The Bow Belle

Okay, it's not technically summer yet, but after Memorial Day has come and gone I'm ready to bust out the hot weather bows.  Case in point. I don't know how sweet I am exactly, but I'll dig it.  Like my pineapple bow, this one is supposed to be scented, and like the pineapple bow the scent is almost undetectable.  I CAN smell it though if I really jam it to my nose and sniff hard, and it's...actually kinda nice.  That being said, I'm glad the smell has mostly worn off, as stuff like that can smell like cheap perfume.  I also like the teeny-weeny seeds!  They're little blops of shiny black plastic, but they play their intended role very well. Let's face it, seeds are a fact of life if you like watermelon.  All the other melons I can name have the seeds gathered in the center of the melon, but watermelon just HAS to be the oddball!  They never bothered me when I was a kid (I usually swallowed them, to my mother's chagrin), but I'll admit that I pre...

Finally, the saga of the lemonade bow is complete!  As y'all have probably noticed, a lot of my nicer bows are gifts from my mother, and that is the case today.  She ordered several bows from one store at the beginning of May, and before too long the package she ordered was on the way...or so Mama thought.  A day before the box arrived Mama received a message from the seller warning her that the box she was about to receive contained the wrong order.  The seller reassured Mama that she'd make it right, and long story short, she did.  So now I have two boxes full of hair bows, and since the first one had the wrong order it was sort of a blind box opening.  Toy fans tend to like blind box items, and I am a toy fan, so this excited me.  Here's my first glimpse of the contents of the wrong box.  Presumptive store is  AdoraBowsStore , which was already one of my favorite shops. Here's the contents!  There's eight of 'em all told. Even though ...

Today's bow has a humorous story behind it, one that I can't tell in full here because the story is not yet complete.  But the full story WILL come!  Hopefully it'll be today.  Anyway, here's my bow.  I think the Etsy shop is AdoraBowsStore . Apparently I am now Mommy's main squeeze!  LOL, well, Mama and I ARE close, so I don't guess I'll object too loudly.  Besides, I love lemonade.  My best friend in high school HATED it for some reason, but I never found out why because she had a mondo seizure right after we talked about the lemonade.  Here we both were, solidly eightteen years of age, and she decides to develop epilepsy out of the blue.  That was insane! With summer just around the corner I reckon lemonade is the thing to have, though for me anytime is Lemonade Time.  I love the stuff that much.  But for some folks lemonade is strictly for summer.  I get that too.  Whatever suits ya! Cheers, RagingMoon1987

On this day in 1967, my favorite Beatles song " A Day in the Life " was released.  To commemorate, a Beatles bow.  Etsy shop is RoxysBowtiqueShop . George is my favorite Beatle, LOL.  I always thought he was the cutest, and I like his solo work the best.  Ironically, he doesn't sing lead on "A Day in the Life" as far as I know; Paul and Adenoid John shared that role.  Indeed, John's heavy vocal presence in the song is the main reason why Mama DOESN'T like "A Day in the Life."  She never was John's biggest fan.  She DOES like the Beatles, though; I can remember one time during my late teens, when we were all relaxing in our respective bedrooms.  Being in the mood for music I popped a Beatles CD into my player, and two seconds later Mama said from her room "You're gonna think I'm crazy, but I could swear I hear " Love Me Do ."  I replied that I was listening to "Love Me Do" and we both proceeded to have a hear...

I always thought the name of this holiday was kinda dumb, since I associate a red nose with a nasty cold or an equally nasty battle with allergies.  But either way, today is Red Nose Day ...and since Walgreen's left Malden I won't be getting an inkpen!!!  But I've got the bow...or one that can work for today. Etsy shop is Tulazohairbows .  The bows from here aren't ridiculously big, but they're comfortable and colorful with nice long tails, and some of the bows even have big pom-poms or tassels hanging from the center.  When I was a little kid I loved pom-poms; very few of my clothes had them, but I still liked them.  They were usually round (I like round things), and they were almost always colorful (I love colors), so if I had a pom-pom I was usually in hog heaven for awhile. Happy Red Nose Day, y'all!  Don't forget to donate if you can! Love, RagingMoon1987

