Holi also is widely known as the Festival of Colors is a Hindu festival that marks the arrival of spring. It is a celebration of colors, love and triumph of good versus evil. People in India celebrate this festival by splashing colors on each other, dancing, and enjoying a festive meal. My childhood memories of this festival are celebrating it with my family and friends coated with colors from top to bottom walking like hooligans down the street, throwing water balloons on each other which I would prepare a night before and finally relishing good food. I remember that I used to drop dead tired after celebrating Holi and just want to sleep in for the rest of the day. When I look back and remember this festival I realize how quickly time has passed and now I have a little one of my own to pass on this tradition to. As a new mom, I am always very excited to celebrate my babies first be it her first outdoor stroller walk, the first time we took her to a restaurant to have brunch, her first smile, her first new year celebration, and the list is endless.

This year Holi fell on March 2nd and it was all the more special to us as we had a brand new member in our family to celebrate it with. Since Holi is mostly is a celebration of colors I decided to make homemade DIY colors since the ones available in the market may contain harsh chemicals and do not come out very easily. I wanted to make safe colors that were edible and non-toxic in case my four-month-old decided to accidentally eat it.

What you need

2-4 Food Colors (depending on how many colors you need)

2 teaspoon All Purpose Flour

2-3 teaspoon Water                                                                                                                              

How to make

  1. Stir 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour and 2-3 teaspoon water together
  2. Divide into four or more containers, and add food coloring as desired

We celebrated holi by applying these homemade colors on each other and on our four month old. Even though our little one is at that age where she is just beginning to understand little things it was an enjoyable moment for us to see a smile on her face every time we would apply colors on her face. For memorable keepsake in the future our our first holi celebrations we took our baby's hand and foot prints using these DIY colors in her memory book. Later after celebrating holi, we dressed in traditional Indian clothes and enjoyed homemade festival delicacies at home.

Check out my previous post on Thandai a popular drink in India prepared on the festive occasion of holi.

Wish you all and your family a very happy holi!