Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November. If you plan to paint or personalise your decorations, the useful thing to know is that most crafters start six to eight weeks ahead — which makes mid-September the moment to order your blanks, not late October.
Wooden and MDF cutouts have quietly become the practical alternative to buying new decor every year. They are light, they do not break in storage, and an unfinished blank can be repainted for a completely different look next Diwali. Below are nine ways to use them, from the traditional to the modern.
1. Wooden diya cutouts
Diyas carry the whole symbolism of the festival — light over darkness. Wooden diya cutouts give you that motif without the oil, the soot, or the breakage. Paint them in gold, vermilion and deep orange, then run them along a wall, a door frame, or down the centre of a dining table. Unlike clay, they come out of storage next year exactly as you put them away.
2. Torans and door hangings
A toran at the main door is the first thing a guest sees. Laser-cut bandhanwar and lotus-padma designs take paint well and can be finished with beads, bells or tassels for a traditional feel — or left in raw wood for something more contemporary. Browse the Diwali decoration collection for toran blanks and door hangings.
3. Rangoli bases and stencils
Freehand rangoli is a skill and a time commitment. A wooden rangoli base gives you the symmetry without either — lay it down, fill it with colour, or simply use the layered wooden design as a permanent, mess-free rangoli that lives on a wall or floor all season. Our rangoli stencils and bases range from simple geometric rounds to multi-layer mandala designs.
4. Shubh Labh, Swastik and Om cutouts
These are the pieces that go either side of the main door and in the pooja room, and they are the most-requested Diwali shapes every year. Unfinished Pine MDF takes acrylic paint cleanly, so a set can be finished in gold leaf, matte colour, or mirror-work Lippan style. See the Shubh Labh collection.
5. Personalised nameplates and family signs
A wooden nameplate at the entrance turns generic festive decor into something that belongs to your home specifically. Carve or order the family name, add a "Happy Diwali" line beneath it, and finish it to match your door. Our custom name cutouts cover both painted MDF and ready-to-hang acrylic.
6. Wooden lantern cutouts
Flat-pack wooden lanterns are a sturdier answer to paper akash kandils. Paint them in metallics, drop an LED tealight or a fairy-light string inside, and hang them along a balcony or windowsill. They survive rain better than paper and fold flat for storage.
7. Traditional motif wall art
Peacocks, lotuses, paisleys and elephants arranged as a cluster on a feature wall give you a Diwali installation that can stay up well past the festival. Work in odd numbers, vary the scale, and keep to two or three colours so the group reads as one piece rather than a scatter. The wall decor cutouts range has the motif shapes in several sizes.
8. Candle holders and table pieces
Lotus and mandala-shaped wooden holders sit well on a coffee table, a mantel, or as part of the pooja setup. Pair them with the diya cutouts from the first idea so the table and the walls share a visual language.
9. Coasters and table settings
If you are hosting, painted wooden coasters in star, elephant or paisley shapes finish the table without much effort. They are also the easiest piece to hand to children who want to help with the decorating.
How to finish MDF cutouts well
The difference between a cutout that looks handmade and one that looks unfinished is almost entirely in the preparation.
- Seal first. Raw MDF is absorbent. A coat of white primer or gesso stops the first colour coat from sinking in and going patchy.
- Two thin coats beat one thick one. Acrylics build better in layers and you avoid brush marks at the edges.
- Pick a scheme and hold it. Gold and deep red, or gold and white, will read as more considered than six festive colours at once. Metallics catch diya light, which is the whole point.
- Mind the cut edges. Laser-cut edges are slightly darker than the face. Either paint them deliberately or leave them as a natural outline — both look intentional; a half-painted edge does not.
- Seal at the end too. A matte or gloss varnish protects the paint through storage, which is what lets you reuse the piece next year.
If you are new to buying MDF blanks, our guide to MDF cutouts covers thickness, quality and what to look for.
Decorating for Navratri, Karwa Chauth and Christmas too? See our guide to festival decoration cutouts for every Indian festival.
Ordering in time for Diwali
Orders dispatch from our Noida facility within 12–36 hours, with delivery across India in three to six business days. Festive-season courier volumes climb sharply through October, so we suggest ordering at least ten days before the festival — and considerably earlier if you intend to paint, since primer and two colour coats need drying time between them.
Schools, event decorators and gifting businesses can email care@haoser.com for bulk pricing.
Ready to start? Browse the full Diwali decoration collection or the wider MDF cutouts range.
