Ramadan decorations are quite rarely seen. Muslims welcome the holy month of Ramadan with simple and minimal decoration as the holy month does not stand as a celebration but as a time for religious and spiritual reflection.
With the exception of countries such as Egypt, Indonesia and Turkey, the majority of Muslim world do not decorate their homes for Ramadan. Although we often see ornaments such as lanterns, crescents and stars during Ramadan in public places such as shopping malls, we rarely see these decorations at home.
However, Ramadan home decorations are slowly becoming a trend across the world. Social media is filled with pictures of how people are decorating their dining tables with lanterns, lights and oriental dining clothes. Others are dedicating living rooms especially for prayer, creating their own little mosques at home, laid out with prayer mats, lanterns and more.
If you don’t already have lanterns, twinkle lights and other Ramadan ornaments at home, here are a few DYI ideas of how you can make some at home:
Ramadan banner
Get into the spirit of the holy month and decorate your walls with a joyful Ramadan banner. All you need is paper, paint, glue and a string. If you’re writing ‘Ramadan Mubarak/Kareem’ in English, write down each letter individually into a paper, cut each one out, decorate as you please and put it together with a string like a banner to hang up on the wall. If you’re writing ‘Ramadan Mubarak/Kareem’ in Arabic, separate the two words, get artistic with the calligraphy and put the two together with a string like a banner to hang up on the wall. Look online for inspiration!
You can use the banners to adorn your front door too. During the last days of the holy month, you can change out your Ramadan banner decorations for Eid decorations as the anticipation the holiday begins.
Paper mosques, lanterns, crescents and stars
Sure to bring the family together for some family fun is to make cutout lanterns, crescents and stars at home on either paper or cardboard. Look online for designs especially for mosques and lanterns. You might even come across some printable ones. Decorate them with glitter, gems or even confetti. You can colour them with paint, markers or crayons. Once you’re done, hang them up on the walls of your home whether where you have Iftar or where you pray. You can even hang some up on the front door.
If you’re very creative and artistic, make some 3D lanterns, crescents and stars where you can either hang or leave standing. Fill them with nuts, chocolates, small gifts and more!
DYI Ramadan Calendar
This is a fun one for the kids. Create a calendar with boxes of things one should do during Ramadan such as salah (pray), zakat (obligatory charity), sadaqah (voluntary charity), reading Quran, istighfar (act of seeking forgiveness from Allah), tahajud (voluntary prayer night prayer), taraweeh (optional night prayer throughout Ramadan), Qiyam Al Layl (optional night prayer performed on the last 10 days of Ramadan) and much more.
You can make the calendar on a piece paper, cardboard or white board. Draw a tick, star or even a crescent whenever a task or activity has been performed. You can even get more creative and make the a calendar with pocket for each task or activity so when one has been performed, you can drop a paper star, lantern, crescent or even a real date into the pocket.
There’s even the Ramadan Good Deed Calendar, which parents create to encourage their child or children to do a good deed everyday during the holy month of Ramadan. Create a calendar where each day, your child or children can see the good they can do for the day. Simple deeds such as ‘Thank Allah for something today’, ‘Donate a toy, ‘Donate a clothing’, ‘Make a dish for your neighbours’, ‘Help mum in the kitchen’, ‘Read the Quran’, and much more can be added to the calendar. It can be as simple as a box-style calendar or as creative as an envelop-styled or lantern-styled calendar.
Setting the Iftar Table
The most important place to decorate is the dinning table and room for iftar. The dinning room is ideal for placing your DYI Ramadan banner and lanterns. If you have twinkle lights at home, place them at the edge of table or on the wall along with the Ramadan banner. If you have candles, light them up either in the lanterns or around. Just be careful not to start a fire with the paper lanterns. Before you set the table, place the oriental mat to add more of the Ramadan essence. You even place the dates and other dried fruits in shape of the crescent. Get creative! Make sure to place prayer mats wherever necessary to remind yourself and others to pray and read the Quran. It also adds to the ambiance. The good news is you have 30 days of trying different and new things everyday for the holy month of Ramadan. You can even try dining on the floor like they used to back in the old days.
But also try to extend the decorations to the hallway, stairway, living room and even the front door.
Bring out anything that’s oriental or Arabic!
Countdown to Eid
Create a countdown calendar for Eid. Use the same creative ways you’ve created the Ramadan calendars to make one to countdown the days for Eid. Click here for some creative ideas! You can also find some printable ones online.
All of these decorations can stay for Eid. You can recreate the ones where it says ‘Ramadan’ to say ‘Eid’, adding more fun activities to the last days of Ramadan. You can always use them again next year!
Here are a few YouTube videos to help you with your Ramadan DYI decorations:
Author: Ola Diab
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