Sunflower and Leaf Hair Accessory!

I love Sunflowers and so I was thrilled to make this Sunflower and Leaf Hair Accessory! It took about 5-10 minutes and was easy! I love the way it looks in my dark hair!

First I cut a little piece of a fake leaf to hot glue onto the metal Barrette as it made attaching the flower easier. Any fabric or piece of a leaf cut tiny and hot glued on will work, as long as the color blends in or stands out as you like.

Now cut the Sunflower down as low as you can in the stem until it is a little stubby. If you care to as I did take a leaf and hot glue it to the back of the Sunflower. The first one I did I did two leafs from a Daisy Flower cluster and it was fine when worn but then I decided to try it just the other day with three leafs from the actual Sunflower bundle and it looked even better. So any leafs used would work or you can use the ones that come with the Sunflowers. Then take the back of the leaf and hot glue it to the piece of fabric on the Barrette. Let it cool and Walla it is finished!

Of course if you care to you can attach the Sunflower and Leaf to a headband or any other type of hair accessory you care to. Or it can be put on a jacket or articles of clothes at will. Just play around with it and have fun!

Bear in mind as well that the metal Barrette's don't hold a lot of hair. So in the one with the pony tail I took a pony tail holder that is of a color that blends into my hair and made a pony tail and then clipped the Sunflower and Leaf Barrette just above the pony tail as if the Barrette is holding the hair. Also in the pictures where my hair is down I used a small hair clippie that blends in with my color hair to hold the hair and then I simply clipped the Barrette above or below the small hair clippie and so it looks as if the Sunflower and Leaf Barrette are holding the hair up. These methods hold the hair better since the metal barrette's I use don't hold a lot of hair and definitely don't hold thick hair like mine.

• Sunflowers- $3.00 for a bundle at Wal Mart, the Leaf used on the back was taken from the bundle, so two in one for this, score!

• Metal Barrette’s- a few dollars for a package of ten metal Barrettes at Wal Mart

Headband Twist - Meadow Twist - Medieval Inspired Hairstyle

A few weeks ago I was at my religious meeting and there is a little girl of about 5 or 6 years old and her mom had done a cute little hairstyle for the little girl. The hair was put up in a twist in the back and the headband left over the top of her forehead, it kind of looked like a roaring 20’s look.

So when I got home I was thinking of using a similar look for one of my medieval novel characters so I decided to look it up on the internet to see how it is created. It looked super easy but I wanted to make sure. I found this web site, and it shows how to create it, it really was super easy. So I thought maybe if I try it on myself then I can best describe it in my novel. So I did it and the pictures of mine are below. I used that particular headband as a trial headband instead of one to blend in as it was shown in the Meadow Twist Hair Tutorial instructions on the web.
 

If you care to see how I made that Daisy and Narcissus Flowers Burlap Headband go to this link: http://tabularasacoker.blogspot.com/2015/05/daisy-and-narcissus-flower-headband.html

 

Here is the site where the Meadow Twist Hair Tutorial is:  http://blog.freepeople.com/2012/10/hair-tutorial-meadow-twist/

The first back shot is when my hair was completely dry and was a bit difficult. The next back shot is when my hair was freshly washed and a tad damp, I towel dried to a degree and then I began to do the twist. It was easier with it being a tad damp as I got a tighter twist and it stayed up way better and longer.

With the side view if you care to have less headband showing then just start the twist higher up the headband then I did. Again my hair was dry in that picture and so the twist was a bit more difficult for me, I will definitely be doing that hairstyle with my hair slightly damp from now on. And oh boy will I be doing that cute, easy, stylish, hairstyle again!

Now the back view with the purple and yellow peony fake flowers and the ones with the purple and yellow peony flowers and purple butterflies and the ones with pink / purple honeysuckle flowers and purple butterflies was to see how it would look and I loved it! On the web tutorial version it was shown with real flowers which was cute but I have so many fake flowers it just was easier using fake ones and cheaper and lasts longer.

 

I have an event coming up in the end of March where I will be wearing a purple and white flower dress and I think I will do this twist and place the purple and yellow peony flowers and purple butterflies in the back of my hair around the twist as seen in the below pictures.

