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Winter at American ArtBy QB Social Butterfly QuailBellMagazine.com Washington D.C. has just about everything in the way of museums, with the Smithsonian varieties being huge contributors. For a taste of American folklore this holiday season, spend some time this winter enjoying these events at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery:
December 18, 1:30–3:30 pm Luce Unplugged with John Davis of Title Tracks Enjoy this installment of the museum’s acoustic concert series. Admission is free. December 21, 12 pm American Craft Masterpieces Admission is free. December 29, 1:30–3:30 pm Art + Coffee: Visual Artist Talk Kristina Bilonick This event will feature a local artist led discussion and refreshments afterwards. Admission is free. January 18, 12 pm American Craft Masterpieces Admission is free. January 18, 6:30–8:15 pm The Seven Year Itch The museum will be showing this classic film in the Portrait Gallery. Admission is free. January 19, 5-7 pm Andrea Wood Quintet Presents Winter Blues Admission is free. January 22, 1:30-3:30 pm Luce Unplugged with Dance for the Dying Admission is free. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
We're on the verge of kicking tail feathers.Even though the holidays are upon us, The QB Crew has no intentions of slowing down. Come 2012, we're going to have a whole host of new content, features, and general excitement wrapped up with a pretty bow. We know that our fledglings trust us to bring them the latest in folklore, history, and alternative arts & culture. Start cracking your knuckles and get ready to open one big present. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Still doing your holiday shopping? Go steamy.By Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com If there's any trend modern history-lovers can agree upon, it's steampunk. Luckily for steampunk fans, buying options abound online. One website in particular--the much-trumpeted Etsy.com--seems like a hub for steampunk artisans and designers. But such a wealth of choices can at times feel like a burden. You don't need additional stress during the holidays, especially since you've already become as frantic as The White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. To save you a little time, Quail Bell has narrowed down the list to our top five favorite steampunk-themed shops on Etsy. Here they are: Catherinette Rings: Steampunk Jewelry & Sculptures: Daniel Proulx, a designer based in Montréal, creates original rings, bracelets, watches, necklaces, pins, earrings, and sculpture. His custom pieces always manage to hover between the realms of the romantic and the mechanical. Pricey, yes, but beautiful. Azrael's Accomplice: For historical tributes, gothic flair, and dark elegance with a fairy tale's attention to detail, Tracy Robertson (a.k.a. "Batty") brings you the highest quality garments for your balls, salons, conventions, and other special occasions. That includes proms, weddings, and taking a ride in your time machine. Cosmic Firefly: While gadgets and gizmos may be at the forefront of the steampunk aesthetic, BA & Nay of Las Vegas bring a touch of the organic to their jewelry and accessories. Many of their precious cufflinks, cigarette cases, necklaces, etc. feature animals, both real and imaginary. That even includes flying monkeys. Untamed Menagerie: Modern design celebrates the clean lines apparent in Nikki and Penny's affordable handmade jewelry, but the Tennessean artists' choose distinctly nonmodern subject matter--butterflies, teapots, quotations. Such bits of gothy and historical goodness keep their work in the shadows (we mean that positively.) Tom Banwell Designs: Leather and masks--that's the combination that makes Tom Banwell of Penn Valley, CA a highly-ranked Etsy vendor with over 5,000 sales to date. Whether you need a theatrical mask, a masquerade mask, or a just-because mask, Tom has everything from gas masks to elf masks to dainty butterfly masks. Gorgeous! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Gritty FolkloreBy QB Provocateur QuailBellMagazine.com What defines an urban legend? How do urban legends differ from rural folklore?Is it important to document urban legends? If so, how should they be documented and shared? What's your favorite urban legend? Do you know any of the history or "rational" explanations behind it? Please discuss! Don't worry--you don't have to form a thesis.
