Book Review: Princess Academy

Star Rating 4/5

Princess Academy

By Shannon Hale

Though she has always lived on Mount Eskel, Miri is not like the other mountain girls. She is small and fragile like the flower she was named after. Each day while all the other members of the village work in the quarry, except those who are too young or too old, Miri watches her family’s goats. Her father won’t allow her to work in the quarry with the others. Unable to contribute in the same way as the others, Miri fears she is worthless and wonders whether her father even loves her. Daily she dreams of cutting out linder blocks and using quarry-speech with the others. Even her childhood friend Peder has started to work with the others, leaving Miri alone with the goats.

Miri’s life quickly changes, however, when word from the king comes to the mountain. The priests have decreed that the prince’s bride will be chosen from the girls of Mount Eskel in the summer. Within days of the announcement, all the girls younger than the prince are escorted from their homes to the princess academy. Suddenly Miri’s dreams of working in the quarry and talking to Peder are nearly pushed aside by new ones. Dreams of becoming a princess and giving her family a grand home in the lowlands fill her thoughts. Unfortunately, Miri’s excitement is short-lived when her attempt to help a friend costs all the girls their opportunity to visit their families before winter sets in. Not only are the girls angry with her, but the academy’s tutor also punishes her severely, making her feel more insignificant and stupid. Can Miri find favor in the eyes of her tutor and classmates and perhaps the prince as well? Will she be able to go to the lowlands after all? But then again, does she really want to leave her village in Mount Eskel, Peder, and all she’s ever known?

Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy is more than a coming-of-age novel. Miri’s story teaches lessons children need to learn and adults need to remember. Not only does Miri mature, becoming more aware of herself and her abilities, throughout the course of the novel, but she also begins to recognize the situations of those around her and realize her own limited perspective. At the start of the novel, she, like most of us, only sees things from a very egocentric point of view. While she does not understand why things are the way they are, she does not question them or her own perceptions. At the academy Miri is forced to look beyond her beliefs and ideas and in turn begins to understand her potential. Miri’s experience is no bed of roses, however, which is due in part to her situation and in part to her character. Her idiosyncrasies and personality make her time at the academy difficult, but they also create a more realistic and engaging heroine. Miri struggles to find acceptance, to persevere despite isolation and disdain, and to discover her personal desires and strengths. As Miri works through each obstacle she faces, she becomes a valuable friend and a contributing member of her village. She learns that she is more important than she ever realized and that she can make a difference whether or not she is chosen to be the princess. Miri is an excellent role model for each of us, especially for young girls, as she learns there is more to life than being a princess.

St. Patrick's Day Card

I love making cards! This is one of the seasonal cards that I've made. The copper wire is probably my favorite part. All I did was wrap it around the papers I layered and twisted it together. The little touches make things extra special!

Fabric Flower Shamrock

For St. Patrick's Day I decided to replace my fabric flower heart with a shamrock. It was pretty simple. This time I used a green satin (or was it taffeta? I don't remember.) that was 100% acetate. It was more difficult because I wanted smaller flowers (more nearly burned fingers this way), and the acetate didn't burn quite as well as my 100% polyester red satin. It didn't melt the same and caught fire easily. I think I will look for something else or stick with polyester for my next burnt-fabric flower craft. For instructions, reference my fabric flower heart post, but instead of doing a heart do a shamrock. I like to keep things simple. :)

Simple Valentine's Day Boxes

At a valentine card party, I learned how to make origami boxes. After making one, I decided to make a bunch more to decorate, fill with candy, and place around my house. They're really easy to make and super cute! I took a bunch of pictures of the process but realized a video would be much more useful and easier to follow.

I also searched for online instructions; if you'd rather use those, click here. If you use the online instructions, I suggest you don't make the "mountain folds" as it calls them. This will make it so you have an x on the top of your finished box. Instead draw the lines with a pencil or otherwise mark the center.
The squares of paper I used were 12x12 (the box in the top left), 8.5x8.5 (three of the above boxes), and 6x6 (the striped box).

