| How to Decorate Your Home for Diwali Posted: 06 Nov 2018 12:00 AM PST Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is celebrated every autumn in the northern hemisphere and every spring in the southern hemisphere. It usually falls between mid-October and mid-November. Celebrations may involve family feasts, colorful decorations in homes and temples, and prominent displays of light. Making or buying festive illuminations and decorations for your house is a great way to decorate your home for Diwali. EditAdding Festive Decor to Your Home - Clean your home thoroughly before you decorate. Dust, sweep, do the laundry, clean all the rooms. It's customary to thoroughly clean your home to help welcome the Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and fortune, during the celebrations.[1] Diwali also marks the start of the new year, so getting rid of old clutter and negativity feels like a fresh start for many.
- Many Hindus and even non-Hindus also wait for Diwali to redecorate and paint their walls. To add some extra style without painting the whole house, you might sponge paint your room or just a single wall.
- Usually, the guests and relatives are seated in the living room during celebrations. So you can take a little extra care to decorate your living room. Don't worry if your living room is not very big or fancy; having a clean, aromatic and well-lit room does the trick.
- Use colored rice, sand, or painted materials to create rangoli. Rangoli, traditional art designs made on the floor during Diwali and other Hindu festivals, are traditionally made of colored granular substances, such as rice or sand. You can buy stencils to make rangoli on your own floor easily, or you can use chalk to draw the design for your own rangoli on the floor. Then use a funnel with a small opening to slowly pour the rice or sand on top of the design.[2]
- You can usually buy colored rice or sand at arts and crafts stores. However, you can also create your own colored rice by mixing of rice, of vinegar, and 10 drops of food coloring in a container, covering the container, and shaking the ingredients together for 2 minutes. Make any pattern of your choice like flowers, the Goddess Lakshmi, a Mandala, etc.
- If you're on a budget or simply don't want to deal with the hassle, simply paint elaborate designs on cardboard or pieces of wood and lay these on the floor as your rangoli. Make your wooden rangoli more elaborate by placing stones, mirrors, or beads on top of them to enhance the painted designs.
- The general purpose of rangoli is to add decoration to your home and to bring good luck for your family. In some parts of South Asia, unmarried young women draw rangoli during the month of Margazhi to welcome the god Thirumal into their home and to hopefully find a husband in the near future.
- Hang a colorful toran from your door. Buy and hang up prefabricated toran/bandankar or make your own out of greeting cards, craft paper, glitter, and beads.[3] To keep with tradition, add marigolds or mango leaves to your toran and hang it across the outside of your front door for an auspicious and colorful piece of decor.[4]
- Most toran have flowers or leaves on them. However, if you don't have any fresh flowers, you can also fold paper flowers or [[Fold a Paper Leaf|leaves out of decorative paper, or simply cut pieces of cardboard or craft paper into flower shapes and hang these from the toran.
- Beyond simple decoration, toran also serve a religious purpose: they're used to attract and welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, into your home.
- Put up Tanjore paintings to brighten your prayer room. Many people take time during Diwali to add decorations to the prayer room in their house and make it exceptionally clean. To enhance your prayer room's aesthetic, hang vividly colored Tanjore paintings in it and illuminate them with soft lighting.[5]
- For a more decorative look, hang paintings that also contain gold, glass beads, or precious gems.
- Tanjore paintings are generally used as devotional icons. If you're hanging paintings, especially for Diwali, they should ideally be compositions of Hindu gods, goddesses, or saints.
- Decorate your walls with colorful paintings, murals, and designs. You don't need to limit your wall decorations to your prayer room. If you have more paintings and murals, hang them on every wall in your house to make every room brighter and more colorful.[6]
- If you don't have any paintings or murals, consider making your own wall decor out of old CDs, newspapers, greeting cards, craft paper, or just pieces of cloth.
- Painting traditional motifs and designs on your walls is a great way to add vibrancy and color to your walls, as long as you're willing to paint over them later!