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Raisin & Grape Kebab with MarshmallowsBy QB Chef QuailBellMagazine.com Once upon there was a porky fairy named Princess Patty the Piggly-Wiggly. She ate all night and all day, only occasionally performing spells. The irony was that she was as thin as a cattail. And though her body was lethargic, her mind was quick. So creative was Princess Patty the Piggly-Wiggly that she said sayonara to her royal chef and took it upon herself to devise all the castle recipes.
One such unique invention was her raisin and grape kebab with marshmallows. When she first mentioned it to her cooks, they doubted Princess Patty the Piggly-Wiggly. Of course, the cooks did not voice their doubts and said nothing but, “Yes, Your Majesty,” and immediately obeyed her wishes. They took one toothpick (14k-gold with an invisibility feature to boot) and simply lined up as many raisins, grapes, and mini marshmallows as they could fit. They were precise about the quality and pattern of each kebab. First they put one dark raisin, then one fresh mini marshmallow and then one green grape. They repeated the pattern until there was no more room on the toothpick. When Princess Patty the Piggly-Wiggly tried the kebab, she was quite happy indeed. Her cooks were, too. The end. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Your Fairy Godmother Done Told You SoBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Fantasy and fairy tales may seem like a walking puff land of glitter, but they offer more than an escape through feathers, scales, and fluff. Mother Goose, Brothers Grimm, and all those other oldies and goodies teach you how to thrive and survive in the dark, evil forest that is life. Here are lessons to take to heart: • Just dive. Mermaids do it all the time.
• Beauty sleep’s crucial, but keep your eyes wide open during all waking hours. You don’t want to pull a Rumpelstiltskin. • Not only is it desirable to be beautiful AND intelligent, it’s possible. If you’re vain, though, your kind stepsister will be the one to marry the prince. And if you always bury your nose in a book, don’t be surprised if you wind up in a beast’s dank dungeon. • Folks with furry feet can still be happy. • While society celebrates the slaying of dragons, it discourages the slaying of unicorns. One breathes fire and the other breathes magical dust. This is a catching-flies-with-honey type situation. • Even if you explode into flame and end up a pile of ashes, you can still find yourself re-born. Second (and third and fourth and fifth, etc.) chances do exist. • Remember—the Sorting Hat picks you. Not the other way around. Some things you can’t fight. • Glass slippers may be cute but they’re not the most sensible fashion item—especially for a carriage made out of a bright orange spongy fruit. Dress appropriately for the occasion. • You might have the B.O. of an ogre and end up marrying Cameron Diaz nonetheless. Don’t think that gets you off from attending to personal hygiene, though! Cameron might not care, but the rest of us sure as heck do. • Sometimes a first kiss will transform your entire perception of reality and maybe your ball gown, too; other times you’ll leave with nothing more but froggy breath. • Just because you’re the sanest at the tea party, that doesn’t make you sane. • If you’re living with seven men and doing all their housework, you better be living rent and utility-free. Demand complimentary groceries and weekly foot massages, too. • There’s always an asterisk to “Happily ever after.” The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Here, There, and Everywhere |
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Suffrage doesn't mean domestic violence.
By Belle Byrd
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Sometimes history feels like one big study in injustice or a huge corn dog fight. Whoever has the biggest corn dog wins. And by corn dog, we're actually referring to what swings between a man's legs (or doesn't, in less well-endowed specimens.) With Occupy Wall Street and the 2012 presidential campaign dominating the headlines, it makes sense to reflect on the history of inequality. One topic likely flitting on the minds of Quail Bell(e)s from time to time is women's suffrage. After all, what other group of American women should inspire the modern woman more than 19th and early 20th-century suffragists?