Now I bought some multi-colored and some black headbands to blend in or stick out as I wished but they made my head feel like it was in a vice grip, pictures of those headbands on are below, but thank goodness the headbands only cost $1 for a package of six, I got them at Dollar Tree. I was smiling through the pain, lol, looks good though! I will use them for other things, maybe for when I make ribbon headbands. And I already tried but the ribbon headbands are two flimsy for me to get a nice tight twist that will hold.

So I tried playing around to make a much more comfortable headband but I failed a few times and am still trying to find a way to wear this hairstyle with headbands that will blend in and not hurt but I have yet to find a way but I will edit and explain when I do find a way. Also the headbands that are tighter seem to roll back on my head as well so I would have to keep it on my forehead which hurt as well.

So I have a dress that has a thin braided rope belt and so I tried that in my hair and it gave a Native American vibe to it but I can’t wear that with my dress in a month as the dress doesn’t have brown in it. I will just keep looking for a softer alternative to the headband. I have about a month to find an alternative.

• Headbands- $1 for each of the packages containing six headbands, bought at Dollar Tree. Hopefully if anyone uses them that they have a better time with it then I did.

• Purple and Yellow Peony Fake Flowers- $0.97 at Wal Mart. I bought them a while ago but I think they are only $0.97.

• Pink / Purple Honeysuckle Fake Flowers and Purple Fake Butterflies- $0.97 at Wal Mart. They had the Honeysuckle Flowers with two Purple Butterflies on a stem of the flowers which I thought was a great score.

 < Honeysuckle Flowers and Purple Butterflies

 < Purple and Yellow Peony Flowers, the Purple Butterflies are in the images below

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit February 23, 2016: 

 

Meadow Twist Head Band Update. I found the solution a week ago but have been so busy it has taken a while to finally update everyone on my progress with this hairstyle. So I was at Dollar Tree and I was looking at ribbons and burlap and I came across lace ribbon and I thought maybe I could make a headband that was comfortable, had good grip and would hold a tight twist in the back. So I bought the ribbon and reasoned if it didn’t work I have other uses for the lace ribbon and it was only $1.


See as I had said in the above portion of this post that I couldn't use ribbon as it was too flimsy, slick and wouldn't hold a tight twist. Well the lace ribbon though still ribbon is of lace and the material looks and feels different. It can hold better as it isn't slick like regular ribbon and is firmer as well than regular ribbon.

 

 

So I bought the ribbon and went home and played around with it as to getting the right length. It is trial and error with me. It took a few times to get the right fit. When I had it cut to the right size I took a cut piece of one of the head squeezing headbands I had previously bought at Dollar Tree and hot glued a tiny fragment to the end pieces of the lace ribbon so that it would have still a bit of maneuverability and stretch to it. It took cutting and hot gluing three times to get the right hold and fit but in the end it looks perfect and holds the Head Band Twist / Meadow Twist perfectly!

 

 

Now I used one of the black headband pieces for the end of my Lace Ribbon Head Band as I have dark hair and it didn’t matter and plus I had already been cutting that one up so I didn’t go cut any others up. But if you have lighter hair or want it to blend in more with white or neutral lace ribbon then you could use a white or tan headband piece cut up. The color of the white headband I wear in one of the pictures in the above pictures could have been cut up and used to blend in more with the lace ribbon if you have lighter hair or just want it to blend in.

 

 

Below will be the pictures of the Lace Ribbon Head Band! Also note my hair was wetter than I normally have it for the headband twist so that is why it looks so slick in the pictures. I showed the back view to show how it looks with the Lace Ribbon Head Band and I showed the one with flowers to show that it keeps firm and holds the flowers just as good as the head squeezing headbands do but this Head Band is way more comfortable.

 

 

 

• Lace Ribbon- $1 at Dollar Tree

 

• Headbands- $1 at Dollar Tree for a Package of 6 Headbands, these headbands or even pony tail holders are what I often use at the ends of my homemade headbands as they give good maneuverability and stretch

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musings of a Lonely Writer! ----- Appearance vs. Personality!

