To celebrate the Indian holiday of Diwali and to prepare for an upcoming Multicultural Festival at the Council on Aging, a small group of council members worked together during drop-in craft time to make a rangoli. Traditionally these rangoli are used to decorate floors and celebration spaces. Made of colored rice, colored powder, or flower petals, they are a symbol of welcome and an invitation to the deities.
I dyed rice with food coloring by leaving it to soak in colored water overnight. I then dried the rice by spreading it out on newspaper.
Instead of making the design temporary, we glued our design onto pasteboard. We used white glue to cover the spaces for one color at a time, and then we sprinkled rice over that section. By tapping off the excess, only the colors that we wanted were left.
This rangoli will be a centerpiece for the Multicultural festival. People who come to the festival will be able to make their own small rangoli on a paper plate to take home with them.
