Wont You be my Valentine?

How I always look forward to Valentine's Day, Friend! There's just something so fun and special about making a valentine for a friend or loved one. Memories of elementary school parties and boxes filled to the brim with notes and brightly colored paper (and of course...candy!) fill my head as I sit down to write this. Valentine's Day is one of my most favorite holidays because it's a day anyone can be a little crafty, whether they have amazing skills or not! The gift of a personal valentine, made with lots of time and care, is simply a lovely present, wouldn't you agree?

This last week I decided to make a whole stack of valentines! Crepe paper, embelishments, stickers, and glitter were spread all over the table - it may have been hard to see me as I was so burried in crafting supplies, haha! Oh, but what a fun time I had! It's been a long while since I sat down and crafted for hours. Here's a little rundown of what I did if you would like to replicate the valentines I made:

There really is nothing to it! I cut out a heart template from some scrap paper and traced it onto scrapbooking paper and cut them out. Then I scrunched up crepe paper ribbons and slowly made my way around the hearts, taping the crepe paper down as I went. After the crepe paper ruffles are all done, I tape another heart to the back so the valentine is pretty from both sides. Then, you simply have to decorate it in whatever way you wish!

But it wasn't just me who has been busy with Valentine's Day preperations. The dolls over in Melissa's doll house have been busy bees as well! I may have given them some tips for their valentine making, but they learned very quickly and had a whole party making valentines for their friends.

Their table may have been even messier than mine! Well, maybe...

I sent out a whole stack of my valentines to my penpals and friends far away. It was rather humorous when I went to the post office with them - I had written 'DO NOT BEND' on all the pretty packages and what does the post office clerk do? He takes the first one and bends it completely in half! I think my husband and I must have looked at him with a little shock because he asked "Are these really not supposed to be bent? Or do you just not want them to be creased?" Oh well, so much for that, haha!

After hearing of my plight at the post office, the dolls decided to give theirs to their friends personally, rather than risk more rude post office clerks. It turned into a sort of game, as they had a lovely time hiding the valentines all over the house for sisters and friends to find. Some were even given special treatment and personally delivered, along with a 'how-do-you-do' and a jar of strawberry preserves from last summer.

Since I made so many valentines, I have one special one leftover! I would love to send it to one of you, Dear Friends. If you would like to join a little giveaway for a valentine from me to you, simply leave a comment down below telling me your favorite part of Valentine's Day. I'll randomly pick a winner this coming Friday! Make sure you don't comment anonymously, for I wont be able to contact you.

I pray your Valentine's Day is full of family, friends, and all those you love and cherish. And may your February be filled with joy! Have a happy Valentine's Day Dear Friend!

"We love because he first loved us."

1 John 4:19

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The Prettiest Thing

Hello dear friends! I hope upon reading this you are well. This spring I had a lot of fun with a project, and the lovely sunny weather we've been having was the perfect time to wear it. But let me start back at the beginning, which goes all the way back to the Christmas of 2017.

Melissa, my fabulous mother-in-law, devoted many late nights to sew Abigail and I both dresses out of a dream, a Victorian dream that is! 

This dress is the prettiest thing I have ever owned, and I think you'll agree once you see it! Though we did receive our dresses on Christmas, they weren't quite finished yet (there are many, many hook & eyes along the back, which took a long time to sew I'm sure!), and life got in the way and they weren't finished till October of 2018. By this time it was too rainy and gray to wear something so lovely outside, so I had the whole of the winter to daydream about wearing my pretty Victorian dress. After a while of dreaming I decided to put my hands to work and create some accessories!

First came the idea for a hat - a big, beautiful Victorian hat straight out of a BBC show! I looked around Pinterest for a tutorial on how to make one, but I didn't find anything that matched exactly what I was going for, so I made it up as I went along (of course the second and third hats turned out better...yes, I've made three! But I'm getting ahead of myself.). 

I used a straw hat as a base, hot glued fabric with pleats around the crown of the head and then wrapped the fabric underneath the brim and hot glued it to the inside of the crown, pleating it again (so both the top part and the underside are covered). I then covered the top of the hat with some stuffing to give it the illusion of a larger top, and then stretched fabric over this and hot glued it down - covering any hot glue with a nice ribbon and flowers. 

The next project I tackled was a matching purse to go with my new hat. I found a free pattern on Pinterest for a Regency era reticule (which is a fancy purse, often heavily beaded or decorated). Even though it wouldn't be historically accurate, I thought it would look very nice with the dress, so I first made a very simple version and then got creative with decorating later. Alright, I know I've kept you waiting long enough. Let me show you the lovely Victorian dress and the hat and reticule I made to go with it:

 Quinn took these photos of me in January, right after I made the hat and purse. The snow was frozen from several clear nights, and I thought it made the perfect backdrop for my cream-colored dress and the bright pink peonies on my hat.