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Get Lost in the VMFA
By QB Social Butterfly
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is a gem in the Museum District of Richmond, Virginia. Recently renovated, it is easy to get lost amongst the paintings and sculptures featured within the VMFA. It also has plenty going on aside from the permanent and the visiting exhibits. Here’s what’s going on the rest of this holiday season:
Thursday, December 15th, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Jazz Café at Best Café featuring Jack Winn-Tet
Friday, December 16th, 5:00 to 8:30 pm
Friday Art and Wine: The Mod Squad
Thursday, December 22nd, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Jazz Café at Best Café featuring Antonelli Trio
Friday, December 23rd, 5:00 to 8:30 pm
Friday Art and Wine: Hungry Like the Wolf
Thursday, December 29th, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Jazz Café at Best Café featuring Glenroy & Company
Friday, December 30th, 5:00 to 8:30 pm
Friday Art and Wine: Walk Like an Egyptian
Thursday, December 15th, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Jazz Café at Best Café featuring Jack Winn-Tet
Friday, December 16th, 5:00 to 8:30 pm
Friday Art and Wine: The Mod Squad
Thursday, December 22nd, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Jazz Café at Best Café featuring Antonelli Trio
Friday, December 23rd, 5:00 to 8:30 pm
Friday Art and Wine: Hungry Like the Wolf
Thursday, December 29th, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Jazz Café at Best Café featuring Glenroy & Company
Friday, December 30th, 5:00 to 8:30 pm
Friday Art and Wine: Walk Like an Egyptian
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Unicorn Horn or Rhino Horn?
By Paisley Hibou
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Folklore's fun, except when it kills. In the case of rhinos, folklore practically pulls the trigger. One of the inspirations for the all-purpose healing unicorn horn, rhino horn is a highly sought commodity even in the modern era. This is one positively medieval practice that Quail Bell(e)s are not thrilled to embrace.
A poster designed by SavingRhinos.org states 10 essential facts about the burly beasts—#4 being that, “Scientific testing has confirmed that rhino horn is NOT medicine.” It goes on to explain that, “Unfortunate beliefs throughout China and parts of Southeast Asia attribute medicinal properties to the rhino's horn. Illegal rhino horn is sold in 'cuts' or manufactured into 'medicine' and marketed as a 'remedy' for pain, fever, acne, laryngitis and even as a cancer treatment.” In reality, rhino horn's made of keratin, the same substance that makes up our fingernails, and has no affect on the human body.
The November '11 issue of Vice Magazine includes a teeny story called “Rhinocide” by Harry Cheadle. Harry describes the poaching procedure pretty bluntly: “Poachers shoot the innocent animal with a huge gun, saw off its horn, sell it for an estimated $1,000 an ounce on the black market, and leave its two-ton corpse to rot in the hot sun.”
An article that appeared in The Guardian on November 4th reported that South Africa's rhino poaching has reached a record high. So far, 341 rhinos have been killed this year alone.
As folklore enthusiasts, The QB Crew hopes that our fledglings will take this opportunity to think about the potentially harmful effects of superstitions. For the rhino, what at first sounds like an innocent child's fairy tale, means death.
An article that appeared in The Guardian on November 4th reported that South Africa's rhino poaching has reached a record high. So far, 341 rhinos have been killed this year alone.
As folklore enthusiasts, The QB Crew hopes that our fledglings will take this opportunity to think about the potentially harmful effects of superstitions. For the rhino, what at first sounds like an innocent child's fairy tale, means death.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Picture Apothecary: Vintage Knitting Ad
By The Picture Pharmacist
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Dear fledglings,
I know you Quail Bell(e)s want to be more crafty. You're dying to be part of the DIY scene, but you don't own a sewing machine, or knitting needles or a crochet hook--and that certainly doesn't mean you would know how to use any of those things even if you did own them. I mean, what's a pattern anyways? Or a gauge, who ever heard of that?
So, instead, take this little gem of an ad, and post this up on your wall, or casually let it drop out of a scarf you bought but want to convince your friends you made yourself. Everyone will think you are DIY and you did it without any of the work.
Clever fledgling.