So on this Musings of a Lonely Writer post I am going to discuss the feeling behind a characters physical appearance vs. their personality. I am going to discuss whether a reader wants a beautiful character or a much more normal character or if it even matters. Could perhaps the personality matter more. Or is it a combination of both.

Okay so when I read a novel I read about so many types of characters but I always get the impression that the character is always perfectly perfect in some aspect, either he or she is handsome or beautiful in some way or they are gifted a perfect personality. In real life that is not always the case. But as I’ve said before the rules and aspects of real life and that of the worlds of books aren’t necessarily the same and don’t have to be.

In my writing I have discovered lately that my characters are these ethereal beautiful characters and sometimes that starts to bother me as I want to have a real character who struggles with not only physical but personality limitations. I mean I love characters that are so different then me and are everything I am not but I also want characters that are similar to real people, myself included.

****

So I have started writing a story called, “Death of the Heart Song” and my main character has an undesirable first name, Misery, and her physical traits and personality traits are lacking any sort of beauty or desirableness. She is often rude and crude and says what is on her mind and she doesn’t care who you are when she speaks her mind. She lives in a Kingdom that has beautiful musically inclined people and she has no musical abilities and is classified as ugly in her Kingdom. So later she butts heads with the Prince and becomes quite a distraction to him and she has no clue why.

Their relationship as trainer and teacher and as friends and would be lovers (they are about the same age, he has just turned 16 years old and she is about to turn 18 years old) is a fun one to explore and write about but their relationship is not the main part of the story. The Heart Song element is the main part but I won’t get into that long story. The reason I write this at all is to show I have now made a character that is classified as unattractive and I wonder how she would be perceived by a reader. Would her physical lack of beauty or her personality make a reader love or hate her more or would it be a combination of both or would neither matter all that much.

Also I want to point out I didn’t make her unattractive just for the sake of saying to myself or others that I now have an ugly character. She was undesirable and had flaws as she presented herself to me in a dream and I found it fresh and exciting to see a character that is different then most characters I have written about or read about before.

****

I wonder if young and old readers alike care more about the physical appearance of a character or the personality or does it matter at all. But I guess it probably varies by each person and by each story and how the author wants to present the said character and how the reader perceives said character.

Also do you think that authors present too perfectly perfect characters or just the right amount of perfect and flawed? I asked my mom and she said she doesn’t think that there are too many perfectly perfect characters. She also said that sometimes attractive traits, like in a romance novel, are sometimes a plus or needed but in other stories it really doesn’t matter.

So in books I wonder if the characters physical or personality traits even matter. I mean they matter a little bit. But I find a book with a much more normal flawed character in many ways is interesting and gives me more in-depth insight into that character and their world or story.

But the writer in me still finds beautiful glorious characters to be fun and intriguing. Personally I still think though that personality means more. My characters are so different personality wise but they are so interesting and funny or sassy or fiery or sweet or crude or bold or brave, ect. I think that what they say and how they say it is much more important and how they react to the good, bad, and ugly themes in their stories brings me closer to them then what they look like.

So beautiful or not or great personality or not I think how they handle themselves and what their story is and how they live it is much more important. And though looks and a good personality often matter I think how they handle themselves makes or breaks a character and makes the reader love or hate or love to hate the character. If an author can get characters to surpass ones ideas about what makes an ideal character then it impresses me and leaves a lasting impression on this lonely reader and makes me want to make the lonely writer in me push the boundaries of my character layouts.

Care to weigh in? Then please leave a comment in the comment section of this post!

Keep Writing! Keep Reading! And Keep Inspiring!

Musings of a Lonely Writer! -----Insta Love or Insta Don’t?

I don’t know if I’ve gone over this topic before, I thought I had but I couldn’t find any posts for it so maybe I didn’t. Of course if I did my apologies for repeating myself. Also this may dip into a Musings of a Lonely Reader Post a bit so bear with me.

