Diwali or Deepavali (in Singapore context) is a cultural festival celebrated by the Hindus, Sikhs and Jains all around the world. This festival of lights is celebrated annually and takes place on 4 November 2021 this year. In conjunction with this festive occasion, this article dives deeper into Deepavali Crafts, namely Air Dry Clay Art and Peacock themed Craft. All these Deepavali crafts are designed and handmade by Artist Celine Chia.
Air Dry Clay Art (Deepavali themed craft)
Materials needed:
- Air Dry Clay
- Water
- Tea Candle
- Acrylic Paint
- Glitter Paint
Optional:
- Hairdryer
- Roller
Here are the steps to creating your own deepavali themed Air Dry Clay Art:
Firstly, wet your hands before starting with this craft.
Secondly, mould the air dry clay into a bowl shape, and add water to seal any cracks.
Use your palm to retain the shape of the bowl (exterior), and your thumb to make indents to shape the interior.
Once you’re satisfied with the shape of the bowl, let it sit and air dry.
It usually takes about half a day to one full day for the clay to dry.
To speed up this process, you can consider using the hairdryer to blow dry the clay.
It usually takes about 30 minutes to one hour with the use of the hairdryer.
After your air dry clay art has dried, let’s get to painting!
In our case, we first paint the bowl with a layer of black using acrylic, followed by applying the glitter paint to decorate the rim and the centre of the bowl.
Note: we use acrylic paint (instead of watercolour/ poster colour) to minimise the use of water when painting. This is because the Air Dry Clay is not waterproof.
After we’re done with the paint, place the tea candle into the Air Dry Clay Art and light up the candle. Turn off the lights and have fun!
Peacock Themed Deepavali Crafts
The peacock is the national bird of India and it symbolises rejuvenation, royalty, respect, honour and integrity. They are also known for being a symbol of beauty, love and passion and are worshipped alongside their deities in Hindu culture. With Deepavali round the corner, we did a peacock themed craft in line with this theme.
Materials Needed:
- Oil Pastels
- A4 sized coloured paper (120 gsm)
- Drawing Block
- Scissors
- Tape/ Super Glue
Here are the steps to create your own peacock themed craft:
Firstly, fold the A4 coloured paper into 8 equal sections.
Unfold the coloured paper and make a horizontal fold downwards.
Start by drawing the peacock feathers along the vertical lines using sap green oil pastels.
At both ends of the lines, we use red, orange and yellow oil pastels to achieve the colour gradation that represents the eyes of the peacock feather.
Next, we stroke the feathers using pastel green oil pastels.
To enhance the overall outlook of the feathers, we follow up with stroking the previous layer with teal green oil pastels and blend the greens to achieve a nice tone.
Repeat this process across all the lines.
Connect the two ends and the middle fold using super glue to achieve a fan shape. This represents the peacock feathers. Next, we will be drawing the body of a peacock.
How to draw a simple peacock
Firstly, we start with drawing a peanut shaped outline.
Secondly, follow up with an arch shaped beak and use curly lines for its wings.
Include curly lines (3 layers), representing the feathers on its body.
Thirdly, we give the peacock body squinty eyes and small circles representing the crest of the peacock and an inverted arrowhead for the feet.
Last but not least, colour your peacock! We use a blend of pastel green, teal green, violet and dark blue oil pastels for the body.
Cut the peacock body and attach it to the fan shaped craft and you’re done with this peacock themed craft!
Here’s a quick time lapse of the whole process, which takes about 30 minutes to complete.
If you like our Deepavali themed crafts, be sure to check out our article on Halloween Crafts too! Additionally, do stay tuned to our socials for more creative works of art.
