Raksha Bandhan (रक्षाबंधन) special - Rakhi from Quilling

     Raksha Bandhan (रक्षाबंधन)  is a joyful festival celebrated in India, wherein sister(s) ties a sacred thread ( Rakhi ) on their brother's wrist to protect them from evil, Rakhi is a symbol of bonding between the siblings and an expression of love and respect between the siblings.

As raksha bandhan is round the corner (August 18,2016)  and lot of rush is seen to buy different types of Rakhis , however there is nothing that matches the feeling of love, when you make one and tying them around your brothers wrist . I am exactly showing you how to do the same in very less time and looks beautiful too.Here is an article on how to make an easy  Rakhi for your brother(s) using the basic quilling techniques. A Rakhi always adds a personal touch of love for your brother .

To make a Rakhi from quilling , I have used Om  (ॐ) as my theme.  Om is one of the most important spiritual sacred sound (more info). You can use any theme for making your Rakhi like flowers , cartoons , special designs etc... You can add your own creativity.

The materials used are :

• Quilling strips ( 3 mm and 5 mm )
• Kundan stones
• Satin ribbon
• Fevicol

For the procedure :

• Take  5 mm quilling strips of two colours of your choice. Here I have taken green and blue color. Please refer to Step 1 and Step 2
• Stick them in an alternate pattern as shown in Step 3.

                           

• Make a tight coil, to achieve the size shown in the top of the page, I have used 40 quilling strips ( 20 green and 20 blue ). Please refer to Step 4. The number of strips depends on the size of your Rakhi.
• Apply fevicol on the top and bottom sides of the coil. Allow it to dry.

Now we start with the formation of Om symbol. First draw lightly with a pencil the Om symbol on top of the coil.

• Take a single 3 mm white color quilling strip as shown in Step 5.
• Cut it into 4 equal parts . Please  refer to Step 6.
• Make a tight coil with each part. Refer to Step 7.
• Make 15 such tight coils. 

                              

• Make one half moon shape of approximately same size as shown in Step 8.
• Stick these coils along the Om written earlier using fevicol as shown in Step 9.
• Stick Kundan / beads for the border of the Rakhi . Refer to Step 10 and 11.
• Apply a coat of clear nail polish to give your beautiful Rakhi a shiny look.
• Attach the thread and your beautiful quilling Rakhi is ready. Refer to Step 12.
• After attaching the thread , cover it with a small blue color quilling strip on the back side of your Rakhi as shown in Step 13. This will not only make the Rakhi look elegant but also secures the thread in place and avoids irritation to the skin .

The completed Rakhi looks like this :

Handmade Rakhi  is one of the best gifts that you can gift to your brother .  This Rakhi I have made for my brother on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan .

I had made one more Rakhi which shows the face of Ganesha on it . 

I hope you liked my article of making Rakhi using quilling and don't forget to share your comments on this . Please share which type of Rakhi did you make for your brothers.