Old West Photo Shoot

Our dear friend Lacie from A Blessed Life,  has uploaded some of the pictures she took when we went over for the Old West photo shoot :) Below is a link (click the picture) where you can view them! When she is able to send us the rest, I'll post some of them on here. Enjoy!

**ALL PICTURES ARE PROPERTY OF LACIE VERRET PHOTOGRAPHY**

*edited to fix image link on 10-14-10

A Hairstyle...

Sometime last year I was playing around w/ my hair doing some hairstyles. We had been looking on YouTube and this one lady had several videos one some hairstyles. This one I did, I just used some of her ideas to create my own! I think it turned out well for my first time doing this hairstyle!

Side view

These pics were taken w/ my phone, so they aren't the best quality...

Side/back view

Top! 

I will try to remember to take pics on how to do this hairstyle. It's fairly simple & very versatile.

How to do it:

Brush your hair, & put it up in 3 ponytails. One on top, one directly below, & then one at the nape of your neck. You will be leaving the top 2 hair bands in. The bottom is just to hold the hair so it doesn't get in the way.

Take the top ponytail. I twisted it just as if you were going to do a normal bun. Twist slightly off center on  one side of your head into a small bun. Pin in place where needed.

Take the second ponytail. Split in half as if you were going to braid, but only 2 sections.

(You could braid if you want, but I didn't) This section, I did a chain knot.

( http://www.youtube.com/user/torrinpaige#p/u/54/1vW03394oqE is the video that has the chain knot. She does it at the 5 min. mark in the video titled: "Super Fancy Up-Do part 1)

The chain knot, you wrap around the twist bun that you made, but on the opposite side of your head... 

(Does that make sense?) Pin in place where needed.

Finally, the third ponytail. Take the hair band off, & brush this section. Brush the section upwards to cover the second hair band. Wrap around the 2 buns you made wrapping in the direction of the twist bun.

(Mine was on the right.) Don't wrap so tight that it looks like it's pulled. Just loose enough so the hair is evenly placed. Twist it as you get to the top so it will blend, & will be easier to pin in place.

And for a little embellishment in the empty space, I just used a quilt pin (w/ a whit top, but any color will do) & some 1/8" (or any other size) wide satin ribbon. I'm not sure how long i made it, but it was pretty long. 

Tie a knot at one end of the ribbon. Stick the pin through the knot, & just loop the ribbon & sticking the pin in the ribbon to form flower petals! Any sized loop works. I did both large & small loops.

I used (extra hold) hairspray as an added security so the wrapped hair wouldn't fall, but you don't have to use hairspray. This hairstyle works great for special occasions, church, or for re-enactments for the Victorian or Edwardian eras!!

Lots to catch up on - Super long post, my friends... And Lots of pics!

Hello all followers of "Daddy's Maiden"! Thank you all for being patient for me to write a new blog post. It's been quite a while!

Life here in the Lemay household has been busy.
Our new kitty, (who has been here for about 3 months now)Has received a lovely new name! Instead of Tinkerbell, we named her Trinity! (For her lovely 3 colors!)  She is sooo pretty! She's like THE BEST cat ever! She likes to sleep on my bed at night, and before bed, (most every night) she will go bonkers! She just runs crazy across the back of our couch, & from room to room. Sometimes she even chases the girls or me! lol! (She likes to "hug" by wrapping her paws around your leg as you walk by! lol!)
She also loves to be held! When I pick her up, (oranyone else) she'll wrap her paws around whoever's neck & purrs! So sweet! Here is a picture of her under our Christmas tree:

And w/ me!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving! We invited 2 families from church over, & we stayed up until midnight chatting and laughing around a bonfire in our side pasture. it was lots of fun! It was also my first year to do the turkey! (by myself! lol!) We did it in a countertop roaster. (a nice BIG one!) It turned out great! Tender, juicy, & flavorful! All we did to season it was rub shortening, Thyme, & a little bit of sage on the bird. We roasted it at 350* for about 6 or so hours. It was a 22 pound turkey! I wish I took a pic of it! lol! ;)

We did not go to the Dickens on the Strand... it was pretty cold that day, and Aaron wasn't feeling all that well to go. My costume also wasn't finished. But I worked on it the rest of the week.

I was told my Christmas present early the week before. My dad was going to take me to the Houston Ballet performance of  The Nutcracker! It was ASTOUNDING! I have never been to a live performance of a ballet in my life, and the Houston Ballet sure made my first experience memorable, & making me want to go back time & time again! I wore my Victorian outfit to the ballet that night. I was working on the jacket until a few hours before I had to get ready to go. Talk about cutting it close! ;-)

I did find a hat to make my creation! (sadly I didn't think of taking any before pictures...) but it was an ugly yellow straw hat from the dollar store. We shaped the crown so it wasn't so "farmer" like & then Aaron spray painted it black. After that dried, my mom helped me to decorate it w/ left over lace from my Victorian jacket, & some cranberry red ribbon. I bought some little red flowers (fake) from Wal*Mart, & we had some fake ivy laying around, & we added that to the front of the hat. We also turned up the back & the left side of the hat brim to make it more stylish, & period correct.
It looks really pretty!

The jacket was the hardest to make... I have never sewn a jacket of any sort before, so this was a challenge. And anyone who has made it from the Butterick pattern 4954 knows what I'm talking about w/ the pleats. I ended up altering the pleats some since I couldn't understand the vague directions given...(I also shortened it a little too late in the sewing process, so that didn't help any!) I just did it how it worked, & seemed logical.
But all in all it turned out well for my first jacket!

The skirt I altered some. Instead of making it gathered all around, I made it a gored skirt. (pleated in just the back.) I like the look of it better for the fabric I used. The hem is just a short 1/2" hem since when I wore my boots (purchased on amazon) the skirt didn't really need to be shortened.
Here are some pics:

If you go a few posts back, you can see what my boots look like! :-)

Earlier this week we had our grandparents out for an early Christmas together. I enjoyed having them come down to visit! (Especially since they came down in June for my graduation!) Trinity tolerated their little pooch, Muffy. (She likes to bark & chase cats so Trinity spent most of the time on my bed, or in the kitchen area where the dog couldn't see her for the most part. ) Trinity is glad that Muffy is gone so she can have full reign of the house again and go bonkers at night! lol! 


For Christmas this year, we plan to have a nice quiet time at home as a family. (Unless we're invited to someone's house or have someone over. We'll see! As far as I know it's just us at home, which I'm fine w/! I enjoy that!)


We'll, that's about it! Hope I didn't bore you all! 
Have a very blessed & merry Christmas!
In HIS ever loving & caring arms,
Megan

My Shoes are Made for Walking!

I'm am soo happy with the shoes I bought off of Amazon! They arrived today!
I will be wearing them to the Dickens on the Strand, & occasionally to church, too!
Below are a couple pics of my boots! (please ignore the denim jeans!)

These shoes are actually quite comfortable! A little hot, but that's to be expected w/ tall boots. I reccomend these shoes to anyone who is looking for a pair for a re-enactment of some sort!