Yours truly,
The Picture Pharmacist
I know you Quail Bell(e)s want to be more crafty. You're dying to be part of the DIY scene, but you don't own a sewing machine, or knitting needles or a crochet hook--and that certainly doesn't mean you would know how to use any of those things even if you did own them. I mean, what's a pattern anyways? Or a gauge, who ever heard of that?
So, instead, take this little gem of an ad, and post this up on your wall, or casually let it drop out of a scarf you bought but want to convince your friends you made yourself. Everyone will think you are DIY and you did it without any of the work.
Clever fledgling.
Yours truly,
The Picture Pharmacist
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Goth Up Your Christmas
By Belle Byrd
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Snow would be far more dramatic if it came in pure black or venomous red. Santa could use a worldwide outfit re-design that swaps his beanie for a top hat. Everyone should get a lump of coal in their stockings—as long as that lump of coal possesses bewitching powers. Though those changes would be far too outlandish to execute overnight (or period), here are a few ways you can goth up your Christmas QB style:
•Decorate your Christmas tree with your favorite Halloween leftovers. That string of skeletons will look perfect with the silver tinsel.
•Whatever you choose to wear Christmas day, make sure you're equally set to hit history's most fabulous funeral or do lunch with the Addams Family.
•A touch of food coloring can turn even sugar cookies into mysterious morsels. Dye your holiday treats dark purple or blue. Mix them together for black.
•Put on vampire fangs for all holiday family portraits. See how many pictures you can get away with before your mother finally notices.
•Assemble fabric paint, craft glue, and plastic spiders. It's time to re-do your stocking.
•A little construction paper, Scotch tape, and acrylic paint's all you need to turn all the players in your Nativity set into sorcerers! Give them teeny witch and wizard hats, and dark robes.
•Exercise your artistic license and re-write the lines to your top Christmas carols. Who says Frosty can't be a zombie? And why can't Rudolph be a werewolf?
•Whatever you choose to wear Christmas day, make sure you're equally set to hit history's most fabulous funeral or do lunch with the Addams Family.
•A touch of food coloring can turn even sugar cookies into mysterious morsels. Dye your holiday treats dark purple or blue. Mix them together for black.
•Put on vampire fangs for all holiday family portraits. See how many pictures you can get away with before your mother finally notices.
•Assemble fabric paint, craft glue, and plastic spiders. It's time to re-do your stocking.
•A little construction paper, Scotch tape, and acrylic paint's all you need to turn all the players in your Nativity set into sorcerers! Give them teeny witch and wizard hats, and dark robes.
•Exercise your artistic license and re-write the lines to your top Christmas carols. Who says Frosty can't be a zombie? And why can't Rudolph be a werewolf?
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Quail Bell Press & Productions is taking orders
If you have an arts or communications project you need completed, Quail Bell Press & Productions will deliver the job with just the right amount of imagination, magic, and quirk. We are currently talking to clients and taking orders for a wide variety of assignments--from logo design to marketing copy to illustrations to press releases to digital photography and more. Send an email to inquiries@quailbellmagazine.com with information about your project. We'll happily evaluate it, see if it matches our talents, and provide you with a quote. Learn more about us at our soon-to-be launched site: QuailBell.com.
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Historic Hotspot: Lawrence, KS
By Christine Stoddard
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Sometimes a Midwestern history-lover can feel left out. American history books and professors tend to focus on the coasts, not the so-called fly-over states. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and California pretty much always get their names printed in big font on the playbill while places like North Dakota and Wisconsin usually get bit parts. Even Illinois doesn't get much attention in the average high school history course. Despite their few spotlights on the main stage, Midwestern states have nonetheless helped make “America: The Musical” the ballet/rodeo show it is.
Though Boston and New Orleans are obvious destinations, Quail Bell(e)s will also find gems in the plains and prairies. One lesser-known choice is Lawrence, Kansas. Home to the main campus of the University of Kansas, Lawrence offers historic territory with definite college town appeal less than half an hour away from the state capital.
