Sara Writes: Make Chai, Not War - 14th August Craft Board

I don't care who you are, what you did, where you're from .... Oooooops.

Didn't mean to bring Back Street Boys back. I meant to say, no matter where you go, you shouldn't forget your roots. And I haven't forgotten mine. It's been years since I've been residing in the US but I will always respect Pakistan and my heart is purely Desi and proud. The country has given me a tonne of memories, a privileged childhood, the best schooling, friends, and a rich culture that's embedded with the best morals and values. So today, on the 14th of August, I wish Pakistan a happy 71st birthday by honoring my favorite bits and pieces from the country on my craft board display!

To start off please put your hands together for my DIY 'jhandiyaan' (Desi for buntings). This is actually an idea I have shamelessly stolen from Abbie. Since we can't get Pakistan flag jhandiyaan here in the US and we never got the chance to buy them on our trips to Pakistan we printed flags out and then stuck them to a strand of thread to turn them into jhandiyaan. They look so cute! I also pinned a Pakistan sign on the top and center of my board to highlight it.

The jhandiyaan look so adorable! It was the simplest yet cutest of DIY projects.

Extra points for the camel which is a representation of Karachi's Sea View. I lived a few blocks distance from the sea side all my life in DHA and we used to take frequent long drives to Sea View and back just for fun. Especially on the weekends mama would drive us all there, radio bursting out some of the most awesome Desi songs as we headed for McDonald's drive through to get us chicken nuggets! Such good memories. The hot chicken nuggets, sea side and beach views, songs and FM100's RJ cheapness combined into some of the best memories of my childhood. "Assalamalaikum Pakeestaan" that little girl would say on the radio! I can still hear her!

Oh the Desi shoes called 'Khussay' and how they'd never be comfortable in my feet! Hahaha! All my childhood I tried buying various kinds and sizes and somehow they were always imperfect in some way or the other. And can someone please tell me if these shoes had a left and right or not? I think they didn't but then I think they did! Hahaha!

"Pehchaan Kabhi Na Bhoolo" - Never forget your identity.

The classic Junoon song that hit you right in the heart! I found it perfect to go on my board.

Make Chai ... Not War - the true Desi motto of my life. There's nothing Chai can't fix, right? Below that is a picture very dear to my heart. 'PAF will live in the memory for long!!!' It's a picture from my school. This was written on a wall right before we graduated from there. The City School PAF Chapter is the best part from my life in Pakistan ... memories I still can't let go of. PAF memories truly are going to live forever in my heart!

"Maa ki dua, Jannat ki hawa!" - A mother's prayer is the way to Heaven.

This is one of the most popular sayings commonly found as part of the traditional Pakistani truck art. The picture I chose for my board is not from a truck though. It's from my cake 'A Dainty Delight'. I'd baked it on mama's birthday last year and had had Abbie do the beautiful Urdu tag. It was perfect for my beautiful board! It looks super awesome!

Another truck art quote, "Deikh magar pyaar se" ... it translates to something like, 'Look (at me), but with love' ... I googled for assistance! Hahaha! I love this quote and I found the perfect picture upon googling so I printed it out and stuck it on my board. Classic!

That beautiful traditional funky print actually dates far far back in my memories. This must be more than a decade old. It was a greeting card somebody had sent Dad on Eid once upon a time. I was somewhere in my teens I think and I'd loved it and saved it as part of my scrapbook stuff. Little did I know then that a decade or so later I'd use it on a craft board in the US! Hahaha! So cool, right?

My most favorite key rings! The one on the left was a gift from a friend and I bought the other pom pom one on one of my visits to Pakistan. I love both of them so much! They're so traditional!

On the right I added a funky print just to match with the whole truck art feel.

This was another really beautiful truck art graphic I found on google when I searched for 'desi truck art'. I love the little 'matki' (pot thingy) and the flowers. Truck art never fails to impress!

If you're a regular follower of my blog you'd recognize this as my graphic for 'Desi Diaries'. I designed this myself and love it so so so much. When I decided to put together a Desi board I just knew I had to print and display this somewhere on there!

Extra points for spotting the traditional Pakistani truck! Hahaha! Love it!

Some green and gold beads hanging randomly off the side of the board. I deliberately wanted the rough and random feel so it'd be a beautifully chaotic mess like truck art usually is.