Celebrate Diwali with homemade diya lamps

29 Sep 2022

October marks the start of Diwali celebrations around the country. The Indian festival of light celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and the renewal of life. Diya lamps are earthen lights which are lit up for decoration purposes in the festival. Celebrate Diwali by making your own diya lamps using flour, water and salt before painting them in your favourite Resene colours to celebrate the festival.

You will need:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 1 cup of water
• Resene Quick Dry
• Small craft paintbrush
• Resene testpot paints in your choice of colours, Fleur used Resene Pirate Gold, Resene Drop Dead Gorgeous, Resene Boost, Resene Lucky Point, Resene Parsley, Resene Showstopper, Resene Tree Frog, Resene Poppy, Resene Mexican Red, Resene White, Resene Gold Dust metallic. 

Step 1: Mix together two cups of plain flour, one cup of salt and one cup of water.  Knead to make a firm dough.  Form into tear-drop shaped diya lamps.  Leave these for a few days to air dry or you can cook them in a low oven 120-150 degrees Celsius until dry.

Step 2: Prime the lamps with one coat of Resene Quick Dry.   

Step 3: Once the primer is dry, give each lamp two coats of your chosen base colour using Resene testpots.  Fleur used Resene Pirate Gold, Resene Drop Dead Gorgeous, Resene Boost, Resene Lucky Point, Resene Parsley and Resene Showstopper. 

Step 4: After the base paint has dried, have fun decorating your lamps.  Fleur added some Resene Gold Dust metallic for a nice shiny look.  The end of a paintbrush is good for making dots.  

Step 5: Place the lamps on a plate or tray and add tea lights.  Wall in Resene Indian Ink.

Published: 29 Sep 2022