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Give Me Christmas or Give Me Death
By QB Social Butterfly
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Personally, I think that Patrick Henry was about the coolest Founding Father that ever graced American soil. Anyone that intense about independence and that intensely against taxes is OK by me. So spend Christmas how he might have while he lived on his Virginian estate, Scotchtown. Located in Hanover County, it’s not a far drive from Richmond, and is absolutely worth a visit. If the Christmas event isn't twisted enough for you, take a tour of the house and see the basement where his mentally-insane wife lived. (At this time of year, tours are only available by appointment; drop-in hours resume March 1st.)
December 17, 2 to 4 pm
Hansel and Gretel Tea Party
Take a little one to decorate a gingerbread house and enjoy some Christmas treats. Admission is $25 per person.
December 17, 2 to 4 pm
Hansel and Gretel Tea Party
Take a little one to decorate a gingerbread house and enjoy some Christmas treats. Admission is $25 per person.
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Why You Should Major in History
By Starling Root
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
In the academic world, December calls for holiday jeer, not cheer. The felt Christmas trees decorating the dorms are just a cruel reminder of the hot cider and caroling you could be enjoying if you weren't solving calculus problems and proof-reading lab reports. As the fall semester comes to a close, crazed college students start snipping their final papers into snowflakes and taking the advice of nihilists. There's no reason to live because Linguistics 403 has brought you more paper cuts than joy. Daylight hours may be shorter but the days feel much longer when they're filled with cracking your chapped and bleeding knuckles at a keyboard and (unintentionally) getting high off of rubber cement.
This is a time when everyone questions their choice in major. Art students, filled with remorse as they stare at their flaccid canvases, wish they had majored in management or engineering. Chemistry majors bemoan their acid-stained hands and question whether it's too late to switch to English. Every moment calls for Shakespearean heights of self-reflection!
The answer, silly birds, is to major in history. Pull out your mob cap and biographies, and read why:
The answer, silly birds, is to major in history. Pull out your mob cap and biographies, and read why:
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Ode to Jack Skellington
By Jade Miller
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
If you're not watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" this holiday season, you are missing out on some serious Quail Bell-type cheer. Add this Christmas classic to your must-watch list and then you can also get a crush on the heartthrob with no heart, Jack Skellington.
Jack, I think you’re quite a swell guy
It doesn’t matter you’re all bones
And don’t have beautiful blue eyes
I can gaze deeply into those hollow sockets
And lose myself as you tuck our clasped hands
Into your classy suit pocket
Why, oh why
Would you choose Sally over I?
I may not be made of fabric, and have hair of yarn
But I more than make up for it with my charm
My skin will feel like fire under your fingertips
Give some feeling of life back into your lips
The Pumpkin King and I were meant to be
Jack, don’t you see?
I’ll care for Zero as if he were my own
And make us a nice, cozy little home.
If I must, I’ll join you under the ground
To live out the rest of our lives in Halloween Town
It doesn’t matter you’re all bones
And don’t have beautiful blue eyes
I can gaze deeply into those hollow sockets
And lose myself as you tuck our clasped hands
Into your classy suit pocket
Why, oh why
Would you choose Sally over I?
I may not be made of fabric, and have hair of yarn
But I more than make up for it with my charm
My skin will feel like fire under your fingertips
Give some feeling of life back into your lips
The Pumpkin King and I were meant to be
Jack, don’t you see?
I’ll care for Zero as if he were my own
And make us a nice, cozy little home.
If I must, I’ll join you under the ground
To live out the rest of our lives in Halloween Town
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Keep on [Milk] Truckin'
By Paisley Hibou
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Before reliable home refrigerators existed and pasteurization laws were passed, many urban-dwelling Americans relied upon milkmen to deliver their dairy each morning. In the countryside, people could simply raise chickens and cows themselves, or buy milk from a farmer who went door-to-door with his cow on a leash.
