Most Importantly...

Have fun with your hair! Add accesories, add accent braids, combine styles, but HAVE FUN. Here are some more ideas.

Modified Gibson with Marian Braid.

Marian Braid with Circlet.

And again...

Movies and TV shows are also great places to find inspiration--you'll often find that the styles are simpler to do yourself than you'd think. Some of my favorite shows to steal from (at least for this era) are Lord of the Rings, Robin Hood (the BBC show and everything else), Merlin (again BBC), Chronicles of Narnia, and Ever After. Here are still more pictures to get your thinkers going. And if you find something you'd like to do but can't figure out, bring a picture to rehearsal and we'll see what we can do!

Just plain historical is also good, surprisingly enough. One really fun one (instructions here) is Elizabethan Hair-Taping. Completely accurate, fun, functional, and pretty.

Remember, the most important thing is to have fun--and if you don't feel like a star, you're doing something wrong.

~Carrots

Simple Half-Up Hairstyles

So, as promised (although a little later than expected) here are the first how-to's for some easy Medieval (yes, medieval, but still Shakespearean enough) hairstyles. The styles featured below, due to their simplicity and versatility, are perfect for almost everyone: ladies, attendants, shepherdesses... the list goes on. For the play, I think for most of you girls it would be good to start with your hair mostly down, like this, and then put it up for the end where everyone is sixteen years older. These half-up hairstyles are also great for helping to hold caps in place!
A few general tips:
1. Use a middle part.
2. Go for your natural hair. Rather than curling or straightening it with an iron, just let it do its thing--this will look best with the hairstyles, and hey, it's easier, right? You could also do sock bun curls, because it's basically rag curling, and that's been around since Medieval times at least.

That's not my hair, by the way. I've never gotten a picture of mine with sock bun curls, but I know it works.
Now I promise, these are easy easy easy: if you can braid and use a bobby pin, you're good. Let's get to it!

Here (second style in the video) are full instructions if you can't figure it out from the picture--I did do it tighter so you could see the construction, though. If you poof it up a bit more in front instead of having it so tight it looks better.

On to hairstyle number two!

You know that scene in the Glittering Caves when Eowyn ties the front of her hair into a knot? Yeah. That's all there is to it. I do find that to keep my bangs in nicely some twisting is in order, and you might want to use a bobby pin or two if your hair won't stay on its own. Again the link is here (third style in video) if you want more detail.

You want another? Your wish is my command.

Girls, it does not get easier than this. Obviously, you do need a circlet, but once you've got that you just set it on top of your head, pull the front bit of your hair up, over, and beneath the front of the ring, and there you go. This is also the first step of my Modified Gibson Tuck.

But wait, there's more!

Also known as a "milkmaid braid," this style is, again, very simple as long as you can braid (which I'm assuming most of you can.) Full, detailed, and helpful instructions can be found here.

That's more a picture of Guy, isn't it? Oops.
Be back soon with more (and some up-do's...)
~Carrots

Heartfelt Advice

Do not watch the last episode of BBC's Robin Hood when your friend has just finished applying your makeup. Do not watch the last episode of BBC's Robin Hood while eating.
You will cry.
Your makeup will run.
You will choke.
And you just might die.

No!

What I have to say about Season 3, Episode 1:
WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THEIR HAIR?!?!?
Tears.

Not that there aren't good things, mind. The costumer seems to have borrowed a rather large leaf from Rohan, and Tuck's finally showed up.

Christmas

Oh, I know it's been overdone, but mine was TOO COOL not to tell you all about!

I started the day off right by still being up reading when the clock showed midnight.

It's a family tradition that Christmas Eve all the kids sleep in the same room. When we woke up, Lizzie and I dressed all of our dolls in their Christmas best (another tradition, and I pity any of you who don't have a sister to do it with. And before any of you get on at me for still playing with dolls, think of Toy Story. Yeah.) while Joseph read aloud from Luke.

Then it was time for presents! I got:

Chocolate

of many varieties

Shakespeare's Sonnets

I feel like Marianne.

Bottles

China and glass, from Joseph and Mom

A cute statuette

from Lizzie

A dress

adorable

And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman

delightful--fills all my history nerd needs

A wonderfully soft beanie

I'm going to decorate it.

Speak Now

I love Taylor Swift.

Really pretty sticky notes

They're called "Forget-me-nots." Isn't that great?

And....ROBIN HOOD!!!!!

How I love him. I know what I'm doing this week.

Then, I read And the Pursuit of Happiness. Thick book, quick read.

I thought about watching Robin Hood, but decided to save it for my friends. However, I was in a very BBC mood, so I watched North and South instead. Who better to spend Christmas with than Richard Armitage?



Around 6:00, my aunt and uncle and cousins and their family came over for dinner. It was delicious: ham, potatoes, pumpkin biscuits, carrots, salad, and poni popo. (My uncle's Samoan.)

All in all, a thoroughly delightful holiday.

Merry Christmas!



I have my two front teeth, so here's what I want now:

Quick Christmas list, inspired by Catie at www.sobasicallyboyssuck.blogspot.com
Please don't take any of these seriously and get me them. For one thing, most are expensive/not available, and for another the large majority I know I'm getting. :) Feel free to take ideas for your own list, though.
1. BBC's Robin Hood on DVD, Season 1. (And 2, and 3...but I'll take what I can get.)

 

2. My driver's license. Really. A lot. But maybe not in the snow.



3. Chocolate! Yum.



4. A desk...Like, say, this one?



5. For the phone jack that currently resides in my brother's room to magically transfer into my room, so I can actually have access to the adorable pink phone I got from my cousin.



6. Glass bottles. I. Love. Bottles. I collect cool ones. (There's a great collection at Campus Crafts and Floral. Hint, hint.)



7. Green clothing. I have red hair, what can I say?



8. A horse. Don't question it.



9. To find my planner that's been missing for months.



10. Gilbert Blythe. Or, if that's impossible, a life-size cardboard cutout would do. (I seem to remember being promised one of these last year, but as of yet I do not own it. Sad.)



11. World peace. Why not?

(I searched "world peace" on Google Images, and this is what came up. Personally, I think it looks like they're poking each other, but hey, I'm not gonna argue with their peace. )



And while I'm at it...
12. True love. Makes an even dozen, anyway.