Today's bow is one of my quirkier ones. I have a photo album on FailBook devoted to these goofy hair bows, and I've kept it a bit longer than I've kept this blog, so my FailBook friends have seen this one before.  But y'all haven't!  The bee in the center is squishy. Little-known fact about me:  I love squishies.  I don't collect them because I have a house full of dolls and teddy bears, but I love squishies.  Squishies and bees together on a hair bow?  Yes, please!  This one came from AMWBowtique , the Etsy shop that I used to love.  I got my Saggy Baggy Elephant bow from there and my Lalaloopsy bow from there, and there's one more that y'all haven't seen (it's loud with streamers like the Lalaloopsy bow).  The bows are extremely well-made and are eye-catching, but be forewarned:  they're also heavy.  LOL, that Lalaloopsy bow is probably my heaviest bow!  But getting back to squishies, I haven't found a duplicate of my bee b...

I see a goof in a hair bow looking at me.  Etsy shop is RoxysBowtiqueShop . Today is Eric Carle's birthday.  Eric Carle was a children's author and illustrator, and to my surprise he's only been deceased a couple'a years.  His best-known work is  The Very Hungry Caterpillar , but he also illustrated a number of other kids' books, including one of my old favorites, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?   I was six when I first heard Brown Bear, Brown Bear , and while it was a bit under me (I was already a proficient reader by then) I loved the rhythmic rhyming and the colors in the book.  Things didn't get really trippy until the blue horse was introduced!  Up until then the animals had been more or less normally colored, even though ducks are only yellow if they're babies ...or rubber . My bow sports the last pages of the book, where a group of children are asked what they see.  The children proceed to name everything in the book, ending it wit...

Sounds like something the Doctor would've said to one of his crazy friends, but it's actually a quote from one of my dad's favorite movies. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is probably the last flick I'd picture being immortalized as a hair bow, but the proprietors of DollfaceDesigns tends to think out of the box.  For the uninitiated, the titular Mrs. Muir is Lucy Muir, a young British widow who moves into a large house by the sea, accompanied by her young daughter and her housekeeper.  Unbeknownst to Lucy, the house is haunted by the ghost of a seafarer, and...well, they fall in love and the story goes from there.  My father, six-foot-two and three hundred pounds, was not one to cry easily (indeed, I saw him cry exactly once), but when The Ghost and Mrs. Muir came on TV one day he warned me "Better sit in front of me, Sarah.  This movie often makes me cry."  So I did, and so we enjoyed the flick.  Indeed, it has its emotional moments, as well as a few moments t...

The bow today is a simple one, a pink grosgrain cheer bow that I picked up at Wal-Mart when I first started wearing hair bows. The earrings, on the other hand...well, they're these.  Etsy shop is hobbittownjewelry . The doll is the same on each earring, and she's one of my favorites, My Child.  My Child dolls were glorified rag dolls that were meant to compete with Cabbage Patch Kids.  Despite being better looking all-around than Cabbies, My Child wasn't around long, and as a result a doll in good condition can go for...oh, a couple hundred bucks.  My doll's name is Morgan, and her review of her can be found HERE , but if you don't want to click on the link, here's a better look at her.  Morgan has a saggy, faded face, so I only had to pay eighty bucks for her.  Both problems can be mended, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Please ignore the fact that Morgan is wearing a Magic Nursery dress.  My Child could share clothes with Magic Nursery toddlers ....

Have you ever seen one of my bows and thought "What the hell was that designer thinking???"  Well...today I'm feeling that. Y'all ready for this?  We've got three colors (more if one counts the owls), three prints (two styles of polka dot and the aforementioned owls), and four styles of ribbon (grosgrain, tulle, glittery pink, and glittery silver).  To me it's kind of a hot mess, but my mother loves it.  LOL, if she likes it then that's important, as my mother's opinions are important to me.  Plus, it matches two of my favorite blouses.  It did pull the snot out of my hair going in, though.  Par for the course with mass-produced bows, unfortunately. What say y'all?  Hot or hot mess? Love,  RagingMoon1987

