View of the Sheesh Mahal Wall Decor

Finally I got back the wall decor. I must say it looks good. Taking a photo of it however was a bit difficult. Even with the flash off, I got some light bouncing off the mirror pieces... Anyway here it is...

Note: Even though my husband did not build me a Sheesh Mahal or for that matter this wall decor....he did hammer some nails on to the wall to hold it....

Frames

Currently I am shopping around for frames for my Sheesh Mahal wall decor. I did not realize how expensive framing can be here.. The quotes I am getting are simply ridiculous. Lets just say....for that price, I can easily buy a 30" flat screen TV...OMG...What was I thinking??? Well, anyway looks like I will be spending another weekend shopping for other framing options. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Grouting completed.

Look at what I have done. Messed it up...no just kidding...






I finally finished grouting the whole thing yesterday. Took me about 4 hours. I have to allow the grout to set for 48 hrs and then seal it with a grout sealer. Then I have to paint the borders and if possible next week give it for framing. As soon as I am done with that I will upload the image. Until then I have to be patient.

Done

Finally I finished gluing all the pieces on to the board. I have to wait 24 hrs for them to set in. Tomorrow I will begin the process of cleaning and grouting. I think I will be done with this project by this weekend.

Sneak-Peak

Still working on it... Here is a sneak-peak.

Last couple of weeks

Since last couple of weeks I have been on the 'Mom & Homemaker' mode completely. I have been overly and exhaustively busy. Here are some of the activities I have been busy with:

•  Since the start of spring my soccer mom duties have officially started. Soccer practices, games, swimming and hindi classes have pretty much taken over my life. Waiting for summer break to do the happy dance.

• The weather for most part has been wonderful. I am having a great time gardening. The only downside to the gardening is all the bugs & earthworms that I encounter. I am not a very worm, insect or bug friendly person...yuck. 

• My front lawn is adorned with beautiful flowers. All the annuals I planted last year came back. It  is a mystery I cannot understand. They have inspired me to reconnect with my camera after a long time. I am glad that some pushing from my DH towards that direction has also helped. 

• I was also busy with the some renovation work being done in our kitchen. I wanted to have back splash installed in the kitchen. Shopping for the tiles was time consuming as I had to make couple of trips to home improvement and tile specialty stores. Eventually I found these beautiful olive glass tiles in Home Depot... had to go to 4 of them because they did not have enough tiles in stock. Found the other accent glass tiles from a tile specialty store in Edison. Below are the pictures. For all of you who jumped the gun to think that I installed these...wait...I would like to correct you..... I just designed it. Installation was done by a professional. Good or bad..let me know what you think.

Before:

After:

In conclusion:

As a result of being so busy I have not had the time to even glance at the Sheesh Mahal project....

I am not making any excuses. Infact I am going down to my basement right now.

Confusion

It's been too long since my last update. I have been busy working on the project. I think I will be working this project well until mid May. It is a very laborious project and a pain in the neck. I mean that literally...every morning I wake up with a stiff neck. On top of that, in my craziness I committed to sew 5 aprons. My dear hubby knocked some sense into me and advised me to finish one project at time. He told me not to rush this thing & to take my time, cause so far it has turned out well and he did not want me to mess it.

I also wanted to clear all the confusion occurring in the minds of my friends. Some wanted to know if I am building the real Sheesh Mahal...I would rather bungee jump than attempt something like that.

No, I am creating a mosaic wall decor (wall hanging) made of all broken mirrors inspired by the Sheesh Mahal. The space on the wall above the couch area in my living room is empty. I need something to occupy that space. Here is a see-thru.

Incomplete

So it is official. March came and went, and I was unable to finish the Sheesh Mahal project on time. I am still hunting for materials.  It is so frustrating. According to our guide at the Amer Fort...the materials for the Sheesh Mahal, especially the mirror pieces were imported from Belgium. So,  it was easier for the Maharaja to get all the materials from far off places in the 17th century, than it is for me. Even with all the progress that we have made since then, I am having trouble finding small golden glass pieces today. So my new deadline for this project is April 30th.