Featured!

My fabric flower heart was featured! Check it out at Giggles, Glitz & Glam. :)

Love Birds Banner

I made this using cereal boxes, scrapbook paper, red paper raffia, a pen, black stamping ink, tape, fishing line, and hot glue. Not only is it inexpensive, but it is also easy to make! It took me awhile to get the letters and birds drawn...but once that was done it went quickly (except I had to do it over several days because of my baby and his lack of a schedule).

First, cut out your cardboard (cereal boxes), letters, and birds. My cardboard rectangles were 3 13/16 inches by 5 inches. I was able to get 8 rectangles out of one cereal box; you need 9 rectangles total. To add detail, I used a black pen to make dashes around my birds to look like stitches. (I tried actually stitching first...bad plan. The birds were too small and the needle just ripped through to the edge of the paper.)

Second, smudge black ink down one side each of your cardboard rectangles.

Third, tape raffia strips on your cardboard rectangles so that the raffia separates the smudged ink edge from the rest.

Hot glue would also work.

Fourth, attach the letters and birds to your cardboard rectangles. I used photo squares.

Fifth, create bows with your raffia. Cut a strip of raffia and tie a knot in the center. Then unwrap the raffia so it flares out like a bow.

Sixth, attach bows to rectangles and draw simple embellishments. I added a few hearts, x's, and o's just on a few.

Seventh, hot glue words to fishing line/jewelry line. Make sure you put the words backwards when you glue them so they will actually be correct when you turn them around again.

I put dots of hot glue on each rectangle and then pressed the line down into them. Then to make it easy to hang each word, I created loops on the ends.

Eighth, admire. :)

I hope you all like it!

Fabric Flower Heart

This is a simple project I came up with for Valentine's Day that I really like. All it took was fabric, candles, paper, and hot glue. And, I guess, a frame in which to display the finished product. I hope you like it!

First, make your flowers. I'd never done this before. I'm quite nervous around fire too, but it wasn't bad at all. If I can do it, you can do it.

a. Cut circles of various sizes out of your fabric. They don't need to be perfect circles. I free-handed mine. Be sure to use a fabric that melts (a synthetic fabric like polyster), not a fabric that burns (like cotton). I tried cotton and it just went ashy...and smelled bad. I used 100% polyester satin from my old high school choir dress--don't tell my mother. (It's not like I've worn it since high school and I've graduated from college now. It was just taking up space with lovely red fabric for my project!)

b. Melt the edges over a flame. I used birthday candles held up with a clothespin. (Breaking the bank, I know.) If the circle catches fire, just blow it out. It adds character to the flower and looks pretty, so don't despair.

c. Holding the circle over the flame about 1-2 inches, slightly pucker the centers of the circles if desired. Be careful, since this can cause the centers to melt into black goo or make melted holes if you hold it for too long. Trial and error. You'll get the hang of it quickly. I thought this made them look more like real flowers and less like, well, circles.

d. Form your flowers by placing your "petals" inside each other and hot gluing them together. Most of my flowers were three layers, but I made some with only two that looked pretty. You can also use thread to sew them together. I tried that, but it was taking longer than I had patience. Hot glue was faster and easier for me.

e. Optional: Glue beads or buttons in the center of your flowers. I originally planned on doing this...but decided I liked how it looked without them better.

Second, place a piece of paper in your frame on which to glue your flowers.

Third, place your flowers on the page in the form of a heart.

Fourth, hot glue the flowers in place. Realize that as you glue your flowers in place, the shape may shift. I ended up altering my design and fiddling with it a bit after I'd glued several flowers in place. The other flowers had shifted, and it didn't look the way I wanted anymore. So make sure you have some extra flowers to help you rearrange the unglued portion if necessary.

Fifth, admire your handiwork. :) This is my favorite step.

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