The Brothers Grim - A Baby Shower

"Once upon a time there was a child who was willful, and would not do
what her mother wished.  For this reason God had no pleasure in her,
and let her become ill, and no doctor could do her any good, and in a
short time she lay on her death-bed. When she had been lowered into
her grave, and the earth was spread over her, all at once her arm
came out again, and stretched upwards, and when they had put it in
and spread fresh earth over it, it was all to no purpose, for the arm
always came out again.  Then the mother herself was obliged to go to
the grave, and strike the arm with a rod, and when she had done that,
it was drawn in, and then at last the child had rest beneath the
ground."

--The Willful Child; The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales

Well that was kinda depressing. Who wants to read a fairy tale that ends with  "and then she died."? The Brothers Grimm were two German authors that published a collection of dark (to say the least) fairytales in 1812 that became the basis for lots of our most loved Children's stories. Snow White, Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood...all Grimm fairytales. Our favorite Disney princesses and most of memorable bed time stories did not start off as the smiling, fluffy, kid friendly chapters we all know. Instead of happy endings and fairy god mothers, the original tales were seriously dark and rarely ended well for the main characters. 

Why am I telling you this? Well because my mom is throwing me a baby shower with a Brothers Grimm Fairytale theme. My mom has a unique sense of humor. She is as creative as she is quirky. Today I got this in the mail.

                  

It's a book! And that's Rapunzel on the front! The paper feels just like parchment and she even used little pieces of twine to bind the pages together.

                  
  
She made the paper by dipping it in coffee and baking the paper in the oven. My fabulous friend Jena has a beautiful 5 year old daughter who made her read the invitation like a book 15 times!