DIY Luxury Wall Art For The Fashion Lover

I have been living in this space that I call 'home' for the past 7 years, and yet almost all the walls were bare and stark up until very recently.  A sudden bout of pinterest inspiration and motivation from the most mesmerizing DIY and interior blogs spurred me into action. I decided that it was time to turn that DIY pinterest board into reality, time to add some life and personality into my walls..time to take some risks..hell yeah!!
Thats when I realized that inspiration is not always a good thing and that incessant pinning can sometimes back fire..there are but 4 walls and so much inspiration. It took a while and a lot of back and forth later, my mind was made up, sealed with a RubyWoo kiss et all!!
It was going to be my wall of luxury and the image below was the inspiration.

So next I needed bags of my favourite brands and hence started my journey of begging, borrowing and stealing..a few days later, this is what I got.

Now don't get me wrong, I am in no way a brand obsessed girl. You will never see me dipped in luxury brands from head to toe, though occasionally I will  throw in a cherished piece of luxury.

These brands, to me, are much more than the latest trend they symbolize, each one stands for certain values and aesthetics, each one has a history.

Right in the middle is Sabyasachi, I have so much respect for him and the huge Sabyasachi brand he has created. To me Sabyasachi stands for Indian craft, textile and heritage. He symbolizes my roots and my soul.

Then there is Chanel and Chanel is there because of the legendary Coco Chanel. She grew up in an orphanage, endured the world war and then went on to create something that is iconic even for generations after her - she endured. She was a revolutionary, a trailblazer and a rebel. She freed us from the constraints of corsets, she gave us comfort, jackets and the little black dress.

Fendi to me stands for distinct style and woman power. It was started by a young woman who married and was joined by her husband, they went on to have 5 daughters and together with Karl Lagerfeld went on to create the huge empire that it is now.

Then there is Salvatore Ferragamo, the guy who found his calling in shoes at the age of 9, how can he not be there? One of 14 children born in a small Italian town he went on to become the 'Shoemaker To The Stars'. I bow down in respect.

Hermes started as a harness shop and has gone on today to be an epitome of craftsmanship and refinement - it stands for the genius of man and his hands. It is a constant reminder of the fact that every detail counts.

Coach, ah well, I just love the bag - the colours, the logo...all of it

I think all in all this wall says "Nothing Is Impossible". Each one of these power house brands started from nothing but an idea, none of them had high networths or networks. All they had was a dream, determination and hard work.

And look at what they have created.

Its my wall of hope and determination.

Have I inspired to you create your own DIY Luxury Wall Art For The Fashion Lover? Weekend project?

Sabyasachi, DIY And Speaking Your Mind

There are a few people in each one of our lives, who we love and respect, when these people talk we listen. My day started with one such conversation, a conversation with a lady whose opinion matters a lot. We spoke about fashion and bras, we spoke about the blog and its growth trajectory, we also spoke about some fears and insecurities. It got me thinking.. about my vision for my blog, about my life and all the people and things that make it joyful..
I think its time for a change on lookinggoodfeelingfab.com, its time to make it a little less about me and a little more about you, its time to make it more about giving than about receiving..
I have become too used to doing things the way they are, getting dressed up, posing for a few pictures and talking about myself - putting a post together. It is going to be a challenge to change things and make it about others and not me, but I think its time to do it :)
So while I think about life this weekend, I am going to give you a few wonderful things to watch, read and ponder over..
Starting with...drumroll please....
Sabyasachi, the man is a genius and to add he comes across as a genuinely nice person. He is one Indian designer I love and respect so much not just for his work but also how he pays no heed what so ever to the media, he does not feel it necessary to give bytes to Zoom TV in a drunken stupor, drink in hand and models wrapped around his arm.
This video is just lovely, such a delight, much better than the Koffee With Karan gossip sessions..(I like those too, but this leaves you inspired!)

