In this post:Mom and I celebrate as we watch ABC’s Once Upon a Time season 3 finale. Come join our Once party! We’ve got food and fun!
Hello dear ones! Once Upon a Time (on ABC) had it’s season 3 finale on Mother’s Day. So Mom and I had a girl’s night. We stuffed our faces and pampered ourselves (pedicures of course). Here’s all the details:
The Set
Once backdrop~ I took a blue plastic table cloth and painted it. Then I hung it up in the living room. It’s simple but it took hours to paint.
Once table~ I reused the black and white table cloth from our Marie Antoinette party. We also reused the plates and the clock napkin holders. I switched the napkins though, red for Regina. I also made the clocks say 8:15 (fans know why). An apple and a silver platter were a nice touch.
Once project board~ I modge podged black and white tissue paper over an old project board. Then I glued pictures of Hook, Rumbelle, & the Storybrooke clock tower.
Food label props~ I took fairy tale scrapbook paper and stuck it to boxes so they’d stand up. I printed the labels in a nice font and glued them to the paper.
Emma’s Bug~ This BMW model is actually mine from highschool. It looks a lot like Emma’s.
Food
Belle’s American Burger~ Burgers and home fries were the main course. Belle has her first hamburger in the second season.
Emma’s Swan Cake~ More like a big brownie with powdered sugar on top. I used a swan stencil that I cut out.
Regina’s Apple Streudal~ Regina loves apples and so do we!
Activities
The Season 3 finale! It was perfect…except the ending. I was a little mad. I’m excited about next season though.
We didn’t have time for a marathon of previous seasons but I did catch up on them while I was crafting.
The Once Family tree~ If you are a Once-er, then you know the characters of Once are almost all related to each other. The Evil Queen Regina’s adopted son is the birth son of Snow White’s daughter. Oh and did I mention that Rumplestiltzkin’s father is Peter Pan?! Mom and I tried our hand at making the family tree from memory. Then we checked it with a nifty one I found online.
Charm Bracelets~ I made these for Mom and I. The bracelets are based on “ships”. If you are a fan of a couple then you “ship” them. Like I ship “Captain Swan” (Hook and Emma Swan). There’s also Rumbelle (Rumplestiltzkin & Belle), Snowing (Charming & Snow White), and Outlaw Queen (Regina & Robin Hood). Mom and I both like Regina. Yes, she was evil but she has changed :). So I made us both charm bracelets. I found the charms at Michael’s Craft store; a heart that opens. a red jewel, a picture of Outlaw Queen, and a royal key. I made the Captain Swan bracelet for me; an anchor, a blue jewl, and a picture of Captain Swan. I found the pictures online and modge podged them on craft scrabble pieces.
Once necklaces~ I took glass flat stones that you use to decorate vases and I modge podged different pictures on them. I added two pretty jewels to my Captain Swan necklace. As you can see in the pictures, I made a ton of these. This way Mom and I can switch out our necklaces. I’m also a big Rumbelle fan, so I’ve got several pretty necklace stones for that. They’re not the quality I’d like but they are cheaper than all the necklaces on Etsy. And I have variety.
Pedicures
I hope you’re inspired! Links after the pic…
Once on Pinterest:
My Parties:
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
I know all of you may not be “Once” fans like me but you know I love fairy tales. I rarely watch regular tv shows and I can’t stand most of them (maybe why I like Korean dramas lol). But if there’s a movie about unicorns pooping rainbows I’m probably going to watch it (JK I’m not that extreme…but I do like My Little Ponies ;P). For those of you who are going crazy (like me) waiting for the next episode, here is a sweet music video to get you through. I love this song!
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello hello friends! It’s Media Saturday :). Today I’ll be reviewing Rhett & Link from Youtube, the hit tv show “Once Upon a Time”, and singer Christina Perri. I am excited about today’s reviews. I believe many of you will be familiar with these shows/people. Once again I hold a Biblical world view and that will affect my reviews. Let’s get started!
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#1 Once Upon A Time (warning a few spoilers)
What can I say? Most of you probably already watch this show.”Once Upon a Time” quickly became one of America’s top shows. “Once Upon a Time” is about a group of fairy tale characters who are cursed by an evil queen. Now the characters are stuck in the real world in Story Brooke, Maine. No one ages and no one remembers their past except the evil queen who is now Mayor of Story Brooke (& maybe Rumpelstiltskin).
Before the curse hit, Snow White and Prince Charming put their only child in a magical tree that transported the child to another realm safe from the curse. This child was Emma (who is now 28) and the prophecies say she is the one who will break the curse. Emma has a 10 yr old son, Henry, that she gave up for adoption. Henry was adopted by the evil Queen (Regina-they all have new names in the real world). Henry finds Emma and asks for her help to break the curse. Henry has a book that tells the story of all the characters including why Emma was seemingly abandoned by her parents. Emma of course is skeptical but she agrees to drive Henry back to Story Brooke. In the process, Emma sees Henry did not get the best life through adoption and she finds she wants t be apart of Henry’s life after all.
