Sunday (May 30): Culture and Religion

In The spring in Japan, there is a holiday of importance to little girls. This is called "Hina-no-Sekku","Hina-Matsuri" (Doll's Festival) or "Momo-no-Sekku" (Peach blossom's Festival). At this time, mothers and daughters get out the Hina-Ningyo - Girls Day Dolls, and arrange them on a red cloth which may cover a structure with as many as seven steps. Here are a few links to sites that do a better job of explaining the festival than I could:

http://www.ginkoya.com/pages/girlsday.html
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/jshoaf/Jdolls/hina.htm

Saturday (May 29, 2010): Fashion

I bet when you read that I was going to do two nights of updates in a row, you thought, "Yeah, right..." But, here I am! Ready to do my Saturday column on fashion!

So what is in for Summer 2010 for little girls? You might know I check stores like Justice regularly for new fashion trends. I have to tell you I am NOT impressed this season. It looked like we were on the edge of perhaps a trend into flashy sequined stuff.... you know... SPARKLE! .... but unfortunately now that does not seem to be the case. What was thrown out to me was boring old graphic Ts, Tie dye, printed leggings, and faded denim. bleh.

BUT! I waded through and I did pull out a few gems to share with you. First - while most tie dye stuff does not scream little girl in my opinion, this cute little skirt DOES:

It is called "Flowers By Zoe". You can find it offered for sale at Nordstroms: http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3089033?cm_cat=datafeed&cm_pla=bottoms:women:skirt&cm_ite=flowers_by_zoe_tie_dye_skirt_%28big_girls%29:284164&cm_ven=Linkshare&siteId=4BI4CU9kIzw-ttu36LpvPpRR4zt4Z44lSg And it goes up to an extra large size. I may have to get one for me ... when it isn't over $50.

Ok - but what if you are wearing that cute little skirt and you want to go play on the playground? Unless you are a LHCMPA (Look How Cute My Panties Are!) girl, you'll want to preserve your dignity (as my friend Catrina says). Well, that's where this new little idea comes in - called Francie Pants! (No - seriously.)
http://franciepants.com/

Slip these on over your panties, and you can do flips and cartwheels, swing as high as you want, and climb on the jungle gym to your heart's content, even in a dress or skirt. Plus, they are cute.

And - lastly tonight - I did not leave out accessories. Check out this cute Hello Kitty watch set from Nordstrom's:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3063078?cm_cat=datafeed&cm_pla=jewelry:women:watch&cm_ite=hello_kitty%28r%29_watch_set:276911&cm_ven=Linkshare&siteId=4BI4CU9kIzw-lQ31y4Xc7KH7duMTFOZdiA


Five different bands to match your tie dye skirt or your Francie Pants.

Until next time!

Friday: What if...?

What if you won a large sum of money, but you had to spend it on your LG self (what a tragedy! ;-) )? What kinds of things would you buy? I'd really love to see your comments on this and I think others would be as well, if you could just press the little comment button. You don't have to register or use a real name or anything! I don't want this to be just a blog where I speak and everyone else just listens (reads) - though there are many who will readily say that I do enjoy the sound of my own voice! ;-)

One thing I would so love to do, if the money was enough, is to build a certain room in a house. Have you ever seen The Haunting? I absolutely fell in love with the room that had the mirrors all the way around and a carousel. I want one!!

Here is a Youtube clip of a scene with that room: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFlurIYxTfw

And what of the rest of the house? I would want to decorate it in such a fashion as that it would be a refuge for myself and my friends. I would have bedrooms decorated in the following fashions: (Which one would you want to stay in? Comment!)

Perhaps a room recalling the carousel would be fun.
For the whole room: http://www.lunamurals.com/Carousel_Room_3.html
The ceiling -

A fairy themed nursery is a must - http://www.lunamurals.com/Fairy_Tree_Nursery.html


One room would just have to house this $3,000 hand painted round crib/cradle/rocking horse combo ... maybe it should go in the carousel bedroom?
http://www.cribscompany.com/littlemissliberty-carousel-rocking-horse-crib921rh.html


We simply MUST have this Cinderella Carriage crib!!!


But we won't forget the older girls who would never want to sleep in a baby's crib. There are Cinderella beds for them as well:

Or:


A room fit for a future prima donna ballerina:


Other furniture besides beds would have to fit in the theme:




One thing I always like at LG Camp is that many girls will put signs on their doors to let you know who is staying in what room. So we'd have to have some of these made up:

To get one NOW, go to: http://www.etsy.com/listing/22917743/personalized-hello-kitty-little-girls


If I ever had the sum of money to do it - I'd have a house like this. What would you want to do with it?

Sorry it has been awhile

So sorry not to have updated in awhile. I am ready tonight to post a brand new update which I think has lots of fun ideas to look at! Expect updates through the weekend as well, with the normal Saturday (Fashion) and Sunday (Cultures) columns. (The next article will be up before midnight US EDT)

Thank you very much for my first 1,000 hits! Hopefully Sparkle Blog will be as much or more loved as its predecessor webzine.

Oh - and don't forget to comment! We love comments!