The 12 Raves Of Christmas

Here they are! And just in the jolly, good, ol' nick of time too, my Tudy-precious holiday givers and keepers!

1. The Complete Harry Potter Box Set
Why?
All 7 books come in a decorative trunk-like box - an irresistible, piece de resistance of pure, Rowling magic!
2. Ugg Boots and Slippers
Why?
Admit it, you'll wear them all year if you could.
3. Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake Mix from Williams-SonomaWhy?
It's red! It's delicious! And heaven help me, it's a cupcake!
4. The RipStik ( in pink or green please!)
Why?
No learning curves here. You'll be snowboarding and surfing in no time.
5. Cork, wedged shoesWhy?
It's a shoe-in! Height without the pain!!!
6. Pullip dollsWhy?
Could there be a cuter, 3-dimensional doll?
7. Cooking Mama: Cook Off: Nintendo Wii
Why?
All the cooking without the mess! Hello?
8. The 'Ology Collection: Pirateology, Wizardology, Dragonology, and Egyptology
Why?
Forget your gaming systems. Page after page after page, these books literally come alive on their own!
9. Harajuku Lovers WatchesWhy?
There's a paper doll in the watch. What's not to love?
10. Drawn to Life (Nintendo DS)Why?
Because you're the painter, artist and animator! Let's draw...
11. Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffles
Why?
Creamy, smooth, and just a melt-in-your-heart treat for the holidays!
12. Disney's In the Realm of the Never Fairies: The Secret World of Pixie Hallow
Why?
Told you fairies were real!

Give 'em, keep 'em.
Either way, they're all Tudy-precious!!!

A Tale of Four Sisters

Take a break from the holiday rush and enjoy Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks. This National Book Award Winner is a tale of four sisters (!), a lovely estate, and a boy in need of friends. It's a story, in the words of Jane, the second to the youngest of the sisters, "of heart and truth and adventure." And Hound and those 2 rabbits are just adorable!

Do you have sisters? What are they like?

Me? I just love my sisters!

Sugar and Spice...

And everything - CHOCOLATE! With 57% of the vote, chocolates won as your Fave Treat. Candies did sweetly with 34%, cakes and cupcakes got third tier with 30%, and cookies crumbled with 27%. Thanks for voting on my Fave Treat Poll! Sweet!

Take A Bow Wow

Man's best friend chewed up 73% of the votes on my Fave Pet Poll. Our finicky, persnickety, feline friends pounced in second with 35% of the votes. Fish swam in third with 10% and birds flew south with 9%.

Thanks for voting in! Always a treat getting to know you...

Here's what Woofy and Meowry have to say about your votes:

And Kawaii? Sigh... Kawaii's flying south for the winter.

"I Scream for Ice Cream!"

Chocolate got 46% of the vote as Fave Ice Cream Flavor! Followed closely by cookie dough with 33% and vanilla with 30%. Bubble gum with 22% and strawberry with 20% closed the vote. Thanks for taking part in my Fave Ice Cream Flavor Poll. It was Tudylicious!

Buttons and BOO!

I never thought black buttons could be so scary! Read Neil Gaiman's Coraline on a dark and sp00ky night and you'll understand what I mean! There's a door that leads to another room, ghastly things, and a horrid hand, but there's also a wonderful cat, faithful friends and a brave, brave girl! Just a B00tiful read for halloween!

I am not a Plastic Doll! :-)

Today is Blog Action Day for the Environment and if you still don't have a shopping bag made of cloth now's the time to get or make one! It doesn't have to be the oh-so-fashionable "I am not a Plastic Bag" one. Any good-sized cloth tote will do! Roll it up and scrunch it into your bag so whenever you go shopping you can just unfurl it when you need it. Lets reduce the number of plastic bags that we use and stick to cloth ones instead. Just a little Tudy Tip for Mother Earth!

It's a Treat!

For a hauntingly fun time, serve up this magical brew on your next spOOktacular Tudy party. Need help? Ask the Mummy...

