DIY chalk board made from the plate under a birthday cake

My daughter's third birthday cake left me with a nice round wooden plate which I didn't want to throw away. I came upon a DIY chalk board project and I tried it out. Here is the result and how I did it.

I thought of making it a differnt color cause my daughter already had a black one.

So I took red acrylic paint. I used half the small 15ml bottle that you would get at a stationary shop and mixed half a teaspoon of white fine tile grout bought from a building materials store and mixed the two and painted it onto the board.

Yeah, the chalk board was ready in no time.

Hard time letting the paint dry..... she wanted to write on it right away.

So nice to have something colorful to write on.

It was a successful project out of something that would have just been thrown away.

Do try it people.....I read that this chalk board paint can be used on a lot of surfaces......try out the lowerpart of a wall in your child's room......sounds fun to me.

DIY Barbie doll dresses

My mother very carefully peserved my baby sister and my Barbie dolls that we had as kids.....she gave them to my daughter some time ago who loves playing with them as they are an addition to the ones in her collection.


She loves to pretend play with her dolls and would be more than happy to have more clothes for them. I was looking out for ways to make some dresses myself......and I happened to come across a blog that was on making Barbie dresses out of outgrown baby socks......and I made this with my baby's socks.


She loved how the dresses looked on her Barbie.


And I liked them too. Here have a look.

Home Made Gifts

The other day I was reading a story to my 3 year old in which a boys grandmother makes laddoos (Indian Sweet) for his birthday.

My daughter asked me to make her some besan laddoos. At first I was a little apprehensive since I had tried it only twice before and did not come out perfect. This time I was determined to get it right.

So I followed the detailed instructions my mother gave me on the phone and started with the preparations. Everything seemed to be happening just right and many laddoos were eaten up by my daughter as I was making them into her mouth size.......small balls.

I was so delighted to see her love them and eat them so fondly.....after that I have made them for her and also given the Besan Laddoos to friends and family as my token of appreciation.

After all who does not love the mouth watering Besan Laddoos.

Below is the recipe that my mom gave me:

Ingredients:

500 grams Besan (Bengal Gram Flour)
50 grams Rawa (Semolina)
300 grams Ghee (Clarified Butter)
400 grams Powdered Sugar
1/4 tb sp Elaichi Powder (Cardamom)


1. Sieve the Besan. (Very Important or you will have lumps)

2. Melt 250grams ghee in a kadhai, add the gram flour and rawa and cook over a low flame stirring continuously till it is golden brown in color. (This is the most important step. Tip: Get it done when your mind is fresh and do not have any disturbances around. You cannot leave it on the flame without stirring and it takes time.)

3. Let it Cool completely.

4. Add the powdered sugar and Cardamom powder and mix thoroughly. The technique to mixing it is taking the mixture between your palms and rubbing it.  (This action will melt the ghee and the sugar will blend in completely)

Caution: Let the mixture cool completely or the sugar that you add will change color and you will get laddoos that taste fine but look black in color.(This happened with me the second time I had tried the recipe)

5. Coat your hands with ghee and now try making the balls. If they do not form easily just add in little by llittle the remaining 50grams of ghee.

6. To add Shine to the laddoos just let them roll in your palms while you keep shaking your hand (like the action you do before throwing the dice when playing ludo.)

7. Place them in a nice jar, decorate the jar with a ribbon and a cute message and gift the perfect Home Made Gift people will remember.