- Add color to your home by hanging garlands of flowers or pompoms. String together colorful bunches of flowers, pompoms, crepe paper art or any other vibrant and lightweight pieces of decor. Then, drape these garlands from the ceilings and across your household items to add a final bit of color to your home.[7]
- Any species of flower will do for your garlands, so long as they're colorful! Get creative and make paper ring decorations and make shapes and patterns on the walls. These are cheap and easy to customize for your decor.
- There are some species of flower that are believed to be preferred by certain Hindu gods. For example, Kali prefers red hibiscus, Lakshmi's favorite flower is lotus, Lord Ganesha enjoys marigold, and jasmine is Lord Hanuman's favorite flower.
- The lotus is a symbol of spiritual liberation and knowledge. The Goddess Lakshmi carries it in her hand.[8]. Make your home more inviting to the Goddess Lakshmi by making lovely paper lotus flowers and placing them near the light display so she sees them clearly.
EditIlluminating Your Home - Make plain candles festive with pressed flowers. Embed flowers in a plain white candle by placing a small amount of glue on them and pressing them flat against the candle. Then, heat some clear wax in a double boiler to , dip the candle in the wax for 30 seconds, then dip it into cold water and dry.[9]
- You should be able to achieve your desired thickness with 1 dip in the wax. However, you can repeat the process of dipping the candle in the hot wax and then dipping it in the cold water until you achieve the preferred amount of thickness.
- Make sure you dip the candle in and out of the wax in a smooth motion to avoid making it lumpy.
- The water you use doesn't have to be ice cold; it just needs to be colder than room temperature.
- You can use flowers of any shape, size, or species to press into your candles, so long as they're colorful! If you'd like your candles to have more religious significance, some examples of flowers preferred by Hindu gods include red hibiscus, lotus, marigold, and jasmine.
- Make this activity fun for kids by having them fingerprint a design on your candles.
- Draw henna designs onto plain white candles. Use henna paste and a henna tattoo cone to create beautiful, auspicious designs on your candles. Leave the henna designs to dry for at least 1 hour or overnight for best results.[10]
- Your designs can be anything you wish. Traditional henna motifs include flowers, stars, water drops, spirals, and leaves, but feel free to make your own design as well!
- Decorate with diyas. Diya oil lamps are a very common decoration during Diwali, used throughout the Indian subcontinent. You can easily buy cheap earthen diyas. Alternatively, you can try using fruit or seashells for easy homemade diyas, as long as they're sturdy. To make your own unique and original diyas, carve out the inside of a piece of fruit and place a candle inside it, or simply put a candle in a large seashell with a flat bottom.[11]
- For best results, use a fruit with a rind that is easy to keep together and manipulate, like an orange or an apple.
- You can also use prefabricated diyas made of more traditional materials, such as clay or brass. These can be bought at most South Asian grocery stores. Try making oil lamps at home. You can make them colourful and use the scented oil of your choice.
- Diyas are very significant in Hinduism; they symbolize knowledge, enlightenment, and one's submission to a higher power. If you have a special design in mind or are keen to make unique diyas of your own, you can create beautiful patterns on plain diyas with colours, flower, or stones.
- Create interesting light displays with lampshades and lace candles. You can use traditional string lights that suit your decor, or make your own lampshades. Draw floral patterns, stars, or other designs on the sides of a small cardboard box and cut them out. Then, place the box over a lightbulb to create festive displays of light. Alternatively, wrap lace around a mason jar and place a candle inside to produce a similar effect.[12]
- Experiment with different colors and designs of lace to see which best create the atmosphere you're trying to bring about in your home. For Diwali, colorful lace works best!
- If you have access to a colorful cardboard box, use that instead of a plain box to make your lampshade more festive.
- If you'd rather not make your own lampshade, there are plenty of prefabricated lampshades with cutouts available online or in home decor stores.