The Witch's Twitch

Fill an 8 ounce glass with ice cubes. Squeeze the juice of one fresh orange. Add 4 ounces of cranapple juice. Top the potion with citrus-flavored Diet Fresca or Sprite Zero. Watch the fizzzz! Garnish with a fresh lime and a berry-flavored gummy worm.

Enjoy the magic... it's Tudylicious!

Can you Track my TudyPets?

Check out TudyDoll.com and track my TudyPets! Meet Woofy, Meowry and Kawaii, try out their different colors and, best of all, print them and take them home with you!

Art Stole the Scene!

Art won as your fave subject with a masterful 71% of the vote. Math equalled second with 33%. Reading and writing inked in at third with 29%. And science experimented at fourth with 24%. Thanks for taking my Fave Subject Poll!

Check out the Tudy Tips and Tudy Gifts links under my Memo Board for more fave polls and fave poll results!

The Room With A View

It's your school library of course! It's the one room you should get to know ASAP! Make a visit to your school library an essential part of your week. You'll get access to every literacy skill imaginable!

And make the connection: Borrow Newberry Award winner Jerry Spinelli's The Library Card. There are four stories in this book and the only thing that keeps the stories together is the reappearing, blue library card. It'll lend credence to the power of books, literature and your local school librarian. You'll never look at a library card the same way again...

Fairy Gifts

And speaking of fairy gifts, can you believe the gift given by the fairy Lucinda to Ella? Just imagining what would happen next kept me reading Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted in one sitting! And those ogres! Yikes! I guess I'll just stick to wishing for my favorite gifts instead - books and dark chocolates and paper dolls and stationeries and trips to new places and stuffed toys (still!) - and leave the fairy gifts to fiction where they belong!

So check out Tudy Gifts on my Memo Board for the results of my Fave Gift Poll and for more fun (and safe!) gift ideas!

My Favorite Princess Story

There's Cinderella and Snow White, Rapunzel and the Little Mermaid, but my favorite Princess of all is Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne (whew!), or Amy, as everyone called her. Princess Amy is M.M. Kaye's The Ordinary Princess, who was given by her fairy godmother, Crustacea, a most curious gift - the gift of being ordinary! And as you read Princess Amy's story, you realize that there are so many ordinary things that are truly wonderful - like wildflowers, and a summer day, and playing dressup and paper dolls!

What are your favorite ordinary but wonderful things? And what's your favorite Princess story?

Travel Blog

The mountains or the beaches?
The forest for the trees?
The tundra or the desert?
Which one of these?
Blog me, please.

The cruise ship or the air strip?
Or that never-ending road trip?
The lazy-days-turned-crazy-days?
Are we there yet?
Blog me, please.

The Pacific or Atlantic?
The Mediterranean or Caribbean?
The Northern or Southern Hemisphere?
Where were you?
Blog me, please.

Eloise, Please!

Have you read Kay Thompson's Eloise? It's the story of a precocious 6-year old city child who lives at the Plaza in New York City! Altho first published in 1955 (!) reading it now still makes me laugh, laugh, laugh! And makes me want to stay at a posh hotel, order room service and charge it please thank you very much! I also absolutely love the illustrations of Hilary Knight, who drew all the Eloise books. His colors? Black, white and pink all over!

Eloise has been around for more than 50 years and yet she's never been a day over 6. She's so loved that generations of little girls and their mothers go to the Plaza Hotel, not just to see the little brass plaque that lists it as a Literary Landmark (as the Home of Eloise, of course!), but also to look at Eloise's fawbulous painting in the gold lobby!

Hmmm... maybe I should have a little sister...

The Mane Event

Birds have feathers, fish have scales, and we have wonderful, glorious hair! Did you know only mammals have hair? Yes, it's our mane attraction, our special skin protectant. It's mother nature's own SPF! Hair actually grows from hair follicles. And the human head has more than 100,000 hair follicles (that's 10 x 10,000, you little mathematician!).

And here's a hair-raising fact: though hair is the fastest growing tissue in our body, it's actually dead material! "Deadlocks," if you ask me. You can cut, curl, or color it. You won't ever feel a thing.

