On April 6, all roads lead to Atta Galatta, especially for those who are into the Do It Yourself (DIY) culture. Why, you ask? For the DIY + Doddle Workshop, of course! Seen at the helm of things were two talented artists, one of them being Surabhi Dhole, the young artists we got in touch with. Originally from Lucknow, the young lady pursued Law from Fergusson College in Pune. She is a legal practitioner at a private firm in Bengaluru during the weekdays and on the weekends, conducts such workshops for school children and shoots videos for her YouTube channel Housezzat. The videos are a step-by-step guide for people to make DIY products. She says, "Since school, I’ve been interested in DIY art and crafts. When I was at home in Lucknow, I used to decorate my room with these handmade crafts. For my friend’s birthday or any special occasion, I used to gift them DIY art instead of buying gifts from stores. But when I started pursuing Law, my passion took a backseat."
We were happy to note that recently, Surabhi took to arts and crafts once again and now, uses it a stress buster to indulge in after her work. Friends and admirers who were all praises for her beautiful DIY artworks which she posted on social media suggested that she train kids and conduct workshops for the same. And that's the story behind Housezzat, her YouTube channel. She says, "It's been only a few months since I started posting videos every week and conducting workshops for school children during weekends. Though my YouTube channel doesn't have many subscribers, I have good viewership. Not just the craft-making videos, I post videos in which I have failed in making a few products. This is to show viewers that using the wrong products or following the wrong steps will not help. DIY includes many types of art, but I specialise in making home decor like bed lamps, wall hangings, vase, magnetic boards and much more. I even have an Instagram page where I post DIY videos and pictures."
In order to make the products cost-effective and see to it that it is easy for people to make their own things at home, Surabhi uses materials like cardboards, thermocol, quilt paper, fibreglass, newspapers, brown covers and so on. However, these days her preference has changed to wood and plaster cement for durable products that last for a long time. "The wood that I use for my DIY products are mostly from used furniture that is up for resale on many websites. All the other craft material that I get is from Itsy Bitsy. One can even buy the items from a local stationery store," she says.
Amongst all the work she has done till date, Surabhi likes the bed lamp that she and her friend made out of canvas on which they painted a few doodles. Taking this art forward, Surabhi wants to form her own group, train many young people and encourage them to make DIY interior home decor. "It is always better to train people so that they, in turn, can train kids. Those days are not far when one can make money by creating DIY home decor which is cost-effective and beautiful. One always feels happy for bringing out the creativity of others," she concludes
1. Wooden plank (round)
2. Old tyres (two or three, according to your prefered height)
3. Jute rope (10-15m)
4. Fevicol
5. Glue
6 Scissors
Steps
(i) Visit a tyre puncture shop and grab two or three discarded tyres (according to the height you prefer).
(ii) Next, head to the carpenter and ask him to cut out wood in the shape of a circle which is around 5 cm more in diameter than the topmost tyre's diameter.
(iii) You can purchase jute ropes from any hardware store.
(iv) Place the tyres on top of one another and use the one which is the thickest and has the largest diameter as the base.
(V) Apply generous amounts of Fevicol and paste them on top of each other. Let them dry for two hours.
(vi) Do the same with the wooden table top, paste it on the tyre with Fevicol and let it dry.
(vii) Once all the layers are dry, wrap the jute rope around the tyre and stick them along in short intervals with the help of glue gun.
Simple, your DIY coffee table is ready! It's handmade, cost-effective and quirky.
