Here I have some twigs, scissors, floral arrangement metal pin holder, florist’s foam, and a bit of excitement over what this might turn into. 

Gather all the dry flowers, dry branches, dry twigs and keep them at hand. Don’t follow any fixed rule in selecting the twigs are they are the most beautiful creations of nature. Let each twig, uncut and pure, determine its placement in your arrangement. More often than not, you will end up with a great centerpiece when you follow the dictates of its content. 

Simple DIY Tutorial Steps to Making Striking Floral Arrangement

Step 1
Use a floral pin holder if the flower twigs or stems are heavy as it will provide a firm grip and the arrangement will not topple. Having pushed the heavy stems into the vase, squeeze in florists foam to fix in the heavy stems and to help fix the lighter twigs around the heavy ones. 

Step 2
Follow a step down approach starting with the big heavy flowers/ twigs, tapering down to lighter/ delicate ones. Since this arrangement has 3 heavy twigs, they went in first to balance themselves and form a base for further additions. 

Step 3
The light and wispy twigs and branches come in at the end as fillers to fill in empty spaces as well as to give fullness to the arrangement. Whilst I could stop at step2 as it is my favorite, few more elements have been added to make it more fuller. 

Done

While inserting the flowers and twigs, take care to let the arrangement cast light and shadows. Dried twigs and branches create interesting shadows on the wall. Take advantage of this beautiful thing to cast natural and beautiful shadows thereon by letting the floral arrangement be light, and breathy. The sunlight in this picture was not deliberate; I just could not find a neutral place in the room to make this.

Exotic Dried Flowers and Twigs Table Centerpiece

These basic steps can help you make fantastic floral and table centerpieces in no time. There is no end to what you can use in your table decorations. From branches, twigs, flowers, candles, glass, fruits, cloth, artifacts, and more. Just look around your house and you will find many ways and ideas to make your frugal yet one-of-a-kind centerpieces in no time.

Just go and enjoy what you make. Just create – out of nothing.

Jamie Oliver’s Wish
“I wish for your help to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

The situation may not be so serious in India, but the rate at which we ape food and lifestyle habits of the ‘developed nations’, we might just be the third in line. We are a nation of hypertensive, diabetic and obese people, with a host of new lifestyle related diseases are being added every year. With fast foods, frozen meals, and kitchen cupboard loaded with emulsifiers, additives and preservatives, we are almost there.

While Jamie’s talk and wish is centered around USA and England, we have some key messages to take home.

Watch. Contemplate. And ACT before it is too late. It is the health of your children in your hands.

Jamie Oliver’s Plan
Set up an organization to create a popular movement that will inspire people to change the way they eat. The movement will do this by establishing a network of community kitchens; launching a travelling food theater that will teach kids practical food and cooking skills in an entertaining way and provide basic training for parents and professionals; and bringing millions of people together through an online community to drive the fight against obesity. The grassroots movement must also challenge corporate America to support meaningful programs that will change the culture of junk food.

The Plan’s Needs
>> Help to establish the organization, with funding, office space and facilities.
>> Find partners to equip and run the community kitchens, and food suppliers to provide the fresh ingredients.
>> A partner to build and maintain a fleet of food theatre trucks.
>> Education experts, graphic designers, artists and writers to develop and produce creative, fun teaching materials.
>> Communications experts to create messaging for the movement.
>> Web designers and developers to create and build the website.
>> Establishment of a food line that generates a sustainable income for the movement.
>> Corporate partners to invest in cooking and food education for their customers and champion honest food labelling.
>> Your names added to the petition to challenge our leaders to make change now: www.jamiesfoodrevolution.com/petition

“Every child should be taught to cook in school, not just talk about nutrition all day. Good food can be made in 15 minutes. This could be the first generation where the kids teach the parents.” 
Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver wins $100,000 for Wishing Something Big!

Jamie Oliver has won the TED Prize for 2010 for making a big wish! 
Hurray!
But what is his wish?

 Whatever it might be, the TED community will make it come true. 

Here is a snippet of what Jamie hopes for: “My wish is for you to have a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, to inspire families to cook again and to empower people everywhere to fight obesity,” said Jamie, in a speech at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California. 

Jamie Oliver, celebrity chef and the poster boy for fighting against junk food and obesity in kids, has been announced as the recipient of the 2010 TED Prize, an award granting $100,000. And with this award comes a bigger opportunity to realize his wish to change the world. With the big money, TED grants great organizational support. But the real impact of the prize is phenomenally magnified by the backing of the influential audience attending the conferences. 

“We’re thrilled to award the TED Prize to Jamie Oliver. His work directly tackles one of the most distressing issues the world faces… the obesity epidemic. In this year in which his TV show launches in the United States, we look forward to helping him achieve even greater impact,” says TED Curator Chris Anderson. 

Jamie, apart from his repertoire of cookery shows and cookbooks has been speaking up against bad food practices, junk food revolution, unhealthy eating habits in children, diet related lifestyle problems, obesity and more. His campaigns ranging from School Dinners/ to Feed Me Better, pressured the UK government to focus on overhaul of school lunches to improve nutrition. 

This TED award will further fuel the good food movement Jamie started long ago. This award should help him achieve his ambitious goal for improving health and wellness of children, getting them to eat right, and living a healthy life. Its possibilities are immense. And we know for sure that Jamie is not going to be wasting this most coveted opportunity in any way. 

This is the most exciting time for Jamie’s fans – world over, including me. From cookbooks, television shows, to raising his voice against real issues, Jamie has got all the ingredients right in making way into anyone’s heart. 

Wishing Jamie good luck and wish that his wish comes true. Three cheers to Jamie for championing the cause of eating right and rightful nutrition for kids. Lets now tune into CNN and hear/ watch his wish. 

Watch this space for Jamie’s WISH and the excitement that comes with it