So I am a tad tired of reading a novel, mostly YA Novels, sorry to YA novel writers as I write them myself but the theme of Insta Love is a tad annoying and over done. I mean to have two characters meet and the sparks fly instantly and be like I will die for you five minutes after meeting is a tad much. Though often entertaining and it brings a dangerous adventure to the story it brings nothing to the real belief of a relationship. Though as I’ve said before in other posts readers, me included, want to escape reality for a couple of hours, so the regular rules don’t apply but I often wish that they did, even just a tiny bit.

So I could buy the Insta Love at first sight if it was maybe presented differently. Like I could buy the I love you even though I just met you if I was given more in-depth love building later. Often times we as readers are supposed to buy the I love you and that’s it. I want to know how they would progress, do they butt heads and are fiery lovers or are they sweet every day is sunshine and bunnies kind of lovers. I want to know how they progress and learn about each other. What did they come to know and like or love about each other? I hate the he’s hot / she’s hot and they kiss two seconds later. Why do they love each other, beyond the physical attributes? I want more for goodness sakes! :~)

I’ve had Insta Attraction in my novels and that has grown into something more and then finally love but I have never had boom bang Insta Love! Lol! I mean it’s cool if anyone likes to read or write that as some famous authors have presented it that way but I often wonder why the characters love each other. What I get makes me feel I missed something but I apparently didn’t, it just was never there or I didn’t catch it.

There are some stories where I read the book and watch the movie and at the end of both I had no clue why the two clueless main characters loved each other, beyond they were two hot people who saw each other and they were ready to battle monsters, parents disapproval, other conflicts to finally be in each others arms for all eternity, or until they undoubtedly die.

****

I literally read a story once where all the character could do was be in love when a naked boy wound up on her stoop, sounds more like hormones kicked in, she nursed him back to health and had to find a way to save him from transforming into a monster. By the time they were sexually intimate (well more like a fad to black scene where you basically are told they had sex the next day) I was completely lost as to why they were in love and becoming intimate, they were dry emotionless figures to me. They were silhouettes of characters that I wish had given me more and in essence became full blown colorful all encompassing figures.

Another time I watched a movie based off of a book (I never read the book) and I couldn’t figure out how the human female character became the alien male characters one true only love. They were attracted and talked a few times but it seriously could have been left out of the story and it wouldn’t have mattered. It felt thrown in for the sake of having someone the good alien male could save when the bad aliens showed up. He seemed weak at first and then finally had something worth saving, no forethought it seemed to his own neck on the line as he was the true target, and so he rose above it and with the help of another good alien woman they defeated the bad aliens. Love prevailed and the good alien boy said he would return for the human female character once he went off to find the other good aliens like him and defeated the other bad aliens. He said he finally had something worth returning for. I was like why? She was ok but not OMG you have got to come back kind of thing. There wasn’t much to their relationship to make me think ok I get it and swoon.

****

So I guess my conflict is what is the point of a love story or any love element within another story if I get no back story or progressing story as to why the characters love each other. So I guess I would like Insta Love more if I was given more later in the story but if I’m not given more then I say Insta Don’t! I am sure I sound like I am being overly critical and probably annoying but I thought what the heck I might as well put this into one of my Musings of a Lonely Writer segment posts and see how others may feel about this subject.  

Care to weigh in? Then please leave a comment in the comment section of this post!

Happy Writing! Happy Reading!

And Happy Insta Love or maybe Insta Don’t! Your choice, LOL! ;~)

Edit April 20, 2016:

 Another blogger had mentioned on another post about Romeo and Juliet some time ago and I have now come back to edit this post as I had totally forgotten about Romeo and Juliet. They are an infamous example of Insta Love and as the other blogger mentioned had they have gotten to know each other who is to say they wouldn’t have come to hate each other. But Romeo and Juliet is an infamous couple that no matter how illogical the Insta Love is they are a couple many a girl has wanted to duplicate in her relationship, example when someone says so have you found your Romeo yet.

I mean I have always loved William Shakespeare’s Works Romeo and Juliet among them. I do think it is a story of Insta Love but showing the tragedy of so many misunderstands that can occur not just because of a feud in my opinion but by being consumed by Insta Love which is more like Insta Lust, and not stopping to really think it through properly but that happens a lot in novels, plays and unfortunately real life. But it’s true in any love people hardly think clearly as it is, lol!

