Kristen: Jane Austen at A Night at the Museum

Reenacting often involves educating others-it comes with the territory! I've heard great things about the Plymouth Historical Museum, though this was my first visit. Also, I pretended to be Jane Austen! Please check out this awesome thing that you can do with your children here!

***All awesome photos in the post by Patrick Currie

Those of you with children, please pay attention. This is completely awesome and should happen for your child at least once! The Plymouth Historical Museum offers an amazing opportunity for children to literally see history "come alive" right in the middle of the museum. Here is a bit from their website:

"Kids begin the delightful evening in the lower level meeting room, where they gather and socialize before sitting down for a dinner of pizza or subs and drinks while watching one of the "Night at the Museum" movies. When the show ends, a reenactor meets them and their magical journey begins. They are greeted on the pretense of touring the Museum, but when presented with a personalized "Tablet of Akmenrah," they discover that not all is as it seems. This tablet is a recreation of the Egyptian tablet used in the movies that brings the Museum characters to life, which the children soon realize seemingly works in this Museum as well."

I would have literally given up my book collection for something like this (that's saying a lot for a bibliophile like myself). My fellow reenactors all took different roles, and the children were enthralled by every one!

For my presentation, I pretended to be Jane Austen reading, stuck on the same page for over 100 years! When I came alive the first thing I had to do was turn the page...

I explained to the children my love of stories! Also, that my nieces and nephews were absolute darlings that loved to used their imagination. So we concocted a play to act on the spot! I let the children simply call out ideas, and they were woven into the story. Somehow we ended up with 4 ghosts scaring the needles off of Christmas trees, and a dragon that set everything right. That one was a bit of a stretch, even for my overactive mind...

Of course in the end the Christmas trees regained their needles, and an impromptu dance party commenced. I reminded the children that telling stories was the most important thing that they could do. Unfortunately by that time I grew a little stiff, as the magic was wearing off! I hurried to sit down, but held my book upside down, another tragedy for 100 years more...until a sly little boy turned it right side up for me!

I'm certain the children had an excellent time! After our presentations I went downstairs to eat pizza and cake. They were all so excited-of course I had to stay in character the whole time! Seriously, ask an 8 year old to explain television, their answers are priceless. I hope I gave this little girl a birthday to remember! (And maybe created a few future Austenites...hehehe...)

~Kristen

Kristen: Charity Preview Event

It was awesome!

So I ended up very quickly having my hair, makeup, and nails done before I made it to my Dad's. At about 4:30, the newest model of Ford Fusion arrived to take us to our destination! We left a little early, so we stopped at Astoria and bought our driver, Mercede, and myself sweets. She had a chocolate dipped cannoli, I devoured a pistachio baklava dipped in chocolate. The perfect start to the night! 

We pulled up to the curb at Cobo hall and were met by a cameraman! He taped us getting out of the car, and followed us around for part of the night. It was rather intimidating; he had to keep telling my Dad to stop looking at the camera! We were too occupied by our surroundings to worry for too long. There were so many singers and dancers!

Also, at some point I saw a woman wearing my dress...

And then another...

 And then there were three! Turns out we all rented our dresses from www.renttherunway.com, which I strongly recommend if you like stylish dresses but don't have the space to keep them all. A man in a bow tie *insisted* that we be interviewed by Fox 2. I made my infamous "BAM" comment about my dress, one that you can see here on the second page. I will never EVER live that down...

 I've never been to the Auto Show before, so it was all quite new. The cars were gorgeous! I also met that very pretty pregnant product specialist that was on the news. I just had to take a picture with her! There were so many cars that I only took pictures of my favorite ones...and then I asked my Dad to buy them for me! Everyone loved the cars...

...but the people were by far more interesting! It was a mingling of the wealthy, car fanatics, and those who just want to be seen. There were so many gorgeous ensembles that my disco-ball glitter dress wasn't the brightest!

 At some point in the night I also did an interview with Ford, as they sponsored this event for us. We will always be a Ford family; my Grandpa and various uncles have ensured that! Who knew that taking one chance with that contest entry would turn into all this?

Finally at the end of the night (by which point my feet were on fire from wearing heels for several hours) we watched Sheryl Crow rock out Cobo Hall. I couldn't get very close, but I did listen to her fantastic voice. She is still gorgeous AND a good singer!

We were both exhausted by the time we returned home. It was such an amazing experience! I would recommend everyone to go to the car show at least once in their lives, just to see it all. It was awesome to spend time with my Dad too! (Which was funny, because people kept thinking I was his trophy wife...I told him I make him look good either way!) Just spectacular, all of it!

 I know I keep saying this, but how can this life get better???

~Kristen

Kristen: Ford Rent the Runway

My excitement is just beyond anything right now. How can I even put this into words? My more observant readers will remember that I live in Michigan. Home of Detroit, also home of the auto industry. Home of the North American International Auto Show.

I swear this will make sense in a minute

So Ford runs big promotional events for the car show. An my family LOVES Ford. My Grandpa and a ton of Uncles have worked for them. I drive a 2006 Ford Escape, having driven a Ford Taurus in the future. My Dad won't let anything that's not American-made in the driveway...you get the idea...

So clickondetroit.com is a news website that reports on all things Detroit. I noticed they were running a promotion for Rent The Runway, a company that lets customers rent dresses for big events. They asked for a picture in my best style and explanation of my love of cars; I talked about how I work on them with my dad! I was chosen with 9 other women for a stylist consultation at Cobo Hall.

I arrived to find food, dresses, and a million shiny things. Oh, and a car.

I tried on a ton of dresses. I didn't really think I would win the big prize-4 of the women would win tickets to the Charity Preview for the Auto Show ($350 each), basically the red carpet event of the season. I did NOT think that I would win.

Drumroll please....and I won! I'm taking my Dad (that guy who taught me to work on cars) to the Charity Preview in an absolutely gorgeous rented dress and accessories, chauffeured in the newest Ford Fusion, and money for dinner. Sheryl Crow is playing at the concert. You know it's serious when my Dad orders a tux.

How can I wait until Friday??

~Kristen

Kristen: HSF Challenge #1 Make Do and Mend

The Challenge: #1 Make do and Mend

Fabric: 7 yards of blue cotton voile

Pattern: Loosely based on La mode Bagatelle

Year: Around 1808-1814

Notions: Cotton thread, metal hooks/eyes, cotton twill tape

How historically accurate is it? It it very accurate with all the materials used, though I did machine stitch the skirt. The rest is hand stitched.

Hours to complete: 6-7, with many breaks

First worn: I will wear it for an upcoming Museum Night as Jane Austen...more pictures to come!

Total cost: Free from stash!

This was one of the first sheers that I made for Civil War. I had heat exhaustion at an event one year, and that winter I went crazy over sheers! Unfortunately, since I was still in the earlier stages of my sewing career, I made too many mistakes to fix. The piping was too big, the arms cut too small, and somehow I managed to burn a hole in nearly every yard of the fabric. Piecing together this dress took time and patience. I'm glad to be able to recycle the fabric, as it is absolutely lovely!

~Kristen