Vintage Tea - Homeschool Blogger

Blogs I Read

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:03:00 -0600

I love reading other people's blogs! It is so much fun to look into their lives, and hear about people you would normally never meet!

So here are some blogs I visit often, and what they're posting about! Enjoy!

~ Miss Eyebright BEARPAW Shoe Giveaway! "I haven't read The Dirty Shirt's blog before, but I was directed to it on Twitter, because this giveaway caught my eye..." Read More Here

~ Alizona NaNoWriMo Day 21 "Just in case any of you thought I'd given up somewhere between Day 6 and Day 21... well, I haven't!" Read More Here

~ Bookworm MN Young Maiden's Day Book - Nov. 29th "Outside My Window: Gray and sprinkling, at 36 degrees. This morning I woke up to a pretty dusting of snow...." Read More Here

~ Marvelousme Tim Hawkins.... "This guy is so funny! He is a comedian that sings funny songs..." Read More Here

~ Miss Maddy thank You... "For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night...." Read More Here

~ Amanda Beth Just Wanted to stop in and say... "Happy Thanksgiving! Leave it to Mickey and Judy to capture my feelings completely. Just perfect... :) " Read More Here

Have a wonderful day! Now I'm off to bake some brownies!!!

A Dresser Makeover!

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:56:00 -0600

It is always fun to get something new, but I would say it is even more fun to find something old and make it new. That's what we did with this old beaten up dresser we found lying forlornly on the side of the road Tuesday.

My mom simply could not pass this one up, although at the moment I wished she would. It is a little embarrassing to be out in front of someone's house picking stuff out of their garbage. :S
But I am so glad she did!

It was in good and sturdy, but in bad shape cosmetic-wise. Someone had painted parts of it green and it was missing some knobs. Despite its ugly exterior, we knew it had great things in store. It had lovely carving on the front, and we really liked the legs.

After sanding it down a bit, my mom and sister painted the entire thing black, and added some silver handles.

Before... After....

The result? A BEAUTIFUL dresser that now graces our diningroom. My are using it more as a buffet than a dresser right now. My mom put her snowman display on it, and it looks so cute! (:

The entire makeover cost us about $10.00 (after buying paint, supplies and handles), which is a great deal!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sewing Capes

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:09:00 -0600

I haven't been on HSB for the past week because... as ashamed as I am to admit it, I've been grounded from the computer. Not fun. But now I'm back! *yay!*

Our Christmas Carol Costume business* has been going wonderfully, and we have had quite a few orders! So we, {Well I say we but I really mean mostly my mom, and a little bit of me} have been busily sewing costumes {A skirt for a young lady, 2 Capes, and a hat} and we have reason to believe that we may be getting orders for another skirt and another cape! So our sewing room has been busy!

But somehow my mom still managed to sew my sister Hannah a cape for CC**, and it turned out so beautifully, that I just had to share! Thankfully, it fits me as well as my sister (we share a lot of our clothes) so I have the joy of wearing (and modeling :o) this cape!

It is made out of wool, so it is super warm for our Dickens Singers*** engagements that take place outdoors, such as caroling at the Zoo or the Downtown Thanksgiving Parade.

It also has a hood which is probably my favorite part. :o)

After it was completed, we decided to try and sell it on etsy.com, so my mom took a bunch of pictures of me modeling it for the listing. You can take a look at the pictures below, and see a link to our etsy shop.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
HistoryInspires.etsy.com

Have A wonderful day!

*Our Business: We make costumes (skirts, dresses and hats... well we redecorate hats) for actresses in A Christmas Carol. We have been doing quite well! I just got done redecorating a hat for a young lady, and I'm going to give it to her tonight. But I'll talk more about that on my next post. :o)

**Christmas Carol

***Dickens Singers: Some people from the Cast who go on different engagements to sing a capella for parties and such. This helps advertise the show. It's really fun, all except for the a capella part. That can get a little scary. WE NEED MUSIC.

Celtic Woman and The Princess Academy

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 07:14:00 -0600

Well, Before I start about the book review, guess what I got to do this week!!!!!! I went and saw Celtic Woman's "Isle of Hope" tour!!!!! It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

The stage was beautiful. They had impressive lighting that changed with the songs. During loud drums, the light would flash very brightly, but it just added to the effect. Lol

They sang all of my favorite "CW" songs, including:
-Orinoco Flow (LOVE this song!)
-The Ceili (Again... LOVE this song!)
-Spanish Lady (Ok, maybe I love all of their songs...)
-Oh, America (A real tear jerker, lol)
-Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears
-The Call

and some solos...