My childhood dream of having a hat like Marry Poppins has come true! 

Please do excuse the haphazard nature of the tulle - I still haven't perfected putting it over the hat myself with the aid of a mirror. I bought the flowers (the tiny lily of the valley are my favorite) while visiting my parents in Seattle at a Marshall's (pretty sure I could live in that store, ha!). After covering the hat in fabric I would lay out the leaves and flowers to try to plan out how I would have them, but they would always change a little as I set to hot glueing everything in place.

This was the first reticule I made, so it's very plain compared to the ones I made later. I used a cream silk similar to what my dress was made of for the body and lining, and as an accent I covered the outer fabric with a layer of the same shiny salmon tulle I use to wrap around the hat. I added a tassel and two tiny flowers to the bottom, and the ties are cream velvet ribbon. 

Moving on to the winter of 2018 - my mom and dad gifted me a lovely pair of lavender gloves for Christmas, and I was inspired again to make a new hat and purse to match. I went and got more flowers from Marshal's, and with my new knowledge from making my first set I made another hat and purse!

For this purse I decided to sew flowers and beads onto the outside of the bag, and I am so happy I did, as I am quite pleased with the result. Allow me to show you the purple and blue version of my outfit (and please do tell me below in the comments which set you like more!):

I use a wide silk ribbon as a belt for now, but someday I hope to sew a belt like the salmon colored one Melissa sewed for me  (those little bows on it are just divine!). I love the lavender colored gloves - and I'm so happy I can wear them with this dress. 

I have since bought a beautiful purple colored cameo brooch to wear with this ensemble - I hope to wear it soon! The blue hydrangea is one of my top three favorite flowers, and doesn't it look lovely with the purple and the tiny lily of the valley?

And here is a closeup of the second reticule I made! I think the flowers and beads really made it stand out - I love the icy blue hue!

I was so happy with the way these projects turned out, that I simply couldn't stop there! Early this spring Abigail and the family were gone, missing Easter Sunday. As a surprise, I decided to make them all some Easter baskets to come home to. But a basket is boring! (I say this in jest of course, I have a love for baskets and my collection is getting quite large, ha!) So instead I decided to make each person a hat to put their surprises in. 

Please forgive the not-so-nice photo, it was taken with my phone!

The rain hat on the top left is of course for my father-in-law Paul, who is always out in the elements (Quinn picked it out, and I taped the flowers and ribbon on it just to be silly). 

The large sun hat with the black ribbon says "her royal highness", which I made with Laura in mind. She always asks us to call her this whenever we play games that involve picking a name for yourself. The lettering is strings of black or gold sequin trim (bought in big spools off of Amazon) and is glued onto the hat. I made a whole set of these two years ago for all my sisters and my mom for a family vacation - they were a big hit! 

In the top right we have a bonnet-style sun hat that I decorated for Melissa. I added the light blue ribbon and hot glued the yellow flowers on it, thinking it could be the perfect gardening hat for her.

And finally the hat for Abigail: a large flowery hat that looks as if it came right off of a BBC period film shoot! I am happy to report that she loved it very much, as well as the matching purse I made her (which is wrapped in one of those boxes on the table). 

Now imagine our delight at the sunny weather we have been blessed with! Abby and I simply couldn't wait to go out together wearing out finest, and the time finally came on a warm Saturday afternoon. We drove out to the Jensen-Olsen Arboretum (which you may remember from this post so long ago!) with a tea party packed away in my picnic basket and with Melissa tagging along. Oh Dear Reader, I couldn't help but think I was dreaming - Abigail looked like she belonged in a movie! 

We sat on an old quilt in the grass, and watched the butterflies go by (for there were so may of them among the flower beds). I had brought along a book of poems by Emily Dickinson, so we took turns reading aloud while we sipped our tea. I think it must have been the most perfect way to spend an afternoon.

The Arboretum closed far too soon for our taste (I think we would have all liked to stay hours more), so before we left we snapped a few pictures of each other before promising ourselves we would come back again very soon. 

I simply can't wait to put the dress on again - next time I will wear the purple and blue set! I have also been dreaming about making a hat and purse set with reds and greens, and some big poinsettias - but I don't know what sort of Christmas gathering I could possibly wear it to (can someone please invite me to a Victorian Christmas party?). 

