I Wish...I Wish... Into the Woods {Photo Shoot}

I wish......I wish......what do you wish? Have you ever had a dream that you wanted so badly you could taste it? Well you are in good company because so did Cinderella, Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, the Baker's wife. Wait, you don't know who the Baker's wife is???? Wahhhheeeeeeellll, let me introduce her to those of you not familiar with the ever magical play Into the Woods. This story houses all of the original fairytale princesses Mr. Walt told you about and then some. Each of these characters wish for something they don't have and then set out to make these wishes come true. The central characters, in my mind, are the baker and his wife. They long for a child but aren't able to conceive because of a dark and sinister witch's curse. Enter Meryl Streep, who will be playing the witch in Disney's newest motion picture Into the Woods coming out Christmas Day!!! I can HARDLY wait!!!!!!! Now, because this is my most favorite play and I have seen it about a dozen times, I reeeaaaalllllly (insert me doing a somewhat crazy potty dance while saying that) wanted to do a photo shoot where we brought these characters to life in our own way. We brought in a little culture by recreating a famous Botticelli painting. The amazing Archive Costumes over at Hale Theater in Orem, Utah donated all of our beautiful costumes. Kris, the manager over there is a magician! You tell her your party, event, themed book club gathering ;), or idea and she is OFF! Runs to the back of her magical closet and brings out ribbons, corsets, hats, gloves, sweaters, canes, detailed buckles...everything! Our very own Jacque from Looks For Lovelies added finishing details (hello jewelry?) and helped with the direction for the shoot and even played our Red. And, of COURSE, our amazing photographer Summer of Summer Nicole Photography, who is in our book club as well, took all of the dreamy pictures. I am constantly amazed by the crispness of her pictures, the tone and colors. It's like she can read my mind and see what it needs to be before I even say anything.  It was a huge effort and I am SO excited to show you all of the pics....ready???

Spooooooky right? =) Now, our book club, Delicious Reads, if you haven't noticed or if you are new here, goes above and beYOND when it comes to being creative. Through elaborate themes, menus, dressing up, off site photo shoots, retreats...and we read books HA! They are the first ones I went to when wanting to recreate these characters. First up? The witch. Our wonderful book club member and celebrated new author Robin was able to play a darker side as she tried her best to keep Rapunzel from any and all evil........and casting curses left and right. 

{shrug} It's what they do. 

Her makeup consisted of pale foundation and lots of contouring to make wrinkles, cuz she has none ;). Isn't she terrifying? 

Beautiful Kara, whom you may remember from our Hedwig shoot, portrays Rapunzel. This is one of my favorite gowns that Hale Theater donated to the shoot. Being a mom I can definitely relate to wanting to shield my children from all that is evil in the world. Rapunzel's story is an over the top depiction of what could happen.

Ah, our beautiful Red portrayed by Jacque blows my mind. She is the most perfect person to portray the innocence and wonder of Red. Her dowey eyes are stunning and her lips crave color. I used MAC's Relentlessly Red on her (get it?) and deepened the corners with a touch of MAC's Dark Side.

 Can you see me? That's ME! lol  It was actually really fun to be in front of the camera with this one since I would LOVE to be her in the play (she's my fav). To reverse the curse of the witch, there are four things the witch told me and "my husband" to find. One of them is a cape as red as blood. It's not as easy as you would think. Red and Jacque both love their clothes, and rightly so =).

  Look at us checking images...awwwwww! I love that Summer captured this {heart}.

No mashing of fairytales can be complete without mentioning the Little Cinder Girl. Beautiful Kitch acts out the most iconic phrase in the whole production...I wish. She, of course wishes to go to the festival. To dance, to be free, to meet the prince. Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.

Then again, who wouldn't want to be free from ridicule and hard labor? Poor Cinderella had to live in the shadows of three rather large personalities. Carissa from Carissa Miss and Angie from our unforgettable Capital shoot were PERFECT for these roles. The over the top faces and extravagance! Angie, might I add is obsessed with watching ANTM and KILLED all of her shots! She also was hugely responsible for helping everyone else pose which, if you aren't a professional model and you're asked to step in front of the camera, is a huge blessing! I loved her direction and it always turned out amazing when we tilted this way, bent that way, like she said. That girl, talent!

 These two sisters live to be known by the wealthy and most importantly the prince. HOW could he not find them irresistible? 

And what is the step family without the wicked stepmother? Kellie, also from book club yielded a stern expression and amazing bone structure to the beautiful, yet cruel caretaker of poor Cinderella. The lengths this woman will go to to have her daughters wed to royalty. Isn't her gown stunning???

