Tag Archive | Irish dancing

Congratulations Shandai and Ravyn!!!!

Only a little over 6 months late but…. ENJOY… sometimes reflecting back is a warm fuzzy all its own!master (21)

FIRST obligatory adorable kitty pics! 12096470_10153703232386151_6064828047901730230_n

IMG_2819The 10th of October marked the beginning of what I believe is already an AMAZING marriage. My oldest friend marrying the absolute love of her life! And Ken and I got to be a major part of it!! I was the MAID (see she knows how to make a girl feel young) of honour to stand next to her Man of honour. Ken got to be the driver of the bride and so much more.

Sitting in the fancy ride (the GMC thanks to the loan of the inlaws) having a pre wedding sip.

Sitting in the fancy ride (the GMC thanks to the loan of the inlaws) having a pre wedding sip.

IMG_2830The wedding was definitely not a classic church wedding and it suited them to a T. Hand fasting, an actual KNOT was tied (I kid you not… cords representing different parts of their marriage knotted in an infinity knot). The location was amazing – a state park between two major rivers, the day PERFECT! After months and months of work, organizing and positive thinking the day just came together marvelously.DSCN1194

DSCN1195I had the added task of welcoming Shandai’s mother (Wilma) into the circle during the ceremony. She passed away nearly 11 years ago from MS. I remember her… it was so amazing to do this task and honestly FEEL her THERE. I know she was smiling and dancing along with us. (of course I cried… actually I cried MULTIPLE times during the day… no one who knows me is surprised I am sure) I don’t think I can explain how… pure and special the entire experience felt.

our gift to them... that is Shandai's mom (her favourite picture of her), paper made by the kids, my welcome hand written by myself and arranged by Ken.

our gift to them… that is Shandai’s mom (her favourite picture of her), paper made by the kids, my welcome hand written by myself and arranged by Ken.

The crochet’ed top hats I made over the year (like 100) went over marvelously too… they even had a table at the reception to decorate them so people all over the place were WEARING MY HATS!

Sheep tested!

Sheep tested!

Tiny beings and tiny hats!

Tiny beings and tiny hats!

fullweb (2)fullweb (3)fullweb (4)But enough about that… let’s see, the pertinent information – THEME! Steampunk with a touch of Firefly… there was people dressed up impeccably as characters from the show. My outift, Shandai’s absolutely PERFECT gown and the Best Woman Dara’s outfits were all made by the most talented seamstress Amy Sue. I do believe I linked her before but repeat is a good thing… HERE.

Dressing at the house

Dressing at the house

12109284_10153234426095954_459992493044691786_n

Can you see the Firefly inspiration here???

Can you see the Firefly inspiration here???

My hair and make up were all in the capable hands of Kristi… She was AMAZING… the gears were all her… the hair completely her brain. The hair piece (and the ring bearer the gorgeous and pregnant Raina’s) were all Ken! My artistic man.DSCN1187

The day was perfect… sunshine and wee bit of breeze. No overheating but not shivering in the cold either. I swear it was a day made for this wedding.
12140095_10153706413941151_8564664304274129716_o

The wedding was outside and the day was PERFECT! Lots of great pictures from the ceremony and the location.

Andy (Man of Honour) placing a Serenity charm on Shandai's shoe

Andy (Man of Honour) placing a Serenity charm on Shandai’s shoe

With Raina (pregnant with TWIN BOYS!) the bearer of the rings

With Raina (pregnant with TWIN BOYS!) the bearer of the rings

Chatting, I love how our faces look like it is something completely different

Chatting, I love how our faces look like it is something completely different

Bride, Groom, Brother of the Groom (Bill... he had the best long tails EVER) and the seamstress... the AMAZING Amy Sue

Bride, Groom, Brother of the Groom (Bill… he had the best long tails EVER) and the seamstress… the AMAZING Amy Sue

fullwebLet’s see… I met a variety of new people… had an amazing experience… tasted some absolutely amazing mead. There was Irish dancing at the reception as well. With a large percentage of the guests being dancers or Renaissance Festival employees and enthusiasts it was quite the party.12122576_10200994959911650_2773561288717916963_n

One of Amy's fun selfies (on left) with Trish

One of Amy’s fun selfies (on left) with Trish

Thanks Amy, we look cute in this one!

Thanks Amy, we look cute in this one!

We stopped at a pub they dance at before we got to the reception. Pictures were taken of course.