In 19th-century cities, however, the probability of buying spoiled, watered down milk adulterated with cholera, tuberculosis, and other nasties was high. In the mid-1800s, it was discovered that numerous farmers even fed their cows swill, i.e., whatever grain didn't become beer during the distillation process became cow feed. These same farmers often denied their cows fresh water, believing that swill contained enough water to keep the cow healthy. Many of these cows suffered from rotting teeth and tails, even ulcerated udders. Collectively, these tragedies of agricultural practice became known as The Swill Milk Scandal.
In 19th-century cities, however, the probability of buying spoiled, watered down milk adulterated with cholera, tuberculosis, and other nasties was high. In the mid-1800s, it was discovered that numerous farmers even fed their cows swill, i.e., whatever grain didn't become beer during the distillation process became cow feed. These same farmers often denied their cows fresh water, believing that swill contained enough water to keep the cow healthy. Many of these cows suffered from rotting teeth and tails, even ulcerated udders. Collectively, these tragedies of agricultural practice became known as The Swill Milk Scandal.
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'Tisn't Shameful...
By Fairy Godmother
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
By Christine Stoddard
'Tisn't shameful...
to fight with your hair for two hours and still not look like Clara Bow.
to change your major from Business to Anthropology so you can take Mythology classes.
to finish off all your handwritten letters with a wax seal.
to play hooky one day this season and spend it watching Jane Austen adaptations.
to collect records even when you don't own a record player.
to write quixotic love poetry to an imaginary lover.
to prefer going to used book stores over buying books online.
to get so giddy when invited to a fancy pants historic restaurant---like The Old Pink House or Tobacco Company—that you take cell phone pics of the menu and bathroom.
to give your gingerbread house a bit of a gothic flair.
to put a Christmas tree up in a cemetery, knowing that even ghosts love the holidays.
to fight with your hair for two hours and still not look like Clara Bow.
to change your major from Business to Anthropology so you can take Mythology classes.
to finish off all your handwritten letters with a wax seal.
to play hooky one day this season and spend it watching Jane Austen adaptations.
to collect records even when you don't own a record player.
to write quixotic love poetry to an imaginary lover.
to prefer going to used book stores over buying books online.
to get so giddy when invited to a fancy pants historic restaurant---like The Old Pink House or Tobacco Company—that you take cell phone pics of the menu and bathroom.
to give your gingerbread house a bit of a gothic flair.
to put a Christmas tree up in a cemetery, knowing that even ghosts love the holidays.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Victorian Tree-dition
By Julie DiNisio
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
By Leonard Fancybottoms
People during the Victorian Age took many things seriously. Modesty. Propriety. Money. Social class. And Christmas trees. They weren’t messing around with when it came to Christmas décor. In fact, their era ushered in the novelty of the Christmas tree into England and the United States. In 1841, Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s husband) put one up in Windsor Castle in honor of German tradition.
With the royals fronting the trend, Christmas trees sprouted in homes all over the Western world. The Victorians decorated them with homemade objects – strings of popcorn, berries, and nuts, candles (I would caution against this, though), cakes and cookies, ribbons, and more. Save some money this Christmas and take after the Victorians by making your own decorations. Below, you’ll find one of my favorite ornament recipes.
You’ll need…
½ cup of salt
1 cup of flour
½ cup of water
Rolling pin
Toothpicks
Cookie cutters
1. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Mix together ingredients into a dough
3. Roll it out to desired thickness (I recommend about ¼ inch)
4. Use festive cookie cutters to create your ornaments
5. Use a toothpick to create a hole at the top of the shape
6. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until hard
7. Once cooled, paint, glitter, and decorate your ornaments
8. Tie a ribbon or string through the hole and hang on your Christmas tree
With the royals fronting the trend, Christmas trees sprouted in homes all over the Western world. The Victorians decorated them with homemade objects – strings of popcorn, berries, and nuts, candles (I would caution against this, though), cakes and cookies, ribbons, and more. Save some money this Christmas and take after the Victorians by making your own decorations. Below, you’ll find one of my favorite ornament recipes.