- Wrap cinnamon sticks around your candles to spice up your home. Tie a number of cinnamon sticks around a mason jar or glass. Then, place a candle inside the glass and light it. Cinnamon candles not only add a woody theme to your home, but the heat from the candle will also cause the cinnamon sticks to release their fragrance and fill the area with the smell of cinnamon.[13]
- If your candle is relatively thick, simply place your cinnamon sticks directly against it and wrap them together with a rubber band.
- Hang colorful strings of light bulbs and paper cups. Place colorful paper cups, seashells, or doilies over light bulbs on a string and hang them across the tops of your walls for a dazzling display of light and color. Or, simply opt for colorful varieties of fairy lights and hang these for an easy yet effective light display.[14]
- Colorful paper cups and doilies can be purchased at any crafting store. You might also be able to find seashells in crafting stores, although you can also just find them along the seashore.
- Place lights inside colored glass bottles or jars to make lanterns. Find any empty glass bottles or jars that are lying around your house, especially ones that are colored, and make sure their interiors are clean. Then, place candles or light bulbs on the inside to make beautiful colored lanterns.[15]
- If you have empty bottles or jars that aren't colored, simply cover them with bright cellophane paper to give them some color. You can also create designs in the paper for added effect.
- You can make Mason jar candles and scented candles to fill your home with delightful fragrances.
- For the best aesthetic appearance, use Mason jars and glass bottles with unique or elaborate shapes to them.
- You can buy white candles or reuse old candles and add a coat of glitter to them using glue. This will make them more special for Diwali.
EditSources and Citations
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| How to Make a Paper Butterfly Posted: 05 Nov 2018 04:00 PM PST Paper butterflies are not only dainty and chic, they're also fun to make. Try your hand at origami to create one or, if you're more of a crafting beginner, fold a simpler version with pretty pleats. When you're finished, use your butterflies as decor or give them to friends and family as gifts. EditFolding an Origami Butterfly - Fold the paper in half, then open it and fold it in half the other way. Make sure to crease both of the folds. Line up the edges when you're folding to ensure the crease is directly in the center.[1]
- If your paper is the same color or pattern on both sides, it doesn't matter which side you start on. However, if one side is white, or the "backside," begin with that side facing up.
- Fold the paper in half diagonally, open it, and fold on the other diagonal. Bring 2 opposite corners together to create the folds. Press down firmly to create defined creases. Repeat on both diagonals. Open the paper to lie flat after you fold it.[2]
- Your 4 folds should intersect in the exact center of the paper.
- Bring the right and left creases together, creating a triangle. With the paper laying flat in front of you, press the right horizontal crease to the left one. As you do this, the paper should collapse onto itself in a triangle shape along the diagonal creases you made.[3]
- Press down on the triangle to crease the paper once it's collapsed.
- If the paper isn't folding properly, go back over your original creases again. If they aren't defined enough, the paper will have trouble falling into the shape.
- Fold the 2 top corners into the center. When you created the triangle shape, it made 2 layers. Grab the corners on the top layer and line up their edges with the crease in the middle of the triangle.[4]
- Try to align the corners with the crease perfectly so they aren't overlapping or so there isn't a large gap between the edges in the center.
- Flip the triangle over and fold the bottom up, leaving a small tip showing. You aren't folding it completely half. Instead you're folding it about 1/3 up from the base of the triangle. Hold the fold in place gently with your hand.[5]
- Bend the top layer of the tip over the base. There are 2 layers at the tip of the triangle. Peel the top 1 forward, folding it over the wide triangle bottom you're currently holding in place. The tip will be the head of the butterfly.[6]
- Crease the fold that you make with the tip. This will help secure the body of the butterfly in place and prevent it from unraveling.