Emma has no family life or friends really. She was passed along through the foster system and now she’s a bail bondsman/ bounty hunter. So Emma has nothing to lose when she moves to Story Brooke. Regina (the evil Queen) is very hostile towards Emma and tells her to stay out of Henry’s life. At first, Regina seems to be a normal overprotective mom. Why would she want some strange woman who agreed to a closed adoption, to show up and confuse her son? But as we continue in the series we see Regina is a hateful and controlling person who doesn’t understand true love. We find out that she took her own Father’s heart to make the curse. Strangely her Father’s name was Henry as well. Regina will do anything to take out her revenge on Snow White ( Mary Margaret now & Henry’s school teacher). We still don’t know what Snow White did to the Evil Queen and I have a feeling it will be awhile before we find out. The series just started after all.
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What makes this show so addictive is how they take fairy tales and portray them in real life. They go back n forth between what happened to the characters in the story world and what’s happening now in the real world because of the curse. At the heart of the stories is the character Rumpelstiltskin. He is Mr. Gold in the real world. Mr. Gold is the one character who has control over Regina and this is because Mr. Gold gave Regina the curse with a price. Rumpelstiltskin (Mr. Gold) repeatedly says “Magic always comes with a price”. Regina (evil Queen) has to give Mr. Gold whatever he asks when he says please. Mr. Gold’s back story is interesting. He wasn’t always evil but now he makes deceptive deals with the storybook characters.
For instance, in the “Once Upon a Time” story of Cinderella, Rumple destroys the fairy Godmother for her wand. Then HE is the one to send Cinderella to the ball….but with a price. She now owes him. When the time comes we find out Cinderella must give up her first born child (Rumple has a thing for babies). Cinderella tricks Rumple and he is locked up but now she is cursed. In the real world Cinderella (Ashley) is a single 19 yr old pregnant maid. Her prince isn’t around to help and she feels she must give the baby to Mr. Gold to be put up for adoption. Emma convinces Ashley to keep the baby and Emma ends up making a deal with Mr. Gold so he won’t take the baby. In the end, Cinderella and her Prince are together in the real world along with their baby. Emma acts as savior for many storybook characters in each episode.
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The one story that is constant and full of surprises is Snow White’s story. Snow White and Prince Charming are the main characters and Emma’s real parents. But in Story Brooke they are the same age they were when Emma was born. At first, Prince Charming (David) is in a coma. Mary Margaret (Snow White) volunteers and visits him. After Emma’s arrival, Snow White brings David out of his coma with a kiss. The bad news is that they are still cursed. They don’t remember they were married in the storybook world. Then Regina (evil Queen) finds David’s wife Kathryn (King Midas’ daughter). David tries to stay faithful to his real world wife Kathryn but David and Mary are drawn to each other. This part of the story is confusing. Is it really adulterous for Snow and Charming to be together? After all, they were married first in the world they are from. The curse has turned morality upside down on it’s head…making it hard to determine what is right and wrong. For this reason I strongly caution parents if they let their kids watch this show.
I personally let my son watch some episodes and others I ban. A few times I’ve had to cover his eyes. Little Red Riding Hood (Ruby in real world) dresses like a hoochie and works at the local diner. There hasn’t been any sex scenes but some things are implied (with the evil Queen). If you don’t let your children watch magic then this is a no no. I personally allow my son to watch some magic and we discuss the difference between reality and fantasy. I’m very open with my son. We don’t do Santa Clause or the tooth fairy. If you do that’s up to you. I’m not telling anyone how to parent. We do use our imagination alot and pretend but at the end of the day Michael knows whats real and whats fantasy. Anywho, “Once Upon A Time” is supposed to be a family show but like I said there are some instances where you have to be careful. Some episodes may be too scary for children as well. Plus I get sick of the commercials especially ones for Desperate Housewives ( I hate that show…just being honest). You can watch episodes of Once Upon a Time on ABC.com and decide what’s best for your family.
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As an adult I love this show. It is one of the few decent shows on televisions. It is more moral than most shows. Fairy tales don’t bother me at this age. When I was a young kid I was very impressionable and my magic intake should’ve been limited or atleast discussed. Now as an adult I am very grounded in my faith as a Christian. My dad was a minister and he educated me very well on other religions (including Wicca which he experienced BEFORE he became a minister). So when I watch magical shows I can pick out what is fantasy and what’s based on real life magic. I’m not going to watch “Harry Potter” and decide to become a Wiccan. I know what’s behind that stuff. I know demons are real (I’ve seen a few) and I know the spiritual battle in this world is very REAL.
My Son on the other hand is young and sometimes movie characters become role models instead of mom and Dad……..especially when they seem so much cooler. Fantasy and television can really have a powerful grip on a child. I’ve never let my son watch Spiderman (I don’t like the movies) yet he thinks Spiderman is SO cool. We homeschool too so it doesn’t make sense. But I can’t shelter my son from everything. I can on the other hand provide him a safe zone where he can mature and be trained for battle. Seriously this world is like a warzone. I’m not sending my kid into it without some wisdom and combat training (figuratively speaking). I’m glad my Dad prepared me or I probably would’ve been drawn to the occult. Education is a powerful thing.
