That's what Ariana told me first thing this morning. And she was right. Her hair was too thick and overpowered her face. So I removed about half of it and added waves to the new thinner hair. We also decided to change her headpiece into a small crown. Here she is playing her mandolin in the chapel. The chapel is the place she feels closest to her mother so she spends a lot of time there.
I really wanted to have a mandolin for the castle but I didn't want to spend a lot of money and I wasn't sure I could make one. Today I decided to sort through my miscellaneous wood pieces to see if I had something I could use as a starting point. I was very excited to find a piece that looked like half of a wooden ball with a hole in the center of the large side. That had real possibilities. I got out the Dremel and sanded the ball into more of a teardrop shape like a mandolin. I added a skinny stick, some beads, pins, thread, paint and bits of cardstock and ended up with something that looks a lot like a mandolin. :)
Ariana likes it and she plays quite well.
is King Aran. Ariana was named for her father and her mother, Rianna. Aran is wearing a royal blue satin tunic over black trousers. He's wearing black "leather" boots and a fur trimmed metallic striped overcoat. His crown is one of the crowns I made earlier. Poke the picture to see more details.
The bed mattress sits much lower now (Ariana won't need a step ladder to get into bed now, lol) and she has a fur throw that she can use for extra warmth on the bed or on the cold stone floor. The vanity has had a makeover and now looks more "royal" and has more presence with the draping over the mirror. I also added some necklaces to the vanity top. And you can't see it, but there's a fire in the fireplace.
The banquet is complete now. I added a pastry and jugs for ale and wine. The tankards are filled with "ale" or they will look like it once the glass paint is dry. This photo doesn't show it but there's also a fire in this fireplace. All of the food was made with Crayola air dry clay. Normally I would use polymer clay but I want to use the air dry stuff before it dries out.
This isn't the best photo but I wanted to show you that there are little birds and a cannon on top of the castle tower. The cannon is an aquarium decoration that was perfectly scaled.
I left the top of her dress - just added undersleeves - but the bottom was completely redone. The underdress and undersleeves were made from a thrift store vest. The fabric has gold threads forming chain link style stripes and the edges of the vest were trimmed with tiny ruffles. They are the perfect size for the edge of the sleeves and skirt. The overskirt ends in a long train. Now she really looks like a story book princess!
The bottom of her gown looks much better now. I removed the lace and added more of the velvet fabric with trim. She has a small train that comes to a point in the back.
The unicorn got a tapestry blanket and a turquoise leather harness. Then I made the princess. She has long auburn hair and green eyes. She's dressed in velvet and lace and at the moment is not permanently attached to the unicorn. I'm pleased with the pair of them and now need to think about how to make a tower and/or castle. I think I'm going to have to make a wizard to keep, too. Darius looks pretty good standing there. :)
