the life of a princess

Ahhhh, the life of a princess - it must be wonderful! Just look at the fairy tales. In almost all the popular stories, the beautiful heroine is in one or more of the following situations: kidnapped or forced to leave her home, orphaned, locked in a tower, raised by a non-parent, enslaved or homeless, or she's just bored and sells her soul for a pair of legs. Sounds glamorous, doesn't it? Most of the princess movies I watch, I get to the happy ending and think, "that poor girl is going to need years of therapy."

Well, as problematic as the princesses' lives are, we girls are obsessed with them and the happily ever after. And why not? There's nothing quite as fun as dressing up and feeling beautiful. 

And because the mass markets simply cannot make a beautiful child's princess gown for my daughters' meeting with Cinderella next month, I've taken it upon myself to make sure they have the best dresses at the castle.

CINDERELLA 

   

I found these blue pumps at Goodwill for $1.50. Not bad for a pair of dress-up shoes, huh? It was even worth cleaning a glob of hairy gum off the bottom. No, she will not be wearing them around the Magic Kingdom, but they have served as fantastic glass slippers!

RAPUNZEL

  

Nor will she be going barefoot.

And there you have it. It's the most fun I've had making little girl dresses in a long time. The Rapunzel dress was especially fun to make because of all the little details. But the Cinderella dress is so authentic and it makes me smile when she clomps around in it with her too-big-for-her shoes singing, "We're going to Disney World!"