So don't stress about your tresses! Love your hair. It's unique to you, it's unique to me. Examine each strand with a fine-tooth comb and you'll discover an engineering marvel.

And here's the ultimate, dress-for-less tip: clean, healthy hair will always be the must-have, fashion tease! Think about it. No look is ever complete without that signature 'do. Nothing completes or renews your look more than a few highlights, a new hair color or hairstyle. A new 'do, a new mood, a new look! It's that simple.

So take good care of your hair. Keep it clean and healthy. Long or short, straight or curly, it's your one and only crowning glory! Long live that sheen!!

Gnoles to the Rescue!

You've read about goblins, and maybe even about gnomes, but have you heard about gnoles? In Alan Aldridge's book The Gnole, written with Steve Boyett, Fungle is an intelligent, funny, cuddly, and wise mole-like gnole who lives in the Smoky Mountains. He leaves his beloved home, goes to New York, becomes a media darling, and faces heart-stopping and heart-breaking adventures - all to save the planet Earth!

The book was written a long time ago but I think it has a great message - we all should do what we can to help the only planet we call home!

Have You Read...

You know what? Who survives and who expires? Which spells are cast and whose magic lasts? Who comes back and who stays on track?

And no, you're not supposed to answer my questions this time!

Read and enjoy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

Woof!

And so it's Woofy's turn! His favorite book is Meindert DeJong's award-winning Along Came a Dog. Of course, there's absolutely no fashion involved in this book (sigh!). But it is an exciting and heartwarming story about a dog's search for a HOME and the creatures he becomes loyal to on the way, including an amazing red hen!

Of course, you must realize by now that Woofy is my dog and, like Meowry, you'll meet him very soon.

Any good books on your favorite animals you'd like to share?

Tudy Trivia!

Speaking of pirates (again! I just love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies!), have you heard of the book Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Hall? Tho not strictly about pirates, it IS about a mutiny! It's the book that created the legendary Captain Bligh! But did you know that there was a real Captain William Bligh and that he was born in Tinten, in a village called...
St. Tudy!!

So that got me to reading even more...

The quaint village of St. Tudy is in North Cornwall, in the United Kingdom...
AND, there's another pretty town on the northern tip of the Brittany region of France called L’Ile Tudy!!!
I think both these places are named after a monk and missionary from Brittany, France named St. Tudy!
BUT there's a church in Dyfed, Wales, named after another St. Tudy, who was a Welsh girl!

Have any of you ever visited these places? Or do any of you live there?

The Hidden Closet

Have you ever been so busy, dressing up was a chore? Or lamented, "I have nothing to wear!" despite a closet full of clothes? Then morph into the classics. Get your clue from Nancy Drew!!

Our titian-haired sleuth has remained a timeless classic since the 1930s. The Nancy Drew Mysteries, Nancy Drew Files, and Nancy Drew Notebooks continue to be read by millions of readers worldwide. Her secret? A universal desire to do what's right coupled with a keen, probing mind. And her fashion sense? Strictly classic. It has served her well time after time.

Take the case, "Nancy Drew," the movie starring Emma Roberts hitting the silver screen this summer. Here we have our amateur detective leaving River Heights to solve the Dehlia Draycott mystery in fashion-conscious, "what's hot, what's not" Los Angeles. She "retro"actively does the job, delves deep into the mystery, unaffected by the entrenched "in" crowd of Hollywood High. Sweet!!!

So here's a Tudy Tip: whether you're out solving "The Mystery of the 99 Steps," unlocking "The Secrets of the Old Clock," deciphering "The E-Mail Message," or just "Dressed To Steal" the show, clue into Drew and consider the case of "The Hidden Closet" closed!

For no closet should ever be without them: classic jean jackets, belted trench coats, white or vibrant, colored cotton shirts, fabulous-fitting (neutral, colored, faded, or tailored) jeans, slacks and capris. Keep the basics and watch the spin-offs you create. You'll always be in style. It'll always be vintage YOU!