At 9:30, Sabyasachi talks about becoming an overnight success and how he had an intenst 10 year struggle before that happened (we all miss the work behind the success). Boman says " Takes a lifetime of hardwork to become an overnight success". Blew my mind!!
 If I loved Sabyasachi earlier, I worship him now..
Ok so if you are a blogger, you should see this post, Mandi of the blog Vintage Revivals, put together a survey for her readers to take, so that her blog could improve, she could understand the readers better and so she could get some honest feedback. I am inspired to do such a survey myself, what do you think? See her survey results here. If you love DIY try this one, its so cute for the home.

Image : Vintagerevivals.com

This week I have also been very influenced by Tanvi's post on speaking your mind. I think it requires tremendous amount of courage to speak your mind, It is much easier to run away from a situation and ignore it. But as Tanvi says, speaking up could be liberating in so many ways, It can avoid heartbreak and prevent misunderstandings. Honesty and clearing the air is the best thing for a relationship. Read her post here. 
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, filled with loads of joy and inspiration. Leaving you with Sabyasachi again :)
He make being covered from head to toe look sexy dosent he?

Image : pinterest.com

Greek Yogurt Dessert Recipe : Skinny Dessert

"Greek Yogurt Dessert Recipe"

If the last post got you all inspired and geared up to run down the health and fitness track, this post will propel your plans further.
If you have spent some time on this blog, you know I love my desserts, but whenever I indulge in them that little calorie counter sitting in my head keeps on and on with its scornful tick tock tick tock..so I decided to squash the annoying thing with this yummy and healthy greek yogurt (hung curd) dessert recipe..
It is simple, delicious, healthy, skinny and clean...all the food adjectives I love, put together in one "healthy greek yogurt recipe"..

Ingredients:
It has a rich and creamy mouth feel thanks to the hung curd or greek yogurt.
A tangy punch from the citrus of the orange and orange zest.
Healthy kind of sweet from honey or agave nectar..
And the pistachios make it crunchy and yummy..

Method:
1. Take some low fat yogurt, put it in a muslin cloth and hang it overnight so the water is drained  out and rich creamy goodness is left for us to use
2. Mix the hung curd, crushed pistas, chopped oranges and orange zest together.
3. Scoop it on to a platter, garnish with orange slices, pistas and drizzle honey over it..
yumm...yumm...
4. Refrigerate for a little while and indulge..

Your yummy "healthy greek yogurt dessert recipe" is all done and good to eat. 

I have made it on two occasions, and it has been a big hit, it satisfies my sweet tooth and the calorie counter has no idea what hit it...so are you ready to try the
"Healthy Greek Yogurt Recipe"

Healthy Raw Mango Ice-Cream Recipe

What's summer without ice cream and mangoes??
Anyone who knows me knows I love my mangoes and who doesn't love ice-cream?
Unfortunately gone are those days when I could indulge in the creamy sugary delight without giving it a second thought. I now find it tough to put something in my mouth without reading the ingredient list, the nutritional info and the calorie content..and after that exercise it just gets tougher.

So give up on ice-cream? Noooo no noooo.
Just modify it to make it not just healthy but also fresh, organic and even raw..
Yes you got it right, Healthy Organic Fresh and Raw Ice-Cream..

Here is what I did:
Ingredients
1. Coconut Milk: 2 cups (I grated coconut minced fine with 1.5 cups of water)
2. Cashew Milk: 0.5 cup (1 tbsp cashews soaked in .5 cup water and minced in the food processor)
3. Date paste: 0.5 cup (5-6 dates soaked and minced with water in food processor)
4. Mango Pulp: 1-1.5 cup fresh mango paste
5. Lime Juice: 1 small lime
6. Basil leaves: 4-5 chopped
7. Raw Agave Nectar: 1 tbsp or as per taste

Method:
1. If you do not want the graininess strain the coconut milk, I left it as is...I like the good stuff.
2. Mix everything together.
3. Pour into ice-cream churner.
4. Give your arms a workout...churn churn churn
5. Yummy goodness ready to eat..

I topped my ice-cream with some fresh chopped mangoes and a drizzle of honey.
So that's my healthy, organic,  fresh and raw ice cream.