 

Here is the whole inspiration behind the shoot. We wanted to find a painting with just enough people to supply us with a vision for just the "Women Of the Woods". La Primavera by Botticelli fit the bill perfectly. The lad in the cape was perfect to be Red, the three dancing women our stepfamily, the woman in the middle, the baker's wife (remember her being the central character), next is Cinderella gathering something in her gwn and longingly wishing to be apart of the dance to her right. Lastly you see the struggle between the witch and Rapunzel. Obviously this is not what he had in mind when he painted it but put our characters in the same positioning aaaaaaaaannnnnd.....

Voila! Our very own Botticelli inspired, Into the Woods inspired photo. Inspiration within inspiration, it's like Inception lol! I cannot tell you what it does to me that these women are willing to jump out of reality, get made up and go pose out in the woods so that I could have a dream realized. I was seriously giddy the whole day! 

 The cast for Disney's Into the Woods is ridiculous! Don't miss it. I plan to be in my seat, Christmas Day, WITH my popcorn, IN Sacramento!!!!! I am SO beyond excited to go home for the first time in our married lives for Christmas!!! We just told the boys that we are leaving tonight and that they are all packed up and ready to go! Are you going? Do you have your tickets yet? Go to the wood!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Photos: Summer Nicole Photography

Makeup: Me =)

Hair: Jennifer Squires & Angie T.

Styling: Jacque from Looks For Lovelies & Kris from Archive Costumes

Check out our Book to Movie post on Into the Woods

Jen Springer

2014 Delicious Reads Book Club Retreat

Welcome to our first annual Delicious Reads Retreat!

This retreat has been in the works since the very beginning of the year. I have been fussing over it and worrying about all the details for the whole year because I wanted to spoil my members and kick off the holiday season with a BANG!

{Swag Bags}

I envisioned from the beginning of planning that I wanted to give each of our members a Swag Bag of goodies to take home with them and that's just what I did.

We came up with this tote that looks like a piece of paper. One of our members sewed them all and we will post a DIY for them very soon which I will link to!

Thank you to all the companies that donated items to put in our swag bags!

CENTS OF STYLE for the darling colored stud earrings

RUBY BLOOM BOUTIQUE for the gold chain necklaces

THE BEST IN UTAH for the gift bags full of LOTS of fun surprises

BELLE ROSE CONFECTIONS for the delicious "Hot Chocolate on a Stick"

I also want to thank the people who donated items for our raffle that went on all night long, awww yeah!

*THE BEYOUTY BUREAU for donating the awesome gift bag full of cosmetic goodies!

*UNFORGETTABLE JULES for the darling gold flamingo necklaces

*THE KINGS ENGLISH BOOKSHOP for donating a gift bag along with a $15 gift card

*PUREZA SALON & MEDI SPA for donating three gorgous Frankie Rose lipsticks and some   Kerastase hair product.

 DELICIOUS READS donated some Harney and Sons pumpkin spice tea (one of my favorites), some  library themed thank you cards, "Sense & Sensibility" book and a cute Jane Austin reading quote. {FREE PRINTABLE AT THE END OF THIS POST!}

*CLASSY COSMETICS for donating a coupon good for a 1 time makeup application.

*RUBY RIVER STEAKHOUSE for donating two $50.00 gift cards!

*PERSNICKETY PRINTS for the $25.00 gift certificate

AND a big Thank You to all of the Book Club Members who helped in getting donations!

Our newest book club member is sweet baby "Ryo" Summers son. He was in baby heaven being surrounded by so many women who wanted to hold and snuggle him!

 {Author Visit}

One of our favorite authors, Teri Harman, came up to our retreat to talk about her new book that we read for the month of October, "Black Moon"
See our review of Black Moon, our meeting details and photos with Teri HERE.

We had a delicious spread of food to devour (which we did no problem)

{Italian Soda Bar}

We had to have an Italian Soda Bar! If you're looking for Syrup check out the Holiday Syrup on Amazon: (2 Vanilla, Hazelnut, Peppermint, Gingerbread and Caramel) or you could go Traditional (with Caramel, French Vanilla, Vanilla, Raspberry, Peppermint and Hazelnut)

{Decorations}

We brought a few decorations to celebrate "Black Moon" the 2nd Book in The Moonlight Trilogy but we kept it simple since we were not having a typical meeting.

But, you should check out the over the top book party we threw for Teri's first book BLOOD MOON if you'd like ideas and inspiration!

 

{Birthday Wishes}

One of our members and blog contributors ROBIN had her actual birthday at the retreat so we wanted to make sure we celebrated it with her. She is so dedicated and we love her for spending her special day with us!

{Photo Booth Shenanigans}

You can't have a girly get together without a photo booth!