- Pull down the pieces from the bottom layer to create the lower wings. With the top layer folded over, bring the bottom layer of the tip in the opposite direction. The points of the 2 triangular pieces should be facing down, away from the folded head.[7]
- It may help to hold the folded tip with your thumb while you pull the other pieces down so that the butterfly doesn't come apart.
- Re-crease the folded tip after you arrange the bottom pieces if necessary.
- Trim the edges of the wings if you want a smaller butterfly.
EditMaking a Pleated Paper Butterfly - Fold the square piece of paper in half, creasing it. Line up the edges of the paper when you fold it to make sure you're creating a line directly down the middle. Press firmly with your fingernail to form the crease.[8]
- Use any type of paper you'd like, whether it's origami paper, colorful cardstock, or even pretty gift wrap.
- The size of your paper doesn't matter, as long as it's square. If you have a rectangular piece, simply trim it down so all of the edges are the same length.
- Unfold the paper and cut along the crease line. Use your scissors to cut the piece of paper in half. The groove of the crease should help guide your scissors in a straight line through the paper.[9]
- Make sure your scissors are sharp so they don't tear or crinkle the paper.
- If you have trouble cutting in a line, hold your scissors against a straight edge, like a ruler, while you cut.
- Make accordion folds with one of the pieces of the paper. Fold a small piece lengthwise, then flip the paper over to fold it back onto itself. Continue flipping the paper from side to side as you fold along the entire length of the paper. Think of this motion as similar to making a pleat or a fan.[10]
- You can make the folds as thick or as thin as you'd like.
- Keep the folds all the same thickness, no matter what size you choose.
- Take the other piece of paper you cut and fold it in half lengthwise. Place the 2 longer edges on top of each other. Then create a crease by pressing down along the fold.[11]
- Try to make the crease as straight and even as possible so it splits the paper directly in half.
- Open it up and fold the 4 corners in toward the center crease line. Line up the edges straight along the crease. Your paper will now be in the shape of a hexagon, with 2 pointed ends formed by the folded corners.[12]
- Leave the corners folded. If they won't stay in place, use a piece of double-sided tape or a little bit of glue under the flap.
- Flip the paper over and make accordion folds on each side of the crease. Fold one half the paper in towards the center. Then repeat on the other side. This will be the top half of the butterfly's wings.[13]
- Make the folds as large or as small as you'd like, depending on the size of your paper.
- Bend both pieces of pleated paper in half. Press the pleats together and hold the paper between your thumb and forefinger. Carefully fold one end onto the other, creasing it firmly.[14]
- The paper won't stay folded, but that's okay. You just want to make a crease, so the paper is in a V-shape.
- Place 1 piece above the other and tie them together at the center. Arrange the 2 pieces so that they form a butterfly shape. Pinch them together while you tie string or cord around both pieces.[15]
- To secure the 2 pieces together better, you can add a dab of craft glue or hot glue in the middle.
- Having a friend hold the pieces together while you tie the string makes it easier to get a tight knot.
- You can also use ribbon or a pipe cleaner instead of string.
- Pull out the pleats to open up the wings. Scrunched-up folds don't exactly resemble a beautiful butterfly. Gently pull the pleats apart so that the 2 pieces of paper look like 1 large wing on each side instead of 2 disjointed ones.[16]
- Be careful not to rip the paper when you're arranging the pleats.
EditThings You'll Need EditOrigami Butterfly EditPleated Paper Butterfly - 1 square piece of paper
- 1 piece of string, cord, or ribbon
- Scissors
- Double-sided tape (optional)
- Glue (optional)
EditSources and Citations
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| How to Cite Sources Posted: 05 Nov 2018 08:00 AM PST When you paraphrase or quote information from another source in a research paper, essay, or other written work, cite the original source of the information. Otherwise, your readers believe you are trying to pass this information off as your original thought. Proper citation adds credibility to your work and provides evidence to support any arguments you make. Your citations also give your readers the opportunity to further explore the topic of your work on their own.[1] EditIn-Text, MLA, and Chicago Citation Help EditAPA and Turabian Citation Help EditGathering Information about Your Sources - Determine what citation style you need to use. There are several different citation styles used in different research fields. Ask your instructor or supervisor which style to use for your project. The most common styles used in academic writing are the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), and Chicago styles. You can access the guide for each style online, or check it out of your local library.[2]
- Generally, you'll have full citations listed at the end of your paper. The citation list may be called a reference list, bibliography, or Works Cited, depending on the type of citation style you're using.
