designing life: January 2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

The Ugly Indian

We all feel frustrated by the filth around us.

We all wish India to be a cleaner place.

We all feel like doing something about it.

But have we done anything?

We only complain about the system and people's mentality.

But there is someone who is thinking about this.

Not just thinking, taking actions for it.

whose motto is "Kaam chalu mooh bandh. Stop Talking, Start Doing."

"The Ugly Indian", group of people, with growing number each day, who strongly feel about the state of garbage and filth in our cities. They believe in direct action, with a problem-solving approach. They don't blame the system. Aim to make a change from within.

They have so many stories of about how they tried to do something about it in video from and they call it SpotFixing.

watch more videos HERE

They have also come up with a wonderful idea of

creative Dustbins made out of pipes and they call it Tere Bins.

If these Ugly Indians can change their city Bangalore, then why can't we?

Let's start with our own home and neighborhood and see the difference.

Be the part of The Ugly Indian family, and be proud of it.

The Ugly Indian Website

The Ugly Indian on Facebook

The Ugly Indian's action Videos

all images & videos are via The Ugly Indian

Friday, January 20, 2012

A Perfect Baby Shower with a Diaper Cake

In India I had heard a lot about the 'Bridal Shower', even I had one before my wedding too. After coming to USA, I came to know about the 'Baby Shower'.

Baby Shower is a way to celebrate the due child by presenting gifts to the parents at a party. The term "shower" means that the expecting mother is "showered" with gifts. In Hindu tradition, they are called by different names depending on the community the family belongs to, like 'godbharaai' in northern India, 'dohaaljewan' in west, 'saadh' in east and 'seemantam' or 'Valaikaapu' in southern India.

My sis-in-law is expecting, and we planned a surprize Baby Shower for her. There are a lot to plan a baby shower from Venue, Guest list, Invites Theme Decor, Menu, Cake, Return Gifts/Favors, Games and most important & fun part is the Diaper Cake! Yes, it's " 'diaper' cake" and of course not edible, but lots of fun and full of suprizes. Of course I'll give you the glimpse of the event but before that I'll share the Diaper Cake Instructions.

via Pinterest

As the picture shows, the cakes' designs vary from one to another depending on theme, decor, boy/girl and budget.

1. So to start with get pack/s of baby diapers, I bought Pampers pack of 50. Number of diapers depends on the size and style of your cake.

2. Then plan the design/color of your cake and get related stuffs to put in the cake and decor it. I chose 'blue color' as my theme and baby clothes and accessories to put inside my cake.

baby stuffs and decor materials

3. Roll the diapers. Remember! DO NOT use any adhesive or tape or even stapler while making the cake as all these diapers will be used later. Babies are sensitive so one should take good care of the cleanliness, hence put a clean spread on your work station to avoid dust and dirt on diapers.

use small rubber-bands to roll diapers

and larger bands to put all the rolled diapers together

rolled diapers

4. Take a baby bottle or any cylindrical baby stuff and put the layers of rolled diapers around it. Now number of layers again depends on the size of cake choose, I had put 3 layers around a baby milk bottle. An then similarly, make other the other tiers.

rolled diapers around the bottle and a few baby onesies hidden between diapers

all three tiers put together in similar way

and the cake is ready to for the icing i.e. decor

5. Prepare the base before decorating the cake. I chose large square cardboard, covered it with beautiful silver paper and made elegant borders with blue ribbons. Now cake is ready to be decorated.