Do It Yourself : Bottle Lamps

My best friends birthday was this week, and as all close friends birthdays go, we always get one group gift which is like a collage or something of that sort which is handmade. If you have read my first blogpost, I went to the Sunday Soul Santhe a few weeks back. The Santhe is like Bangalore's version of the prettiest flea market where a lot of emerging artists, arts and crafts business owners and fashion label owners (small or big) exhibit their stuff. A lot of shops there had these beautiful Bottle Lamps. Basically antique or expensive liquor bottles with L.E.D or fairy lights in them. The prices started from ₹1500 -ish. That is a little bit expensive when you're a college student on a budget and you are also giving other gifts.
 

At Smally's Resto Cafe, which by the way is the cutest little place in Sindhi Colony or Ulsoor near Body Craft in Bangalore, drinking the yummiest Oreo shake called "Oreographer",  Tanvi, Shwetha and I, thought, "let's make a bottle lamp for Nidhis birthday". And that's where our creative (hehe) brains were put to some serious work.

( you can like Smally's on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/smallysrestocafe
or read reviews and other details on Zomato: https://www.zomato.com/bangalore/smallys-resto-cafe-ulsoor , and no I don't get paid for this, just helping you out)

So this is what the finished product of our awesome-ness looked like:

Required Apparatus and Procedure:

(pardon me, I am an Engineering student)

1. A pretty antique/expensive/whatever-you-like liquor/not-liquor empty (obvious) BOTTLE.
   If you want to specifically use a liquor bottle and you drink, you're lucky and you will probably have access to it. If you don't, like us, ask a friend or go to a nice restaurant and ask for empty bottles. If you want to use a normal one, well, you will probably know an easy way to get it. THAT. You need a bottle for a bottle lamp, simple.
2. L.E.D or Fairy lights. 
   So this was really easy for us as it was Diwali season and there were loads of different options in stores. You can always just go to those small electrical supplies shops and ask for them. You can use all sorts of different colours. We used gold here because it looked like glitter in the bottle, and well, we just liked it more.
3. Supplies for whatever decoration you want.
   So, the idea for these group gifts is basically, every time the person looks at it, a memories Tsunami hits them. Visuals help the most for these memory Tsunamis to be created. So we got 5 pictures from great days printed in a pretty tiny size (I think 6cm x 6cm), cut them out neatly and punched holes on the top so we could braid it along with ribbon that would be wound around the neck and allowed to hang to the sides.
   As complex as my sentence formation is, it's really easy.
   We went to the local fancy store, got 3 satin ribbons in 3 different colours that looked like they made a great combination. A normal 3 strand braid was made for about 2-ish inches, enough to wrap around the neck, and tied to secure it in place. The braid was then continued till the position we wanted the first picture to be hung, and one of the strands were allowed to pass through the punched hole on the photograph, the braid was then continued. Similar procedure for the next photograph and the next braid. The ends of individual braids were tied to secure it and cut to required length. Done. We made 3 such braids and randomly placed them.
   
   If you are a glass paint person, you cant do that. Basically anything that you want that you think looks pretty.

So once you're done with the beautification and decoration process, all you need to do is, untangle the lights (good luck with that!) and from the free end just start putting it inside the bottle. You will end up with the most random placement of L.E.D's, in my opinion, randomness looks the best (much like a messy bun). Leave a little bit of the lights outside so you can plug it. And you have your inexpensive and creative Bottle Lamp. :)

                     

                     

                      

So this was my take on how to make your own Bottle Lamp.
I hope you liked this. I would also like to thank my mad friends Tanvi Somiah and Shwetha Manohar for being a part of this whole process. I love you both.

I just realized this blogpost has opened two job opportunities for me:
1. Laboratory manual writer

2. Acknowledgement writer

That. Okay.

Fin. 