You’ll need…
½ cup of salt
1 cup of flour
½ cup of water
Rolling pin
Toothpicks
Cookie cutters
1. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Mix together ingredients into a dough
3. Roll it out to desired thickness (I recommend about ¼ inch)
4. Use festive cookie cutters to create your ornaments
5. Use a toothpick to create a hole at the top of the shape
6. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until hard
7. Once cooled, paint, glitter, and decorate your ornaments
8. Tie a ribbon or string through the hole and hang on your Christmas tree
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
We'd never forsake Jim Henson!
By Starling Root
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Sci-fi/fantasy movies are becoming increasingly more socially-acceptable--not that QB was ever too concerned about the "cool" factor. Once reserved for the likes of cult-fans alone, sci-fi/fantasy movies are sucking in viewers at the box office and earning rave reviews. From the Harry Potter and Narnia series to the renowned Lord of the Rings trilogy, sci-fi/fantasy films are adored by the world-over, but it's important to examine the lesser-known predecessors to these movies. One highly deserving film would be Jim Henson's opus "The Dark Crystal" (1982). This puppet and animatronics truly helped set the high standard for the visual effects we expect out of sci-fi/fantasy films today.
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Say "Merry Christmas"...Anywhere
By Jade Miller
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Folklore means a lot to us Quail Bell(e)s and, with it, language. That's why we're giving you this list. With it, you'll be able to wish anyone anywhere a "Merry Christmas!" Pretty much the only major language we've neglected is Faerie--but only because that has yet to be translated. Enjoy!
Afrikaans: Geseënde Kersfees
Arabic: Milad Majid
Brazil: Feliz Natal
Burundi: Noeli Nzize
Chinese: (Mandarin): Sheng Dankuai Le
(Cantonese): Sing Daan Faai Lok
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Denmark: Glædelig Jul
Egypt: Mboni Chrismen
Finland: Hauskaa Joulua
France: Joyeux Noël
Gaelic: Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Greek: Kala Christouyenna
Haiti: Jwaye Nwel
Arabic: Milad Majid
Brazil: Feliz Natal
Burundi: Noeli Nzize
Chinese: (Mandarin): Sheng Dankuai Le
(Cantonese): Sing Daan Faai Lok
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Denmark: Glædelig Jul
Egypt: Mboni Chrismen
Finland: Hauskaa Joulua
France: Joyeux Noël
Gaelic: Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Greek: Kala Christouyenna
Haiti: Jwaye Nwel
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Gearhart the Gentleman: The Christmas Gift
By Sir Gearhart
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Dear Sir Gearhart,
I'm tots miffed. My boyfriend got me a Christmas present that sucks. I know this because he did a lame job of hiding it and—duh!--I saw it. Now I feel all ugly, unloved, and under-appreciated. How can I make him see that he's stupid?
XOXO,
U.U.U.
Dear U.U.U.,
The frankness of your letter, as well as some of its foreign vocabulary, startles me. Nonetheless, I managed to decipher the heart your dilemma: Your beloved's choice in a Christmas gift for you has left you feeling like less than his beloved. Despite your impropriety, I shall give you the benefit of the doubt and kindly assume that you a comely young lady. You are likely kind-hearted, charitable, and faithful. Naturally, you would then wonder why your beau has apparently forsaken you.
The frankness of your letter, as well as some of its foreign vocabulary, startles me. Nonetheless, I managed to decipher the heart your dilemma: Your beloved's choice in a Christmas gift for you has left you feeling like less than his beloved. Despite your impropriety, I shall give you the benefit of the doubt and kindly assume that you a comely young lady. You are likely kind-hearted, charitable, and faithful. Naturally, you would then wonder why your beau has apparently forsaken you.