In conclusion, (sorry I bunny trailed) Once Upon a Time is very entertaining and one of the cleaner shows on tv. I love how the writers give the fairy tales depth. There are so many surprises and twists and turns. This show comes from the writers of “Lost” so it’s bound to be interesting. Do you like Once Upon a Time? Please leave me a comment with your opinion. What’s your favorite aspect of the show? What do you dislike about it? Who is your fav. character?
Ok, this review will be short and sweet (I know you’re thankful lol). My awesome hubby introduced me to Rhett and Link on youtube and I laughed myself silly. In fact, I used one of their videos in this week’s Laugh Yourself Silly Thursday post. Rhett and Link have been best friends since grade-school. They are some goofy guys who love to make people laugh and they do it well..very well. My hubby says Rhett and Link now have their own cable show.
These guys are well liked by many. They have 854,055 subscribers and their channel has 121,565,657 video views. So I am not alone in my love for Rhett & Link videos. These guys make funny advertisement videos like this:
They do goofy stunts like this:
I just have to SHOW you these videos…I don’t know how to describe the greatness of Rhett and Link. You have to EXPERIENCE it lol 🙂
I even like their homeschool song. Yes my son WILL take over the country. I promise he won’t rob you though lol
Other hilarious videos include their Surrogate Sharers series, Caption Fail series, and their dating advice.
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#3 Christina Perri
Christina Perri is a lovely artist who sings and writes her own music. She can also play the guitar and piano. I enjoy artists who have diverse creativity. I’m not sure what genre I would put Christina’s music in…….some blues….some folk maybe……definitely not pop although one of her hit songs “A Thousand Years” could easily rival any Taylor Swift song.
Christina Perri writes songs based on her own experiences with romance. There are happily ever after songs and there are songs about being lonely. Her voice is haunting and hard to get out of your head.
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Christina’s album “Lovestrong” has several lovely tunes. “Jar of Hearts” is the song that brought her to fame. It is a song about a charming man who steals women’s hearts then discards them. Here are some lyrics:
[Chorus:] And who do you think you are? Runnin’ ’round leaving scars Collecting your jar of hearts And tearing love apart You’re gonna catch a cold From the ice inside your soul So don’t come back for me Who do you think you are?
She also says she’s not his “ghost anymore”. The music video is very unique artistically. The man is seen as a “dementor”, a creature from Harry Potter that sucks the life out of his victims. Well, this player sucks the life out of these girls when he kisses them and then leaves them all heart broken. I like how she used that concept. I personally don’t like some of the dancing in the video. But I give Christina lots of creative points 🙂
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As a person, Christina seems to be more of an emo/steam punk chic. I can’t imagine her wearing Abercrombie and Fitch. She reminds me of Lacy from Flyleaf. I myself have never been a preppy kind of girl (though I do have my “Pollyanna” moments and I love pink). I would so wear a tutu over my jeans if my hubby let me. I don’t care for tattoos but I’m not going to judge someone’s character because of them. In fact, one of my best friends has a tattoo. Moving on, I really like how creative Christina is in her videos. My favorite video is “Arms” in which her guy is tattooed and just not your average model for a chic video. In “Arms” Christina talks about her fears of being loved because she doesn’t want to hurt her lover. She feels that if she leaves him then she can’t make him “bleed”. The video is gorgeous. She starts off lying in bed next to her man. Christina falls asleep and then dreams she’s flying away. She falls into the ocean at one point…climbs onto a boat that is full of her band mates and rocks out in the rain. Perri does alot of flying in this video. She actually floats away with some balloons too. In the end she runs back to her man and chooses love despite her fears.
Enjoy for yourself:
Ms. Perri also has some beautiful lyric videos. I haven’t seen other artists do their own lyric videos but I’m also getting old and out of the loop lol. My favorite lyric video is “The Lonely”. She personifies loneliness in this song. The video is enchanting yet a bit chilling.
You can find her song “A Thousand Years” on the “Breaking Dawn” soundtrack from “Twilight”. I would have walked down the aisle to this song had it been around about 8 years ago. I leave you with a few lyrics:
Heart beats fast Colors and promises How to be brave How can I love when I’m afraid to fall But watching you stand alone All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow
One step closer
[Chorus:] I have died everyday waiting for you Darling don’t be afraid I have loved you For a thousand years I’ll love you for a thousand more
Welcome! My name is Amber Dover. I am a homeschooling mom, happy wife, and a devout follower of Jesus Christ. I am also a writer. I am currently working on "The Truth Seeker's Chronicles" (an inspirational fantasy/allegory). You will find everything from craft ideas to writing tips on my blog. So please pull up a chair and hang out :)
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