DIY Dhandiya / Kolatam sticks

It is the time of the year where I bring down the huge boxes stoved away on the top shelves in my garage and unpack the beautiful dolls to arrange bommala koluvu / golu.

As the ladies get dressed in their Dhandiya attires adorning metal jewellery for a evening of Dhandiya dance, it could be challenging to find a pair of Dhandiya sticks in US. Hence, this DIY dhandiya sticks post. A trip to Home depot and walmart would suffice.

saw station at my local home depot

My first trip was to Home Depot .In the wood Aisle, I got one of those long sticks and cut it into pieces of 16 inches each. You probably need 2-3 long sticks to make 3 pairs. Make use of the free sawing station there at HomeDepot to cut it into pieces.

this pic courtesy of  internet

Next trip is to Walmart and check out for glitter tapes in stationery aisle or at crafts aisle.Buy atleast 2 colors of glittering tapes. Hint - Go for either a gold or silver tape that matches your jewellery tones ;) . Get plain white glue as well if you dont have glue at home already.

Apply glue at random spots to each stick and wrap around one color of tape with some gap between each round such that the wood is visible through the gap. Cut the tape once you reach end of the stick. Now, Apply glue to the open gaps of wood and take the second color tape, wrap it around covering the gaps till you reach the last gap. Apply extra glue to the end if needed. Let the sticks dry! 

My DIY result !

I used pink glitter tape and silver glitter tape. My sticks are 16.5 inches long each. you can decorate one end of it with tiny christmas jingle bells from dollar store or any such fancy accessories.