How do you put all your favorite colors into one thing?  Why, my dears, you tie-dye it!  Case in point. This is an Etsy number, but as is often the case it was a gift so I don't know what shop.  I plan on getting a lot of mileage out of this bow though, because it matches just about everything I own.  It's even got some pink! Did y'all know that I didn't own my own tie-dyed shirt until I was fifteen?  Yep, I'd always wanted one, but Mama was afraid the dye would come undone in the wash and annihilate a load of laundry.  Legit concern, because that did happen with an ill-placed shop rag one time.  But the modern-day, mass-produced tie-dyed shirts are more colorfast, and once Mama learned that she relented and I had more tie-dyed shirts than one could shake a stick at.  My first one was your traditional spiral pattern with a fair amount of yellow and some other muted shades thrown in, and before my stay in hell high school was over I had one in sha...

This one is one of my more macabre bows.  Etsy shop is Nekollars , and be forewarned:  a lot of that shop's stuff is BDSM-related. Yes, that's blood on the bow (fake blood, of course).  I like to joke that I was running with scissors.  Remember these? Believe it or not the bloody scissors are popular with some of my patrons at the library.  I like to call them my murder earrings, LOL.  Indeed, I did kinda wake up this morning wanting to murder someone.  A gimpy leg, blurry eyes, fleas, and a nonfunctioning A/C made for a sleepless night.  I plan on doing something about the fleas TO. DAY., so that at least won't be a problem for much longer. Adieu, RagingMoon1987

Today's bow is one that I forgot I had.  For shame! It's a lovely shade of blue, and the flipsides of the sequins are purple. Either way it matches my new scarf.  Very typical of a JoJo Bow; JoJo herself once said that her own bows got more sparkly as time passed, and in a way, so do mine.  Sometimes my jobs are simpler , and sometimes they're over the top ...and heavy!  Either way they suit me! Love, RagingMoon1987

This is something new to the blog:  a repeat!  Today we see the return of the Cat in the Hat and his mischievous little cronies.  I last wore this bow on March 24th . Mama got me a new Dr. Seuss-themed shirt, hence the bow.  I do have another Dr. Seuss bow somewhere, but it's buried under...well, under more bows! Oh well, I've been on a Dr. Seuss kick lately anyway.  A couple'a nights ago I dug up a childhood favorite and watched it.  Most of my friends associate the Grinch with Christmas, but our green frenemy also had a program for Halloween entitled Halloween is Grinch Night .  The original title was just It's Grinch Night , but the premise was the same:  a shift in the weather got the animals around Whoville all riled up, and presumably the noise they make gets the Grinch ticked off.  So he takes his wrath out on the denizens of Whoville.  More at eleven.  Anyway, I had that on VHS growing up and my sister and I watched it a lot...

To quote Mr. Jinks, let's play "bumblie bee!" Mama got this one for me, and by luck of the draw I happened to see which Etsy shop it came from.  One of my favorite shops, CutiePatootieBows17 , supplied this one, and it's got...pretty much everything that I love.  It's got bees, it's got two of my favorite colors, it's got subtle sparkles, and two different colors of polka dot.  Some of my best bows have come from there...and yet I haven't bought any of 'em myself!  Mama always does the dirty work. Have a bee-youtiful day, y'all!  The weather here is glorious for a change. Love, RagingMoon1987

Among the holidays celebrated today is Hurrah for Buttons Day.  Why, I don't know, but I've always loved buttons.  Somewhere in my bedroom I have a box of 'em stashed away, and I also have a hair bow covered in them.  Go figure. It's also got a tiger on it!  I love his smug face! Etsy shop is MoFunAccessories .  I've gotten a number of off-beat items from this shop.  If you're a little on the crazy side like I am, this shop is your go-to.  The proprietor of the shop is also not shy about packing extras in with the item ordered, which is the case here.  I'd ordered a space-themed bow for last year's reading program, and the tiger showed up along with it.  I love the space bow, no question, but the tiger was a completely random addition and I ended up liking it even more. Love, RagingMoon1987