So are you going to give HEALTHY RAW MANGO ICE-CREAM a try this summer?

DIY: Manish Malhotra's Phulkari Style

Phulkari has become such a rage lately, all thanks to Manish Malhotra's latest collection.
I am not the biggest Manish Malhotra fan but I am and always have been a lover of Phulkari.
Those bright bold colours and that delicate hand work is a combination I just cannot resist.
Needless to say I have a sizable collection of phulkari,but mostly dupattas.
So Manish Malhotra, got me digging into my closet looking for my phulkari treasure.
By then my imagination was going crazy, thinking about ways that I could use those dupattas..here are the results..

I have used the saree to lehnga style seen earlier HERE

Find the tutorial HERE

And dont forget to enter the messenger bag GIVEAWAY

Tutorial : Sari To Lehnga

Hi there, how has the start to the weekend been?
I wanted to thank you so very much for all your encouraging comments on the sari to lehnga post (HERE).
Many of you asked for a tutorial on draping the sari into a lehnga.

So, here it is, I have tried to capture the entire draping process in pictures..here goes.

Step 1: Start with the petticoat (under skirt).
Step 2: Tuck in one end of the sari into the petticoat.

Step 3: Start pleating, the same way you pleat a sari. Make about 10 pleats at a time.

Step 4: This one is a little tricky. The pleats you have made, now need to be distributed as evenly as possible and tucked in again.

Repeat this step, on the entire sari, so you have pleats all around.
Step 5: When you reach the other end of the sari, fold the end in (so the edge is not visible) and tuck it in.
            Make sure there is an overlap (of a few inches) between the 2 ends of the sari. Tuck in

I hope I have simplified the process, for you. If you still have any questions do feel free to leave them in the        
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DIY: Vogue and my decoupage bedside table

I can spent hours and hours looking at fashion magazines my day starts and ends with them. Needless  to say, Vogues launch in India was a red letter day for me. I keenly awaited their first issue and now a few months back when they celebrated their 5th anniversary with a bumper issue, I decided to celebrate too.
How you ask??
Here is how, I decided to make their anniversary issue a part of my room, I decided to vogue my bedside table.
A few scraps of wood were magically transformed into a small table, a few coats of pretty pink and pristine white paint later..the table was ready for some vogue..
I cut out pretty, artistic images and inspirational text from the issue and decoupaged them to make an unusual table and my own inspiration board.

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DIY Clutch : Tutorial

So, I am a complete DIY dork..I can spend hours and hours browsing DIY blogs and sites, marveling at the sheer genius and creativity all around ...how people find the time to manage a house, kids, husbands, jobs and still make gorgeous stuff, is another thing that amuses me..
There have been so many times when I have gone into high end stores, seen beautiful things and thought to myself.. "ha I can make that myself and that too at a fraction of the cost"...did I get down to making them..NO..no time..yes that's the excuse I would give myself...is it a valid one..obviously not.....
So finally I got down to make something myself....and yay yay I finally finished it...here is the tutorial...

MATERIAL REQUIRED
1) 0.5 meter collar canvas : This is the backbone of the clutch, it provides stiffness and shape.
2) 0.5 meter cotton lining
3) 0.5 meter outer cloth of your choice (you can make 2 in 0.5 meter, but the width is required)
4) Fabric glue
5) Scissors
6) Measuring tape, pen

STEPS:
1) Decide the size you would like, double the height, cut this size from the canvas.
2) Cut 2 pieces of lining of the same size + 0.5 inch, make sure you keep 0.5 inch margin for stitching the sides.
3)Stick one piece of lining on either side of the canvas.
4) Cut the outer cloth of the same size as the lining.
5) Stick this piece to the lining on one side.
6) Fold the entire sandwich keeping the sequin cloth inside.
7) Stitch the two edges and flip the pouch.
8) Stitch the top two edges and then attach the zip.
9) Flaunt it :)

Looking forward to hearing from you, do let me know if the instructions are adequate..
Love...