Thursday, November 7, 2013

Victorian Dinner Party #4



Guests found their place at the table with the help of  Victorian sketches skewered on a Victorian-type hat pin. I was able to find a sketch of a Victorian figure that was specifically tailored to the interest of each of my guests. For example, the cyclist above was perfect for my husband, who spends much of his time on one of his bicycles.  I found the sketches in the illustrated diary of a Victorian lady, whose charming ink and watercolour sketches detail her life's happy, trying and often amusing adventures. 


I made the hat pins from a selection of beads, including one's that gave a nod to the Victorian jet beads that were so popular at the time. The pins were purchased at a bead store.


The beads were easily threaded onto the pin and a clasp kept the pointy end safely covered.
 

 I added a small folded piece of cardboard at the back of each figure and ran the pin through it so that it held firm on the pin, then placed one in each wine glass.
 

My guests took their pins and sketched figures away with them at the end of the evening. There was a lady painting at an easel for my artist friend, a woman watering her flowers with a watering can for my gardener pal, a lady reading a book and petting her cat for my librarian/reader friend who also happens to have a pet cat, and a woman walking her lovely wee dog for my friend who regularly walks her beloved Abby, and of course my free-spirited and wildly spontaneous pal was portrayed by the hair-tossing lady dancing the hornpipe with arms flailing. There were similarly appropriate choices for my male guests.
 

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