After the rain yesterday the temperatures jumped, and now it'll be in the eighties for the foreseeable future.  Guess who has an air conditioner that's on the blink?  <raises hand>  This has been an ongoing problem over the past few years, and I believe it's time to get a new AC.  But in the meantime I'll wear this goofy thing. I never thought orange and pink made a good combination, but for college I was given a set of orange and pink sheets, plus an orange and pink comforter that was the warmest thing on the planet.  I thus grew to love the combination, even though the colors do clash badly.  What can I say, I've always liked colors that contrasted or outright clashed.  I like the addition of fake pearls, too.  It's another juxtaposition, something kinda classy with something kinda casual. Oh yes, and the daisies are smiley faces.  In high school my attitude was often "If you can't wear a peace sign, wear a smiley face."  Rather ...

With yet more rain in the forecast I elected to wear something watertight...sort of.  I wear this particular bow with one particular shirt, and that shirt hasn't been clean for a long time, but...I got around to washing the shirt!  Pardon the stray cat hair on the bow; such things are inevitable when one owns nine cats. The fun thing about this bow is that it's actually meant for a dog collar, not hair.  See the Velcro loops? Like the music note bow tie I was determined to make this work, so I bought a hair chopstick for it.  It's a simple hair stick, made out of polished, sealed wood. The chopstick is thick, so I have a hard time getting it comfortably placed.  But it does the job well. Oh yes, I've also got these.  What good is a rubber duckie theme without earrings? These look like they'd weigh a ton, but they don't.  They're dangly, but unlike a lot of dangly earrings they're also very comfortable.  Just don't wear them to a bar fight, LOL. C...

Or not, since I'm a Sith, complete with a lightsaber bow to match.  Etsy shop is PreciousWonderland .  This one completes my "nerd trilogy;" pill-popping Pac-Man and Doctor Who take the other two slots (those debuted on March 22nd and April 19 , respectively). Yeah, I align with the dark side.  I have ever since my bout with COVID-19.  See? LOL, I took that picture of my own ugly mug on the day I tested positive for COVID-19, back in January of 2022.  I had only a mild case, but boy, did I feel lousy!  I announced to my Failbook friends that I had the virus and that it had turned me into a Sith Lord, and my uncle responded "Yes, sweetie.  Join us on the dark side!"  LOL, so now I'm a Sith.  And I am your father. For the record, I am NOT a hardcore Star Wars fan (yet).  I have nothing against it, and I think Harrison Ford/Han Solo is a hottie, but I've never seen the movies, never read the books, and sometimes I'm even lucky if I can tel...

My sister is actually the penguin fan of the family, but that doesn't stop all of us from liking them!  Etsy shop is Tutu2CuteShop . There's a reason that I'm wearing a winter bow in spring.  A few years ago the library's summer reading program had an ocean theme, and our shirts were pale blue with penguins.  Mama subsequently got me a matching bow for the occasion.  As a result I can wear this bow whenever I want to! Have any of y'all ever seen penguins swim?  My mother had an opportunity to see penguins at St. Louis once, and she got to watch them for herself.  It's no secret that penguins can't fly, but when they're underwater they sure look like they're flying!  Kinda makes me wish I was a penguin myself (I can't swim).  Did y'all also know that some wild penguins have ZERO fear of humans?  The penguins I saw lived in Antarctica, where the only humans around are scientists and nature lovers who mean no harm to the native fauna.  The ...

Like my Lalaloopsy bows, this one comes from the colorful, price-gouging world that is MGA Entertainment.  I have a good-sized collection of Little Outrageous Littles, so when I saw this bow with one of the more colorful characters on it...well, y'know.  The doll is one that I don't have, and she is appropriately named " Splatters ." I dig that bow you've got, Splatters!  Since these dolls are supposed to be "outrageous" plenty of 'em wear big hats or hair bows or the like.  I also have a paint splatter bow , but now I'm curious about finding one similar to the one Splatters has got.  If I can't it'll be an easy one to make.  For the uninitiated, Little Outrageous Littles are better known as L.O.L. Surprises.  Initially they were these three-inch dolls with huge heads and huge eyes that came in an opaque round pod, and as with many toys in this day and age one had no idea which character they were getting.  The line has become tremendousl...