- Within the body of your paper, use in-text citations to signal that the material preceding the citation is not your original work. The in-text citation allows your reader to find the full citation at the end of your paper. In-text citations may use the in-line parenthetical, footnote, or endnote style.
- Identify the author and title for each source. For every source you plan to use in your research paper, write down the author and title. If there are multiple authors, write them down in the same order as they appear on the title page of a book, or in the byline of an article.[3]
- Save time and reduce the risk of error by making a photo or screenshot of the title page or top of the article that clearly shows the author and title.
- Write down publication information for each source. Look for the date the source was published, as well as the name and location of the publisher. For academic journals and reference volumes, you may also need information about the edition, volume, or issue.[4]
- For a print source, find the publication information on the back of the title page. Look for the copyright information. In print magazines and journals, this information typically appears on the same page as the table of contents, or on the page that lists the periodical's staff.
- For articles online, use the date that appears on the article itself – not the copyright date for the website. To identify the publisher of the website, look for an "about" page. You may also be able to find this information at the bottom of the homepage.
- If you're citing an article that appears in a magazine or journal, write down the pages on which the article appears.
- Copy direct URLs for online sources and record the date of access. All citation styles require a direct URL, or permalink, for any source that you found online. Since information on the internet can be changed or updated, most citation styles also want you to provide the date you last accessed the page.[5]
- If you accessed a scholarly article from an online database, it may have a digital object identifier (DOI). Use this number instead of a URL.
- Double-check your online sources the day before you turn your paper in. That way if anything has moved or changed, you can make sure you have the most up-to-date information. Use that date as your date of access in your citations.
EditPlacing In-Text Citations - Cite immediately after you paraphrase or quote source material. For most citation styles, your in-text citation goes at the end of the sentence where the paraphrased or quoted material is used. Parenthetical citations typically come before the sentence's closing punctuation, while footnote superscript numbers come after.[6]
- For some citation styles that use footnotes or endnotes, the superscript number appears immediately after the paraphrased or quoted material, rather than at the end of the sentence. Consult the guide for the citation style you're using to make sure.
- Use author-date parenthetical citations in APA. To cite paraphrased material in the text of your paper, put the author's last name in parentheses at the end of the sentence where the paraphrase appears. Place a comma after the author's name, then type the year the source was published. Place the period ending the sentence after the closing parentheses mark.[7]
- Example: Leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15 percent in 10 years (Allison, 1987).
- If you include the author's name in your text, put the year in parentheses immediately after their name. For example: Allison (1987) demonstrated that leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15 percent in 10 years.
- If you're quoting the source directly, include the page number in your in-text parenthetical citation. For example: Allison (1987) asserted that "leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15 percent in 10 years" (p. 45).
- Insert footnotes for Chicago style in-text citations. Chicago style uses footnotes that include the same information as the full bibliographic citation, with different punctuation. Place a superscript number at the end of the sentence where the paraphrased or quoted material appears, after the closing punctuation.[8]
- Example: Leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15 percent in 10 years.1
- Generally, you'll separate the elements of the citation with commas rather than periods. Publication information typically is set off in parentheses. The only period in a Chicago-style footnote occurs at the very end. For example: Kent Portney, Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003).
- Include the author's name and page number for MLA in-text citations. MLA uses parenthetical citations in the body of your work. In most cases, you'll provide the author's name and the page number where the material appears, with no intervening punctuation.[9]
- Example: Leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15 percent in 10 years (Alison 45).