I do hope you enjoyed this look at the prettiest thing I have in my wardrobe. I plan on wearing this ensemble a lot this summer, weather permitting. Until next time, Dear Friend!

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A Doll Post Office

Quite awhile ago I showed you photos, Dear Reader, of a doll Post Office Quinn and I had made for my mother-in-law Melissa as a Valentine's Day present. I had planned to share with you all the particulars of making said Post Office but we were busy and I never got around to it. Until today that is!

Melissa has been enchanted by dolls since she was very young: She was gifted her first Madame Alexander doll as a Christmas present from the local drug store when her presents had not arrived in time by the post. Since then she has been collecting and putting together her own delightful doll house which now resides in a big wardrobe upstairs in her room.

She introduced me to Tasha Tudor and her amazing world of miniature shortly after we first met, and we have been fawning over her dolls ever since!

Tasha made what she called "Sparrow Post" with her young children, where they would send minuscule letters back and forth with the dolls that lived with them. In one of her books, "A Time To Keep" you can see a painting of what one such post office looked like:

The Tasha Tudor website has a tutorial for making a mini post box, but I wanted to make mom something on a bit of a grander scale, and something more similar to another Post Office pictured in a different book of Tasha's:

(Image taken from Tasha's website)

This Post Office was large enough to fit the dolls, which is exactly what I hoped to accomplish! With Quinn helping, we set about to make a pattern and a list of materials. I kidnapped one of the dolls from mom's wardrobe (for size reference) and started work!

I had scoured over Pinterest looking for easy and inexpensive ideas for the Post Office, and had come up with quite a few. I wanted the building to be light and easy to carry, but strong enough to stand the test of time and playing. We chose thick cardboard for the walls and floor and doubled it up with hot glue. I would wallpaper the inside with high-quality wrapping paper with a wainscoting of balsa wood painted white. The floor I was most proud of: large popsicle sticks with the rounded ends cut off stained to look like floor boards. They turned out perfectly!

I wanted the windows to look pretty so I drafted some designs and then went crazy and wanted to have one wall sort of stick out  like a gazebo style window. This was hard to figure out but I love how it turned out in the end! And doesn't the floor look marvelous?!

I made a tall cabinet for the back wall for the dolls to sort mail. I made this out of cardboard and masking tape and then covered it with spackle and paint to give it more wood-like texture. Quinn made the front desk for the Post Office out of extra balsa wood and a little bit of cardboard. Greta of course, was always a big help... 

The project took longer than we thought, and our hope of giving it as a Valentine's Day present turned to hoping to give it as an early Mother's Day present (which we did). 

Wallpapering the walls was rather difficult because the paper was so finicky, but patience prevailed! The last things to do were to spackle the outside of the cardboard walls, paint them, and then install some stonework along the bottom, thanks to Quinn! He likes to make miniature terrain for games he plays with his friends, so he was already an expert at carving rock walls out of foam, lucky me!

Decorating the Post Office was of course the most fun. I made lots of tiny packages and parcels, and found a template online for printing off tiny envelopes! This Post Office would need some mail after all...

By the time we gave mom her belated-Valentine's present, I think the cat had gotten out of the bag about what it was, but I think she was still thrilled. All in all it took us several weeks to finish, but we were by no means working on it every evening so I certainly think we could have made it sooner if we had been less busy. But tell me Dear Reader, what do you think of how it turned out?

To make the front edges look cleaner, I hot-glued some lace to the cardboard (as you could see the edges of the wood paneling and the floor boards and they weren't the prettiest). And let me show you a photo of the lovely rock wall Quinn carved!

He painted it and everything - didn't he do a marvelous job? The trellis idea I got off of Pinterest, and there's also a larger one on the opposite wall:

I think the dolls really love their new Post Office. It must be so nice for them to be able to send packages and presents to all their friends far away, wouldn't you agree?

The Post Master for Tasha's Office was named Augustus Sparrow, a very robust name indeed. In Juneau, ravens are more abundant than sparrows so Melissa has a Postmistress named Miss Minerva Raven. She does a very good job of helping customers and no letter is lost under her watchful eye. 

A large number of pretty stamps, as well as envelopes and greetings cards are available for purchase at the Post Office.  Mail delivery isn't yet available (Miss Raven is currently looking for a quick young robin to take the job, but as of yet none have applied), but the walk is quite short from the doll wardrobe to the Post Office. 

Quinn and I had a grand time making this present for mom, and I hope you are inspired to create something on a smaller scale as well today! I don't yet have a large doll collection of my own, as Melissa does, but I am lucky in the fact that she lets me play with hers whenever I like! 

May you have a wonderful day!

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