Music Favourites: October 2014

5 most listened to songs for the month :

(Random Order) 

1. She came to give it to you- Usher ft. Nicki Minaj- UR (2014)

This song just has this amazing funky disco vibe that makes you want to dance. It's a classic Usher Contemporary R&B tune but with a hint of funk and disco. That disco rhythm is what makes it super peppy. The video is again, classic Usher; Mad hip-hop dance moves, his dancing silhouette in front of a spotlight (example YEAH!) etc. I am not a very big fan of Nicki Minaj, I was kind of traumatized after watching her Anaconda video, but I think as a collaboration, she does a good enough job like in this video. There is little to no meaning to the lyrics, but Usher knows how to work that rhythm. 7/10.
Talking about Discos...




iTunes: http://smarturl.it/SCTGITY?IQid=yt 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-93LzZM1y0




2. Colours- Calvin Harris- I Created Disco 

I don't really know why I haven't heard this one before but it's a really nice track. I think I have this disco theme going on this October. The album is I Created Disco and hence the disco tune to it. I am not a very EDM person, but I guess this works for me. It's the kind of song you listen to for 2 weeks or so in your shower and then get over it. Again, the lyrics don't really make sense, but yes the tune is wonderful. 6/10.

Shower reminds me...



iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/in/album/i-created-disco/id256277919
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipdbzG874ms


3. Shower- Becky G

Teen pop is just that mad genre which goes haywire on the charts 2-3 weeks after releasing and then eventually disappears for a while only to go crazy on the charts again. I cannot stand Becky G. Her voice is a certain pitch which I just can't listen to, but luckily I didn't expect her to be the one singing when I listened to the song. It's a classic teen-pop/hip-hop/R&B tune. The song is highly influenced by snap music.

POI: Snap music is a dance-centric sub-genre of hip-hop that originated in the late 1990s in Bankhead, West Atlanta, USA. Early snap music artists include Dem Franchize Boys, K-Rab and D4L. "Crank that Soulja Boy" is a famous example.

The lyrics don't make sense but it's cute and relatable if you're 13. It's a cute little teenage love song. The video is filled with crop tops, winged eyeliner, high-waisted denim shorts and head-scarf-band. Everything from teen-fashion from this summer.
7/10.

Teenage love songs are almost a patent of...

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/in/album/shower-single/id868199032
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50-_oTkmF5I 


4. Shake it Off- Taylor Swift-1989


No matter how many love songs or break up songs this woman writes she still manages to be on top of the charts. Taylor Swift is known for her rule over teen pop. 5 years ago she was my most listened to artist even if at that point she was so repetitive. It's like the Hannah Montana phase.
This song is I think the most adorably stupid song I have ever heard. It doesn't really make much sense but once you watch the video you're hooked onto it for weeks. It released sometime in August, and I still listen to it regularly. Pop in the most high school form.

I MUST talk about how stupid (in a good way) and carefree this video is. Taylor Swift is asking you to CHILL dear teenagers. No you don't have to be poised and elegant, nor do you have to twerk flawlessly, you just have to Shake it off. Haters gonna hate, screw them and let loose. The video begins with her her elegant (ha) ballet moves, goes onto tutting with swag (haha), then to her beautiful contemporary dancing with a cloth as a prop (hahaha) and finally onto twerking like T.Swizzle in the club (HAHA!) and a few other crazy sub stories of it's okay to not be good at something. The video is extremely clumsy and carefree. And it works! (I think I am kind of writing a tribute to being my most listened to artist 5 years ago or something, but whatever)

Taylor Swift also sported a new look in this video which has now become a trend. Yes, the shoulder length hair. That outfit is just a perfect mixture of classy and comfort. Plain black top and bottom with red lipstick and cute ballerinas; but what pulls that look together is the hair, gorgeous I tell you.

 Nice change from the love and break-up songs. Carefree and clumsy all the way.
(8+1)/10. (+1 for the black and black look in the video)

Speaking of Tributes...

iTunes: http://www.smarturl.it/TS1989
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM 

5. Girls Chase Boys- Ingrid Michaelson- Lights Out

This Homage to Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible" is indeed an intelligent twist on a literal tribute. Ingrid Michaelson initially started this song as a break-up song based on her experiences but eventually started addressing the deeper issue of Same Love or in simple words, no matter who or how we love, we are all the same. The song is the kind of song you would listen to while driving to or from work. It's a great representation of her Indie-pop nature musically.