With bridal attendant Trish

With bridal attendant Trish

12122526_10153234427315954_8062970876602714635_nThere was a photo booth area manned by the photographer’s niece and nephew… and I must say, the photographer was AMAZING… so energized and he was awesome at brainstorming and then getting fun and unique ideas across. His site is HERE. I am planning on framing these three images below (edited by the gorgeous bride herself) for display on our wall. A nice series of images from a day to remember.12167173_10153235146635954_1998140958_n

12072596_10153235109545954_4226697375616343846_n11696705_10153235152745954_74121373_nNow to blow you over with amazing images… and one more time !!! CONGRATS YOU TWO!

Just the girls in the wedding party... Emily (bridesmaid), Trish (bridal attendant), Raina (bearer of rings), Shandai (bride), Dara (best woman), Me (maid of honour... yup MAID hehe)

Just the girls in the wedding party… Emily (bridesmaid), Trish (bridal attendant), Raina (bearer of rings), Shandai (bride), Dara (best woman), Me (maid of honour… yup MAID hehe)

Bridal Party

Bridal Party

The guests at the wedding itself

The guests at the wedding itself

master (25)

master (30)

Dress repair! Amy Sue you rock!

Dress repair! Amy Sue you rock!

This entry was posted on 22/05/2016, in Uncategorized. 5 Comments

St. Patrick’s Day Resources

So with the simplicity of a single entry for all the Platypus and Dr. Seuss resources I figure why not continue the trend? Even if it is not overly helpful to the rest of the world it means I can come back next year and either avoid repeats or recover the treasures with ease. So here goes:

Books:

Worksheets

  • A fun leprechaun and pot of gold dot to dot HERE.
  • St. Patrick’s Day themed addition, where you have to choose the two numbers out of 4 that make the sum HERE.
  • St. Patrick the person worksheet HERE.
  • Christian St. Patrick’s Day worksheets and crafts HERE.
  • St. Patrick’s Day word problems (math) HERE.
  • Story pages HERE.
  • Word search with fun facts HERE.
  • Numbers 1-17 dot to dot HERE.
  • Rainbow maze HERE.

Crafts

  • Templates for pots and shamrocks HERE.
  • St. Patrick’s Day Man craft HERE.
  • Leprechaun paperdolls HERE.
  • Leaping Leprechaun craft HERE.
  • Fingerprint Pot ‘O Gold with printable template HERE.
  • How to Draw a Pot of Gold HERE.
  • Maybe not for the kids, but for the crochet whizz… a Leprechaun hat thanks to CrochetSpot HERE.
  • Shamrock Trinity Craft with a crash course on making something look plaid HERE.
  • Fuse beads/Perler beads patterns HERE.
  • Handprint rainbow HERE.
  • Make a leprechaun trap HERE. We used coloured instead of plain sticks… they were cheaper!!

General Printables

  • St. Patrick’s Day Fun Facts HERE.
  • Irish Dancer colouring page. Trinity cut her flag away to just save the dancer HERE.
  • Irish flag HERE.
  • Irish bookmarks HERE.
  • Little book of Irish slang HERE.
  • Map of Ireland HERE.
  • Irish American founding fathers (Irish men who were involved in the signing of the constitution, information and word scramble) HERE.
  • The Ghillie Girls Irish dancers. We needed something all the kids could get in on and with multiple dancers this was perfect HERE.
  • Design an Irish Dancer. The picture is the top left one of the page list HERE. Trinity loved this one, she made herself into a dancer!
  • Colour an Irish Harp HERE.
  • Colour an Irish Princess HERE.
  • Colour a picture all about Hurling a sport rather specific to Ireland HERE.
  • Fun themed labels for gifts by A Cupcake for the Teacher HERE.
  • Celtic Mandala HERE.
Games
  • The Pot of Gold Game, a basic counting game with dice you cut out and assemble HERE.
  • Go Over the Rainbow for St. Patrick HERE.
Information Links
  • Learn about Hurling HERE.
  • All about the Bodhran HERE.
  • All about the Uilleann HERE.
  • Celtic Harp history HERE.
  • Tin whistle HERE.
  • 10 inventions by Irish individuals HERE.

Of course we had to scour youTube for some videos to fit our theme! Here is a selection! Discover Ireland Long Version by Tourism Ireland…

Riverdance for some beautiful Irish dancing… AND a Facebook link HERE of a friend and her troupe as they warm up. Sadly the music playing is live and what they were practicing to was canned music we can’t hear but still… beautiful.

Our focus also fell on Irish instruments… the Bodhran…

The Uillean…

The tin whistle…

and the Celtic Harp…

We only watched the first in the series but there are THREE videos on Hurling to watch by Cokane1888 on youTube.

This entry was posted on 18/03/2013, in Uncategorized. 6 Comments