But I often want to think about what would have happened if their families had gotten over their feud and Romeo and Juliet could be together openly, would the story have been so much different or would they really have loved each other for all time and till death or would they have hated each other and regretted their youthful misadventure in Insta Love?

Missy Our Cat Died

January 4, 2016 our oldest cat Missy was put to sleep (euthanized). She was one month away from her 17^th Birthday. She was the oldest cat we have ever had. She was a beautiful black cat with yellow eyes and an ornery personality.

As best we know is that since we’ve had a flea infestation she got to acting crazy and started biting and scratching and her claws got caught in her collar and so she fell on her back a few times and began jumping off of the furniture and her back legs would give out. As we fought the flea’s everyway possible she got worse, even after removing her collar so her claws wouldn’t get caught. Then one day she fell backwards off the arm of the couch and twisted around. She caught herself and climbed back on to the arm of the couch. Then she leapt into the floor and her back legs gave out. For the next few days her back legs weren’t working right. Then we couldn’t get her in to see a vet due to New Years and so we called on Saturday but they said no vet was in that day. So we made an appointment for Monday.

By Monday she was dragging her back legs behind her. We have a large vacuum cleaner box she loves to get in and so she would hide inside it. Me and my parents would have to get on the floor and coax her out so she could eat, drink and use the litter box (my mom helped her in and out of the litter box). We thought it could be a dislocation or broken leg so we were hopeful that it would be a quick fix or something.

On Monday we took her in and the vet told us that it could be a blood clot that is making her legs not work or perhaps a nerve problem with her spinal column. If it isn’t a blood clot she may develop one if she doesn’t use her legs. The vet also said Missy’s heart was irregular which could be from stress or a heart problem. Since Missy is almost 17 we could give her medications but there would be no guarantee she would ever be better and walk again.

It was the hardest decision we have made to say put her to sleep. I hated that it has been 6 years to the month since I put my other cat Tiger to sleep as she had bad Kidney Disease and so all those memories came flooding back to me. We stayed with Missy and decided to put her to sleep.

Missy was alert and looking around and growling and hissing, she has always been ornery and a mean old coot. I used to joke and say only the good die young so she would live forever, even out living us all. She had a memorable little life. She moved 3 times with us. Her and her siblings had actually gotten into a gas pipe and that’s where they had been found and how we got her. The gas pipe was outside my sister’s old job and she took Missy’s sister Miss Kitty, who died some years ago. My sister begged us at the time to take Missy and so we did. She was a few weeks old when we got her and we’ve had her this whole time.

At the vet they gave her something to put her into a sleep like state and then they would give her a second shot to slow and then stop her heart. The first process gave us 5-10 minutes with her. She growled and stuff before and during that process but my mom said she is going out in a blaze of glory and I said she was going out with her boots on. I rubbed her above the eyes which stopped her growling and we kissed and loved on her. I remember her looking at me with those yellow eyes and it about killed me.

When they gave the second shot they said that her eyes might not shut and she might urinate or poop so don’t be alarmed. With my cat Tiger she peed while I held her and I think her eyes stayed open but with Missy she didn’t use the restroom on herself and her eyes closed. My mom said it was a dignified end and I said she did it in the style of an Old Dame. Tiger had gone out like a little Lady I always said, I used to call her Lady Iger (a play on her name). Now Missy the little Old Dame or Duchess went out in a dignified way after putting in a few ornery little things like growling and hissing as only she can and always had.

I am glad that when I petted her she purred for me just like Tiger had done. In a way it felt like they were saying they loved me and were trying to make me feel better. I mean I have heard cats will purr when in distress as well but each time it felt like they were saying it was okay to let them go.

I cried harder than I have ever cried when Missy died and when Tiger died, but more so with Missy. It felt like my heart was dieing. I felt like I just wanted her back, no matter what. I felt selfish for wanting to keep her even if she couldn’t walk. At almost 17 years old a chart in the vets office said she would be the equivalent to an 84 year old. So I knew she had a good old life but I just didn’t want it to end. I used to tell her you have to live to be 25 so that you can go in the record books as the oldest cat and she sure tried.