Find these free printable word bubbles for your photo booth HERE

We stayed up photo boothing, painting our nails, listening to dance music, and talking about anything and everything until the wee hours of the night. We went to bed so late, like 4:00 am late, but we had to get some sleep because we had the important task of picking out our books for 2015 in the morning!

Oh and I am so excited for all the books we choose to read!

All in all I think we had a FABULOUS retreat that we will continue to do year after year!

{FREE PRINTABLE}

To download just click on the image you prefer and save to your computer.
Each print was designed as a 5x7.
Enjoy!

CREDIT**All photos were taken by the talented Summer Nicole Photography 

Thanks again to Teri Harman for coming to our retreat,we always love having you!

DONATIONS:

CENTS OF STYLE 

RUBY BLOOM BOUTIQUE 

THE BEST IN UTAH

BELLE ROSE CONFECTIONS 

THE BEYOUTY BUREAU 

UNFORGETTABLE JULES 

THE KINGS ENGLISH BOOKSHOP 

PUREZA SALON & MEDI SPA 

CLASSY COSMETICS 

RUBY RIVER STEAKHOUSE 

PERSNICKETY PRINTS 

Mockingjay Photo Shoot: Capitol Look {Part 2 }

PANEM TODAY,

PANEM TOMORROW,

PANEM FOREVER.

The Capitol of Panem is a technologically advanced, utopian city where the nation's most wealthy and powerful live. 

An outrageous sense of style and fashion are very important to the wealthy citizens of the Capitol. It is common for them to tattoo and dye their bodies in extravagant bright colors, as well as undergo plastic surgery to alter their appearances.  Capitol residents frequently wear wigs in a multitude of colors.

Here is our interpretation of a girl from the Capitol...

District citizens view the people of the Capitol as alien, but here at Delicious Reads we LOVE them because they set our imaginations on fire!

I have a story for this Capital Gal. May I share it? Oh thank you! lol 

This is a girl that came from the slums of the capital. A girl that wanted to fit in with the ritzy, over styled, zany Capital crowd. The women that would walk around in a "half in reality" kind of way. Not a care in the world, no wrinkles from stress. No matter what she did, she didn't seem to be quite right. She didn't say the right thing, do the right thing, love the same things or wear anything that came close to the women she so desperately wanted to be.
She began to watch closely to see where these women went to get their hair done, where they received their injections for face mutations and mood alterations and where they went to shop for clothing. After a few months, she finally had it! A long list of the places she too would visit. The shop keepers were only to happy to hear about her desire for change. She was so eager in the makeup shop that the woman called her a tigress and proceeded to add various tiger like stripe marks. Her contouring was injected into the hollows of her cheeks which resulted in bruising (hence the purples and pinks), but she didn't care, she was on her way! They permanently removed her brows and gave her markings that would make her unique...just like the rest of the crowd. She went and had her hair done where they spent hours concocting the most delicious colors and curls. The dress maker constructed the glitz and glamour she had been hoping for.
The last and most important shop she entered would seal her fate. A woman sat on a lone chair, surrounded by bottles and bottles of brightly colored liquids. The air was thick as all the different perfumes mixed from each container and hung like a cloud above the woman's head. She giggled every now and then which unsettled our capital hopeful but not enough to back down. She had come this far and was determined to finish. The woman held out a wine glass full of a blue liquid that she promised would make all of her dreams come true. As long as she had a ready supply, she would not only fit in (since everyone else drank fluids from this shop) but she would no longer worry about anything. Nothing.
She drank.
The cool liquid quickly became warm as it slid down her throat and coated her insides like thick maple syrup. Slowly, her cares left. But with them left her passion, her ideals, her happiness at seeing the sunset, her life. She was as light as a cloud, giggling over silliness. She walked differently, spoke differently and felt differently about everything. She finally fit in and the drones all around her welcomed her with open arms and mutilated faces. It was worth it right? To lose herself completely? She fit in.

Did you like it? That, my friends was a long winded story I had as I thought about making up our amazingly talented model Angie (who should be rocking ANTM btw). I used Kryolan brand prosthetic adhesive to erase Angie's brows (amazing tutorial here) then used face paint to create her new pink and white tiger-esque brows. I used MAC's "Fig 1" "Carbon" and "Passionate" to create the contouring. Two sets of Halloween lashes were used. Purple for the ridiculous element and black to bring some depth. Angie had a makeup palette that had butterflies on it. We clipped them off, thinking our capital girl could have had a fascination for them. Some she trapped in the netting of her skirt, some in her hair and because of the effects of the liquid she drinks one even stuck to the skin of her face (I used spirit gum). 

CREDIT:

Photography: Summer Nicole Photo

Makeup: Jen with Classy Cosmetics

Styling: Jacque with Looks for Lovlies

Model: Angie Terburg

Hope you enjoy!