Make your own diyas this Deepavali

With Deepavali around the corner, markets are flooded with diyas in all shapes, colours and sizes. Some of them even cost a pretty penny. But you don’t have to empty your pockets when you can make them right at home with regular roti dough or clay. Here are two easy ways to make the traditional earthen lamps at home.

Wheat flour lamps

Items required

Candle wicks

1 cup wheat flour

1/4 cup water

Method

Preheat the oven at 200°C for 10 minutes.

To a bowl, add wheat flour and water. Slowly knead the flour to a stiff dough. Do not add a lot of water.

Pinch out 5 equal portions of the dough. Shape each portion into a ball using your palms.

Into each ball, insert your thumb to make a hole.
Now start flattening and pinching the sides to give it the typical diya look.

Add a wick to one of the pointed ends.
Place all the diyas on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil and bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.

Once the diyas have cooled down completely, you can paint them with regular paints or leave them as they are for a more rustic look.

Clay diyas

Items required

Clay tools

Acrylic colors

Air dry terracotta clay

Rhinestones for decoration

Glue

Method

Take a small lump of clay and warm it in your hand for a minute by lightly rolling it into a loose ball shape.

Wet your fingers with water and gently press your fingers all over the surface to smooth out the lines. Slowly form it into a ball shape.

Now, using your thumb and index finger, shape the ball into a lamp.

Next, add designs to the lamps with the clay tools, by adding dots and ridges along the edges.

Once done, spread out the lamps on a tray or plate and let them air dry completely.

Once completely dried, it’s time to decorate and embellish them. Paint your lamps with your choice of colours and decorate them with rhinestones.

Let all the decoratings completely dry before placing a wick and lighting the diyas.