When Tiger died I felt like I lost a best friends and Missy seemed to fill in the hole left, even though we had, had Missy before Tiger. Missy seemed to sense I needed something and filled in. And now that Missy is gone I feel like I lost another best friend. I still have a 10 year old cat named Tommy and a 15 year old dog named Precious but it’s not the same.

Now everything I look at reminds me of her and it makes me sad or wants to cry. My mom cried and still is crying on and off. My dad tried to stay strong but I saw the tears in his eyes at the vets office and he kept blowing his nose. When we got home he tried to hide it but me and my mom heard him cry in the kitchen when his back was to us. He loved Missy and it was hard on him. He usually is closed off emotionally, or rather doesn’t show emotions often, but he cried and it was sad to see him hurt too.

I have promised every story I write and publish will be dedicated to Tiger and Missy as those two cats were there with me through it all and both knew when to tell me to take a break, Tiger would sit on the keyboard if it was break time and Missy would swat at my legs. They each kept me company those long nights of writing.

I miss and love you Missy! I will never forget you! I have the memories to think about and silly photos to look at when I want to remember her!

Thank You Mickey Gilley for 26 Years in the Branson Area!

December 2, 2015 marked the end of a musical era of sorts. Mickey Gilley’s matinee show at Mickey Gilley Theater was the last one after 26 years. He is now going to be going and doing road shows at almost 80 years old.

You may be wondering what that has to do with me. Well my mom, my dad and I went to the last show as they worked for him. My mom worked in the gift shop for a series of years but wasn’t working there as of a few years ago when the gift shop had to close down but my dad continued to work in the parking department for 13 years. He worked there all the way up to the last day.

I remember when I was in high school and came there and did homework in the lobby after school and riding around on the cart in parking with my dad. I remember that theater and it won’t be the same without Gilley there.

So I’ve seen the show for free many times but we decided to go and support Gilley on his last show. He is a nice guy I’ve met and talked to before. The last show was great. Many of the other performers in Branson came and surprised Gilley by popping in to say how much he affected them and they thanked him for his help and years of friendship and guidance.

The Mayor and a Council Member came by as well and gave him a Plaque and the Keys to the City. They even joked and said that Yakav, another local performer ending his many years here this year will be getting the keys to the city too so everyone better dead bolt their doors with these two having keys, lol!

It was an amazing show and even though he is a performer from another era I thoroughly enjoy his music and live shows. We will miss you Mickey Gilley! Have a wonderful time on the road! I hear there are 140+ road shows booked, so not too bad. Maybe we will see Gilley on the road and I hope he has many more years of performing ahead of him!

Here are some pictures from his last performance at the Mickey Gilley Theater on December 2, 2015:

 

< Local Performers Popping in to Say Goodbye and Thank Mickey Gilley for His Many Years Here and for His Support, Friendship, and Guidance!

The Mayor and Council Member giving Plaque and Keys to the City! >

 

Is All I Learned in History Class A Lie?

I love watching the TV Shows, Mystery at the Museum, Mystery at the Castle, and Mystery at the Monument. After watching those shows I am convinced half of the History books are chock full of lies and misapplied information.

Alexander Graham Bell did not create the telephone, what? He was a thief. A man named Antonio Meucci created it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Meucci

Jackie Robinson was not the first African American pro-baseball player. A man named Moses Fleetwood Walker was. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Fleetwood_Walker

Christopher Columbus may have been about 100 years behind a Scottish clan in reaching America.

There are so many more I have seen on there that have made me do research and I am appalled that these inaccuracies aren’t told to the public or History books aren’t updated. I mean I feel like I’ve been duped by History books and History teachers.

So from now on no matter how crazy people think I am, I am going to say Antonio Muicci created the telephone and Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first African American pro-baseball player and that the Clan Gunn found America 100 years before Christopher Columbus.

So inaccuracies in History beware for I intend to find the truth and use the accurate information, lol!