The tribute is an intelligent twist on a literal copy in a way that Ingrid is dressed like Robert from his video, and surrounded by people in pink. Yes, people. The video amazingly addresses stereotypical gender roles and breaks the stereotype in the most normal way possible. Men in makeup doing "girly" dance moves from Palmer's video and Ingrid dressed like Palmer seems like a great way.  From #4 and #5 of this list, I just realized how music is just not about singing a song to a rhythm but also about sending a message using cinema. Even if the lyrics aren't as poetic or don't hold a super deep meaning you can make the video so cool that, 1.You can sell it, and  2.You can send a message. The Music Industry intelligently plays with peoples' emotions sometimes for the greater good and makes money from it. No wonder they make so much money.

8/10. Kudos to breaking the stereotype :)

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/IMLightsOut
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GBT37_yyzY

I hope you enjoyed reading my little rant on my most listened to music from this month. 

Fin.

Sunday Soul Santhe

One of the uncountable amazing things about Bangalore is the laid-back and sophisticated crowd that often floods music festivals, flea markets, etc.

Sunday Soul Sante is Bangalore's version of Coachella, at least in terms of the fashion.

Palazzo pants, Crop tops, Tribal motifs, Flower tiaras were everywhere.

I managed to incorporate 3 out of the above mentioned trends because I m too lazy to work that muffin off and wear a crop top. (I feel like eating a muffin now. Ugh.)

So, here is my attempt on,

How to: Dress for a music festival or flea market kind of thing.

Pink Tribal-ish motif sleeveless top, Blue Palazzo Pants, some spiky pink and gold bangles and my favourite Flower tiara. 

Palazzo  pants have been in for quite sometime now, I just never really found the right occasion for them, until well the Sante of course. There's this famous complex on Brigade Road, more specifically Rest House Road called the Indo Dubai Plaza, at the basement of which lies the Tibet Plaza. Every woman in Bangalore has at least shopped there once. It's quintessential street fashion. From prices ranging from low to moderate, every buy is quick fashion which isn't too hard on one's pocket. Both my palazzo pants and my tribal-ish motif sleeveless top are from there.

The Flower tiara was bought from one of the pretty little stalls at the Sante.

I added my gold spiked pink bangles, pair of pretty blue terracotta jhumkas and winged eyeliner to finish off the look.

You can never go wrong with winged eyeliner, by the way.

You can always experiment with crop tops, maxi skirts, floral dresses, feather earrings etc. This was just my take :)

Fun fact about Bangalore: Other than our airport being 20kms from the city, all concerts etc happen 20kms from the city too. I wonder why though. I reckon it's the lack of that big of an open space, lack of parking for the gazillion cars that will be driven to the venue, and the chaotic traffic that would be caused. Yes, we love Bangalore, but we crib too. 

The Sante happened at Embassy Riding School, which was again 20kms from the city, so it was almost like a road trip. Lots and Lots of Maroon 5, selfies and gossip is all that you need for a mini road trip like this. Meeting familiar faces is just one of those things that just happen at places like this, sometimes you like it and sometimes you just run. We had our share of eye-candy searching which is always exciting when you're 19 and crazy like that. The stalls were brilliant. From clothing, to accessories to home decor to pet supplies, Yes pet supplies, I even got my dog a rope toy. Talking about pet stores, I love dogs, and it was amazing that people just got their dogs to come and interact with other people, cutest dogs, I swear. The crowd was fun, as always. Fashion, boho/hippie/Coachella-ish. Food, BBQ's all the way. Overall a 8/10 experience :)

    

I initially rated it a 7/10 but the +1 was me being able to have a Tangled moment.

I am obsessed with fairy lights, glow lanterns, bubbles and hot air balloons. And Disney movies, of course. 

Almost every store was decorated with fairy lights, Check. These really cool bubbles where smaller bubbles join together in such a way that they form a foamy letter and then a word, were everywhere. Check. Glow Lanterns. CHECK.

Hot air balloons are a little too much to ask for, but the Bangalore Mirror Glow Lanterns, made my mind play "And at last I see the light" (wearing a flower tiara made it just perfect). My Tangled moment :)

Amazing people. Amazing Dogs. Amazing Stalls. Amazing Fashion. Amazing scenery. Amazing event.

Truly, A Mela in the Meadows.

P.S. Mela just reminded me, they MUST get a Ferris Wheel. :)

Fin.