-True Colors (I, personally, wasn't expecting any Cindy Lauper, but I love that song anyway. :o)
-When You Believe (Not really a traditional Celtic Song, But it was beautiful!!)
-You'll Be in My Heart (From Tarzan) (What was with the non-celtic songs? But again, it was beautiful!)

Here's A picture of the tour. (not taken by by me, I followed the "No Photography" rule :o) If you have never seen Celtic Woman, go to their website and find when they are coming to a town near you. You WILL NOT be disappointed! The tickets might seem expensive, but they are WORTH IT!!!!

Alright, Now for a Book Review.

I just finished the book, "The Princess Academy" By Shannon Hale.
Here is a short summary of the story:

"Miri is a fourteen-year-old from Mt. Eskel who has never been allowed to work with the rest of the villagers (young and old, men and women) in the quarry that keeps the community alive. Because of this, she feels like an outcast in the community and feels cut off from the culture that is largely formed by their working life in the quarry. Despite this, she is very close to her father and her sister.

One day, a messenger from the king arrives along with the traders from the lowlands. The messenger announces that the nation's priests have informed the nation that the next princess will come from Mt. Eskell, despite the lack of education provided the villagers and despite the prejudice that exists between the mountain villagers and the lowlanders. To this end, a princess academy is going to be set up near the village to train the young girls the ways of the lowland noblemen and noblewomen. At the end of the year, the prince will visit the academy and choose the girl to be the next princess."
- Summary From Here.
There is more to the summary, but I wouldn't advise reading it... it gives to much away. ;o)

The Good: I felt that this book was very well written. For me, most books have at least a couple chapters that drag on...and on... and on.... but I didn't feel like this book did. I moved along well.

Also, the story line was interesting.

The Bad: There wasn't really anything bad in the book, but there were 2 things that might be a bit offensive to some people. (It wasn't to me, I'm just fore-warning you)

1. There is a bit of slight romance in the book. It is not super prominent (i.e. the entire story is not based around it)

2. There are a few mentions of the *false* gods the Mtn. People believe in. Again, this did not offend me. *Gasp!* No, seriously. I realize there are (and were) people who believe in gods other than the True God. I learn about them all the time in History! Lol

Not to mention, this is not a true story, and they do not talk about it that much. Actually, only at the beginning for a moment.

Final Judgement: Thumbs up. I only give it 4 because I am sure there are other, better books out there, but this is still an interesting (and fun) read.

A Picture Of Fall & A Poll

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:32:00 -0500

My Sisters Playing in the Leaves
Picture By My Mom

I'm Considering re-doing my blog for Winter. What do you think?

Should I re-do my blog for Winter?

{Ribbon Flowers}

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:37:00 -0500

This is just going to be a quick post, but I really wanted to post something!

Yesterday (Wednesday), Some people from Christmas Carol, (including my family) all dressed up to go to the local news station. We were filmed singing songs from the show to help promote it. (I will write a longer post about this later)

So on Tuesday, my mom and I were sewing up a storm, ironing, and getting our costumes ready. There were capes to be sewn, skirts to be made, and hats to be decorated. I am going to expound upon the latter. And, that, my friends, was a really smart-sounding way of saying, "I'm going to talk about decorating hats".

So on Tuesday morning, my mom and sisters went to the fabric store, while I stayed back to make Felt Wee Folk (♥). When they returned, my mom took out some red ribbon, green ribbon, and a little spray of fake white berries. "I want you to make me a flower for my hat" she said. And so I did.
You can see what happened next by looking at the following photos.

I was very pleased with the result!

My mom also made her beautiful plaid skirt in the above picture. She already owned the jacket. The shirt is just a white collared shirt with the collar tucked in so you couldn't see it, and a piece of lacy fabric was tucked in to look like some sort of frilly collar.

The Picture was taken on the sidewalk in front of our house. Aren't the leaves beautiful?

I will probably edit this post later to talk more about this and that, but I have to go do school now, so, until later....

Singing Sisters

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:55:00 -0500

I've been in that "1930's mood" lately, for some reason, so I thought I'd share a video I love! "Heebie Jeebies" by The Boswell Sisters

Sooo... what have you been up to?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:09:00 -0500

Quite, a bit, actually. It's been a rather busy and at times trying past two weeks. Here's a bit about what I've been doing lately.