- If the source you're citing doesn't have an author, use a shortened version of the title instead. Use enough of the title that your reader could easily find the full reference entry in your Works Cited. Put the title in quotation marks. For example, if you were creating a parenthetical citation for a source called "Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously," and it didn't have an author, you might use: ("Sustainable Cities" 57).
EditWriting a Reference Entry - Start with the name of the author. In nearly all citation styles, the reference entry begins with the last name of the author. If there are multiple authors, include them all in your reference entry in the order they appear on the title page of a book, or byline of an article.[10]
- The most common format for author's names is to place the last name first, followed by a comma, then the first name. Typically you will close this portion of the reference entry with a period. For example: Hawking, Stephen.
- For some citation styles, such as APA style, only include the author's first initial in your reference entry, rather than their full first name. For example: Hawking, S. W.
- Provide the year of publication for APA reference entries. For most citation styles, the title of the source is the next part of the reference entry. However, for APA, place the year the source was published in parentheses after the name of the author. Put a period after the closing parentheses mark.[11]
- For example: Hawking, S. W. (1998).
- For some sources, such as magazines and newspapers, you need a more specific date. Type the year first, followed by a comma. Then type the month and day the article was published. For example: Hawking, S. W. (2005, July).
- List the title of the source using appropriate formatting. The way a source title is formatted depends on the citation style you're using as well as the type of media the source is. Titles for shorter sources, such as magazine and journal articles, are typically placed in quotes. Book titles are usually italicized. The title is typically followed by a period. If the title appears in quotes, the period comes before the closing quotation marks.[12]
- Journal article example: Hawking, Stephen. "Information Loss in Black Holes." Physical Review, July 2005.
- Most citation styles require titles in title-case, meaning that all nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adverbs are capitalized. For example: Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time.
- APA style uses sentence-case for titles, capitalizing only the first word and any proper pronouns. For example: Hawking, S. W. (1998). A brief history of time.
- Include publication information for the source. Publication information may include the name of the publisher, the place where the source was published, and (except for APA citations) the year the source was published. The format for this information varies among the styles of citation.[13]
- APA example: Hawking, S. W. (1998). A brief history of time. New York: Bantam.
- For print sources, most styles call for the city and state where the source was published (or city and country, for sources published outside the U.S.) to be listed first. The location is typically followed by a colon, after which the name of the publisher is listed. For example: Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam, 1998.
- For most citation styles, the year the source was published follows the name of the publisher. Typically only the year is needed, although for periodical publications, such as newspapers or magazines, you may need a more specific date.
- The year of publication typically is the copyright year. However, for online sources, look for a date the specific article was published rather than using the copyright year of the website as a whole.
- Provide the URL and date of access for online sources. The final element of a reference entry is a direct URL or permalink where the article or document can be found, if it was a source that you accessed online. Most styles also require a date of access, since online content can easily be edited, updated, moved, or deleted.[14]
- Example: Clark, Stuart. "A Brief History of Stephen Hawking: A Legacy of Paradox." New Scientist, 21 March 2018. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23731700-100-a-brief-history-of-stephen-hawking-a-legacy-of-paradox/. Accessed 2 October 2018.
- Many scholarly articles are available through online databases. If you accessed an article through one of these databases, you'll typically provide the article's unique digital object identification (DOI) number, rather than a URL. For some citation styles, you must also include the name of the database in your reference entry.
- Format your reference list following the guidelines for the citation style you're using. For most citation styles, references are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the author.
- Commonly known facts don't require a citation. However, observations, conclusions, opinions, and the like all require attribution. If you aren't sure, you may be able to get help from your instructor or supervisor. When in doubt, provide a citation.
- Failure to cite sources properly could lead to charges of plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious issue that can have dire consequences in academic and professional settings.
EditRelated wikiHows EditSources and Citations EditQuick Summary
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