So, what are your favorite fashion staples? What works for you time after time? Forget the trends. What's in YOUR closet?

For Patrice!

Finally read some of the Geronimo Stilton adventures! Wonder when I'll ever finish all of them! But now I know why my friend, Patrice, likes them - they're so colorful! Literally! Makes it fun and easy to read! Of course, my favorite character is Thea! She is SUCH a colorful character!

Keep on reading!

Your Favorite Books?

My friend, Patrice, told me her favorite books are the Geronimo Stilton adventure books. Haven't read them yet but I promise I will. Meowry isn't too happy about it (and you'll find out why) but she'll get over it! What are YOUR favorite books? Please share them with me!

Meow!

Meowry asked me to talk about the "Lionboy" books. Why, you ask? Because Zizou Corder's (that's the nome de plume of a mother and daughter team!) "Lionboy," "Lionboy, The Chase," and "Lionboy, The Truth" are all about a young boy, Charlie Ashanti, who speaks Cat! Charlie and his cats take you on a wild-lion-ride of an adventure to Paris, Venice and Africa! And that's why its one of my, and Meowry's, favorite books.

Who is Meowry, you ask? Well, she's my cat, and you'll meet her very soon!

Aaargh!

Ahoy there, mateys! Did you know two of the most infamous "Pirates of the Caribbean" were women? Anne Bonny and Mary Read sailed the Caribbean seas with Captain "Calico" Jack from 1719 to 1720. According to the books, "Pirateology" by Anne Yvonne Gilbert and "Pirates" by John Mathews, Anne Bonny and Mary Read were every bit the swashbuckling, sword-yielding bucaneers of legends past. And they dressed the part! No tight corsets, petticoats or bustled skirts for these ladies. No, they wore canvas trousers, fearnought jackets and sashes to cradle that ever-faithful cutlass! Anne Bonny and Mary Read were practical. They dressed like men but did it with style. They were savvy icons early on.

So would I choose a pirate's life for me? Yo, ho, ho, NO .... let's not even go there!

But would I choose a pirate's style for me? Aye, aye, me ladies! Treasure that thought!

Thank You!

To Andie, Alyssa, Bea C., Bea T., Divine, Elise, Gabby, Greg, Ingga, Jenny, JoAnn, Joe, Maudlin, Maya, Nica, Patrice, Pia, Pinky, Pita, Remi, Steph, Temika, Trisha and all the "Anonymous" ones - thanks!

Watch and Wear

Should you ever judge a person by what they wear? I know you shouldn't, but I knew right from the start there was something wrong with Mrs. Jeepers just from the clothes she wore. In "The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids" series, "Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots," couldn't you just tell? I mean, a starched white blouse with a high collar and a glowing, green brooch the size of a chicken egg? Creepy!

And remember Count Olaf in Brett Helquist's (aka Lemony Snicket), "A Series Of Unfortunate Events?" Even before he spoke, I knew he was trouble. Just check out the clothes he wore. I would never have entrusted the Baudeliere orphans to a man who dressed like that. Frankly, his jacket was a dead giveaway.

So maybe, just maybe, you can judge a person by the clothes they wear. At least you can in books! I think it's a good sense to develop about characters. What do you think?

Movies Based on Books

I loved the Disney-produced movie, "Bridge to Terabithia"! Just adored Leslie Burke's fashion sense in the movie. Much like the Newbery Award-winning-book by Katherine Paterson, Leslie's fashion style was rich, imaginative and original. It was sooo fashion forward!

And there seem to be more and more great books being made into movies - J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series (can't wait for the new movie and the last book! Sob!), C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia", and J.R.R Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, among others. Sometimes, tho, a movie pales in comparison to the book, maybe because imagination can't quite be captured by a screen, no matter how large!

What do you think? Which of your favorite books do you want to be made into a movie?

Hi!

My name is Tudy! If you've visited my website, TudyDoll.com, you already know a little about me. But I want to share a lot more stuff with you on this blog, specially about my favorite things - paperdolls, dressup, crafts, fashion, food, books and travel!

Keep posted!