Well, Christmas Carol practice started on the 11th, so it's been Christmas Carol 6:00-8:00 (sometimes 8:30) every night, Monday through Thursday. Right now we are doing Vocal Rehearsals, but next week it will be blocking. *is super excited*

Blocking is super duper fun! Basically, the director tells us where she would like everyone to be on stage, when we should move, when we should freeze, when we should sing, when we should wave... ect. All the good stuff. I blocked my Charwoman/Laundress/Keeper scene (In case you didn't know, I'm the Laundress) a few days ago

My mom and I decided to base our characters on various characters from books and movies, but one in particular stuck out to me. So my character is a mix between Bellatrix Lestrange from 'Harry Potter', and Nancy from 'Oliver Twist'

Interesting Combination, is it not? :o) I'm supposed to be completely crazy, which is sooooo not like the real me, right? (Don't answer that)

Anyway, so today was costume fitting. It was a lot of fun! I tried to get good pictures, but the lighting was really, really bad there, so they turned out... O...K... but anyway. I shall commentate as I go along.

The place where the theatre stores all of their costumes is a gigantic old warehouse. It is a really lovely place, full of character! Many of the costumes are in boxes. Sadly, last year many of the christmas carol costumes were not returned to the theatre, so they don't have as many as last year.

The Room. It has gigantic windows!

At First, I had a hard time finding a good costume. You would think that it would be really easy since it..
1. Doesn't have to match (I'm one of the poorest characters in the show)
2. Can be ratty and ripped to shreds...

Regardless, I was being a picky customer. But finally, I found something I sorta-kinda actually liked. Behold my costume! (remember, it's SUPPOSED to be dreadful!)

My costume consists of....
A tan-ish shirt
A gray and white striped skirt (You can't really see it in the picture. Just know, It's ugly)
A black shawl
My brown boots
And a hat... not yet sewn

I look kind of dreadful in this picture, but I wasn't feeling a hundred percent..... well, we'll get to that in a minute.

After I finally got my costume together, it was time to have a little fun.

First, I tried on Mr. Scrooge's top hat. (I hope you don't mind, Mr. Scrooge!)

Again, sorry about the dreadful picture.

My little sister Heidi got in on the fun as well, and tried on a very brightly colored hat. This one is not for CC... the theatre stores all of their costumes at this warehouse.

So yes, that was our costuming experience.

So now, as to why I'm feeling crummy... well actually, I'm not the only one around this homestead who's been sick. My little brother has been sick with the swine flu for the past couple of days. He's finally getting over it. I hope I'm not next! My cousins Rayanne, and Ryan and Jimmy have the swine flu as well. I hope we all get better soon!

So, yes. Well, that's all. Have a great day!

Hairstyle Tutorial - Allison's Fancy-Shmancy Curly Updo

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:12:00 -0500

Well, you all saw this coming, did you not? The moment I
announced I would be getting a camera, you knew that my
blog would suddenly become tutorial central. So now, don't
be surprised when I say.. "This is a Hairstyling Tutorial",
because that's what I'm about to say.

"This is a Hairstyling Tutorial"

So there. I hope you enjoy my tutorial attempt!

{Allison's Fancy-Shmancy Curly Updo}
By Yours Truly

This hairstyle was kindly modeled by my dear sister Hannah. Thanks Hannah!

{Step 1} Brush The Hair Well.

{Step 2} Curl your hair in ringlets. If you have naturally curly hair,
you won't really have to worry about this step.

{Step 3} Brush through the ringlets GENTLY with your FINGERS to make loose curls.
Do not use a brush, or you will end up with hair that is not curly enough.

{Step 4} Part the hair to the side

{Step 5} Twist the hair on either side. Secure with bobby pins.

{Step 6} Grab your remaining hair, pull it up and into a french twist,
secure with bobby pins.

This is Hannah when she saw what it looked like so far...
Don't worry Hannah! It'll turn out great!

{Step 7} Final Step! Fluff up your curly bun and mess with it until you like it.
You may need to add some bobby pins to make it look the way you want.
Hairspray well. And Voila'! Here is the completed hairstyle!

Thanks again to Hannah for modeling!

update

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:47:00 -0500

Just a quick update....
YAY!!!! I got my camera today! it's even awesome-er than I expected!! I am sooooo happy! All I need now is a memory card, and my mom is going out to get one in a few minutes. After that? Well, hold on to your hats because my blog is about to become really photo-intensive!!! lol

Later....
Here are some pictures my mom and I took today, just for fun. Enjoy!

My Camera and I

Again, as before

A berry on our Dogwood Tree in the front yard

A Picture of my sweet cat, Charlemagne, taken by my mom.

My other cat, Cupcake, also taken by my mom.

My Piano's Keys...

This is the same berry picture as above, I just adjusted the coloring a bit.

A Pumpkin by Moi