Here's how we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi before Ganesh Chaturthi!

This is the third year of making the Ganesha idol at home and the learning curve is working here too. Details in this one are an improvement over the previous years.
We enjoy the whole process of making the idol.
Starting from looking for where to get the clay from (till last year, we were reusing the clay of the previous year and we started the year after we got a clay idol from the market, so haven't had to buy clay till now) to referencing for images to decide how the form should be. An online tutorial was of great help this year!
Adding details to enhance (added the pagdi this year since it helped getting the proportion right) and painting the idol.
The last two years, the idol was not painted - reason? Unaware of technicalities like drying time, our idol never really had time to dry completely, which is a pre-requisite to painting.
So, this year when painting seemed to be possible it was an adventure by itself. In order to make it as natural, we've used haldi, kumkum and abir. Each have been mixed with water and gum to make them workable and hold better. Finally the shawl, was another way to add a dimension and correct a flaw.
There is another idol too this year, but you will have to wait for a bit for the pictures!
Like Sona said, the Ganesh Chaturthi days for us are just a culmination. We've already celebrated our festival in the run up to it!
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!