On the last (or fourth) Monday of each month, a group of bloggers participate in a #MovieMondayChallenge, hosted by C’mon Get Crafty! We decide on a topic, genre, or specific movie to use for inspiration and everyone gets free reign to create something wonderful! This month’s challenge was. . . . KIDS! Everyone was allowed to choose their own favorite film so long as it was inspired by the challenge word. I selected a favorite of mine, as well as my daughters’, The Secret Garden. This is a made for TV movie based on the classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
The Secret Garden
Do you know the book or the movie? If not, I highly recommend it. There are a few versions of the movie and illustrated versions of the book as well.
The Secret Garden is about a young girl named Mary. Orphaned and alone she is sent to live with an uncle she has never met and tended to by his housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock (played by Maggie Smith). She begins exploring the grounds and finds a locked and unwanted garden, as well as a dying cousin, locked away from the world.
This once sullen and spoiled child begins to blossom with the tending of the garden with her cousin and friend, Dickon. Not only does the friendship and garden help Mary to heal, but the cousin as well.
My girls and I watched the movie with a few of their friends. The moody moors of the English countryside and the foreboding stone castle had their friends thinking it was a horror movie in the beginning! It does take place in the 1800’s, so the setting is dark and the clothing is of the time period as well. But it does have a happy ending and the garden is bright and colorful.
Spending Time with Friends
One of the best lessons of this movie is how much friendship can affect a person’s attitude and happiness. Tending to the garden together brings the three children together, making them healthier and happier.
My initial idea for a project based on The Secret Garden was, of course, to make something with flowers. And, since it’s been more than two years since we moved and bought new living room furniture, I’ve been saying for as long that I need to make some new pillows. I was going to make a crocheted flower pillow.
Then, a few of my friends decided to take a painting class together one evening. It was held at one of those paint and wine places. I’ve been to them before, but this one intrigued me since the painting was going to be on a framed screen.
A few minutes into the class, laughing with friends and hearing other girlfriend groups laughing, I realized this project really correlated to the movie. Plus we were painting flowers!
Mary didn’t know how to laugh and play, she had no friends. By the end of the movie she was thriving and happy thanks to friendship. As the child of wealthy self-indulgent parents, she knows how to do very little, including dress herself. So you can imagine that gardening is not a skill or topic she knows anything about. She’s out of her element and forced to try new things.
I’ve painted before, but painting pictures (and not walls) is more my mother’s specialty. Painting on a screen is something I’ve never done (I’ll have to find out if my mom has!).
We started with painting an outline and filling it in with “mud.”
The mud gave us texture and something to hold the paint. It reminded me of spackle! We painted the frame while it dried.
The instructor walked us through layering the colors. The example picture was purple hydrangeas. Purple is not a color we have in this house. Before I started I decided to change the color to blue. Our master bedroom is gray and blue with hints of lime green.
My dear friend Sandy went for the purples and painted her frame purple as well. We laughed through the whole process!
I’ve done a few other paintings, most of them have yet to find a home. The colors don’t work for my house, but they were still fun to do. A few Command Strips and the hydrangeas have a home on our bedroom wall.
I may have taken an unconventional approach to the challenge this month, but spending time with friends and trying something new is good for everyone.
Movie Monday Challenge
Now let’s see what everyone else was inspired to create for this month’s #MovieMondayChallenge!! If you’d like to join our Facebook group, you can request an invite here.
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