In the meantime I have decided to start with the a new project for the month of April. Being aware of my habits, I did not want to give myself any time to waste. So for this month's project, I will be sewing aprons. Five of them. My  current Apron is on its deathbed....waiting for a proper burial at a landfill somewhere. I need 2 aprons for myself...while the other 3 are just for challenge purpose. I want to see if I can finish the Sheesh Mahal project and 5 aprons by the end of April...

No End in Sight

I got my last shipment of golden glass tiles yesterday. I had ordered the tiles from a dealer online. I have to say the shipment process from this particular dealer was very, very efficient. It took maybe 3 days for me to receive the tiles from the date of placing the order. However, a big however....I can't use those tiles. They are not the color I need. I need dark golden tiles to use for the borders. These tiles are nowhere close to that.

So off to Michael's I have to go again. I have run out of ideas. Maybe I can find something in Michael's that I can improvise with.

Crossing my fingers.........

Update on the Sheesh Mahal project

I am afraid I will not be able to complete this project on time. I realize it was very ambitious of me to undertake this project. I received part of my supplies of scrap glass. I have to individually break them by hand to make smaller pieces. All 7 lbs of them. I have also placed an order online for the glass tiles that I need to use for the borders. It will take another 4 to 5 days to arrive.

In the meantime I am having the time of my life breaking glass. It is a huge stress buster. Here is a peek-a-boo of my work so far. Enjoy

Naive Self

I knew while starting this project, that it is not going to be easy. I assumed I would get all the supplies in Michaels, Walmart or JoAnns. OH man....I was so naive.

I need mirror tiles, glass tiles, glass gems (pebbles) etc. I need these supplies by the pounds....but these arts & craft stores have them either in pieces or in ounces.  I have been checking online stores and Ebay too for supplies.  I don't like to order these things online as I like to see and feel the stuff that I am buying. I have very specific things I am looking for with regards to the size, colors and  weight. You cannot do that online.  Plus these stores charge an arm and leg for the shipping costs.

On a positive note after a lot of searching, I found a dealer online who had the glass pieces I needed....so I ordered about 7 lbs of those.  I hope I get them within the next week. I found the piece of plywood I was looking for in Home Depot and had that cut to 20" x 48". I am planning to hang this wall decor in my living room above the couch...so it had to be of that specific size.

I still need a lot of supplies...I may have to spend this rainy and stormy weekend hunting for those in the local stores again. Wish me luck. I have this deep feeling that I am not going to finish this project by March 30th.

The only thing that I have done so far is sketch the pattern on the board.

The Big Reveal

I know, I had promised to reveal my next project on Mar 1st...but guess what? I was very very busy. Doing What???

Well after completing all the necessary housework, I started watching TV. Then I spent 3 hours watching 'The Real Housewives of New York'. You see I had missed the last season's episodes...so I tried to catch up. I also spent the next day watching reruns of ‘The Real Housewives of OC’.

No, I am not a fan of the shows, but somehow I have to admit that it is addicting. What can I say…These reality shows are better scripted than the scripted shows. SHAME ON ME for having wasted my two days.

Anyway now that I have confessed let me proceed to reveal my next project. Last December, I had traveled to Jaipur with my whole family. It is a city in Rajasthan, India. One of the places we visited and which was really memorable to me was the Amber Fort (also known as Amer Fort). It was memorable for two reasons:

First --- the SHEESH MAHAL 
Second --- my fall at the end of the tour and the twisted & sprained ankle that I suffered as a result of that.

I will not write about the fall, but I will write about Sheesh Mahal. It is located within the Amber Fort. If you literally translate it --- it means Palace of Mirrors. Actually it is more of a large hall whose walls and ceilings are decorated with thousands of tiny mirrors. The details in this hall are very intricate and spectacular. It was built for the Queens by the Maharaja. The fort was built in the 16th century and completed by the 18th century. I was really amazed and mesmerized by all the workmanship involved in creation of this beautiful piece of architecture. I can only imagine what it must have looked like in those days...in all its glory. I remember telling my DH that he has to build me a Sheesh Mahal too. After all I am his queen.

After my return back to US, I just was not able to forget about it. As a result of this blog, I got an idea to create a wall décor inspired by Sheesh Mahal.I will give more details tomorrow. In the meantime enjoy the pics.