Everything You Need For Spring

I think spring is my favorite season. Okay, I know I’ve said other seasons are my favorite, but there is something about spring that I love so much. Spring is the season of flowers, trees budding, sweaters over floral print dresses, fresh fruit, and my birthday.

Last year (when this blog was a wee little baby), I uploaded a spring bucket list. But honestly, I didn’t do hardly any of the items I put on that list. I realize now that I need smaller things, easy things to do to make every season special. So this year I’m doing my bucket list a little differently, tons of tiny ideas that I am going to attempt to do.
 
Spring lasts for 93 days, so I want to make the most of these glorious days. A small activity a day is doable for me, I hope you’ll join me.
    
​Every year I like to get an idea of what I want each season to feel like, how I want to dress, and what activities I want to do. This spring the concept is English cottagecore, but as a twenty-first-century girl who has to live in regular society. I don’t know if that makes any sense to you, but that’s the vibe. In today's post, I’m sharing bucket list ideas, book recommendations, movie recommendations, foods to make/buy, and outfit inspo! There’s a lot here, so let's get into it.

Photo by Siim Lukka on Unsplash

​Bucket List Ideas -

• Clean out your desk and dresser drawers - Many people think of cleaning when they think of spring. For me, spring cleaning normally consists of cleaning out my drawers. Everything can get so disorganized and messy, cleaning them out just refreshes me.
• Open your windows - this is so simple, yet it really makes it feel like spring. Fresh air is so good for you, and hearing birds singing in the morning is amazing and cheerful.
• Burn a spring-scented candle - I love candles, I am a stickler for burning certain candles for certain seasons, spring candles can be anything that reminds you of spring, for me that’s putting away the evergreen and apple cider candles and going for floral and fruity scents instead.
• Make a spring mood board (on your wall or Pinterest) - A mood board is simply a collection of photos and quotes, and that’s pretty much it. You can print them out and stick them to your wall, or you can curate a Pinterest board.
• Paint your nails a pastel color - I kind of hate having my nails done, but I honestly haven’t done it in years, so I think it would be fun to do some cute nails for spring.

Photo by Kyle on Unsplash

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• Wake up early, make a cup of tea, and watch the sunrise - I did this last year on my birthday (okay well a few days earlier but that’s beside the point.) It’s super simple if you can get yourself up (heh). Make some tea, grab your Bible or some other book, leave your phone inside, and watch the sun come up.
• Walk barefoot in the morning dew - I have heard that walking barefoot can decrease anxiety levels, I’m not sure how true this is, but I’ll do anything haha. But whether or not you care about anxiety reduction, it feels so good to walk in dewy grass.
• Take a picnic somewhere - I absolutely love picnics, especially if they are cute! I got a picnic basket for Christmas and can’t wait to fill it up with goodies to take on a picnic somewhere.
• Treat yourself to a book - even though I love books, I don’t buy them for myself all that often, but I think it would be a lot of fun to treat myself to a seasonal book, especially if you go to the bookstore with friends (I have some spring book recommendations later in this post)​
• Fill your life with flowers - pick them, thread them through your hair, put bouquets everywhere, eat things with flowers in them, wear floral prints, and just go crazy with the flowers.

Book Recommendations:

I don’t know about you. But my TBR is getting a little stuffy. So many books that I just don’t feel like reading. I think it’s because I’m about done with my cozy winter reading and ready for some incredibly atmospheric spring reading.

I’m going to be sharing some recommendations with you, these are all books I have read and recommend to you with confidence.

Walden - Henry David Thoreau
    “One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the spring come in.”
    I read the entirety of Walden in the fall and enjoyed it so much. Walden is a collection of essays from the time when Henry David Thoreau built a small house on the banks of Walden Pond in Concord Massachusetts. The book is full of his observations on nature, society, and humans. This is a more academic read and I would recommend getting an annotated version so that you can understand the historical context of what he is saying. Still, personally, as someone who loves transcendentalist writers, I really enjoyed this book.

Pat of Silver Bush - L.M. Montgomery
    “One forgets all through the year how lovely spring really is and so it comes as a surprise every time.”
    You cannot talk about spring reading without talking about L.M. Montgomery. While most people would recommend Anne of Green Gables for spring vibes, I decided to pick a different book. Pat of Silverbush is about Pat Gardiner, a girl who has a deep connection with home. The book follows her as she grows up and deals with the changes that come to all of us. This book is sweet and whimsical, though I would put a content warning out there for talk of witches (Irish folklore influenced).

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
“Books are what have brought us together. A love of the stories within, the adventures they take us on, their glorious distraction in a time of strife. And a reminder that we always have hope.”
    I just finished this beautiful, clean, adult historical fiction novel and loved it very much. It’s about Grace, a young woman who has just moved to London in the wake of her mother’s death. But little does she know World War Two is just around the corner. She gets a job as an assistant in a bookshop, not expecting to stay there for very long. But through the darkest hours of war, she finds community and hope in books and the bookshop. 
    This book utilizes beautiful descriptions and describes London’s spring peeping through despite bombings, so I think this is an excellent book for spring.

Emma - Jane Austen
    “Donwell was famous for its strawberry-beds, which seemed a plea for the invitation: but no plea was necessary.”
    Everyone talks about reading Jane Austen in the springtime, I think the novel that best exemplifies spring is Emma. Though it wasn’t my favorite, I did have a good time reading it, and the imagery in this book stands out more than it does in some of Jane’s other works. The book (in case you have been living under a rock for the past 200 years) is about single Emma Woodhouse who tends to match-make unsuccessfully. The book follows many matchmaking catastrophes and is about Emma as she develops and matures as a person.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones
    “They opened a flower shop the next day. As Howl has pointed out, it could not have been any simpler.”
    You may be familiar with the Studio Ghibli film Howl’s Moving Castle, but not many are familiar with the book.
    The book follows Sophie, a girl who has been cursed into being an old woman, and her strange encounters with the wizard Howl. It's a fantasy novel full of chaotic and interesting characters. I chose this book as a spring book because they open up a flower shop in it, and it has that slightly cozy, whimsical atmosphere that I love for spring.

All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols
“Even when there are a thousand things to do, cherish these unrushed moments. Make room in your heart for them. There will be many mountains to climb, but always make time to find the pastures where you can rest.”
    This book is a poetry and prose collection filled with beautiful illustrations. The theme is growth, every section of the book is filled with inspiration and encouragement for girls who feel stuck, for girls caught in the mundane, for souls in need of rest. 
    I love this book so much, so many poems in it have made me cry. It’s such a beautiful book to peruse during spring because of its focus on growing even after hardships.

Movie Recommendations -
I love movies, they can be a great way to set the mood for a season, all of the films I’m recommending are super atmospheric and beautiful. They may not be new to you, but maybe I can remind you of an amazing film to revisit.

The Sound of Music
    Julie Andrews, Rogers and Hammerstein music, and the Alps? I’m in! I often forget how incredible this movie is. It’s about Maria, a woman about to become a nun who takes on a job at the house of a widowed admiral with seven children. Maria brings life and music into the children’s strict and stiff lives. There are fields of flowers to frolic in, beautiful dresses to obsess over, sweet romance, and of course music. It’s set in the late 1930’s right before Hitler took over Austria, so the uncertainty of war plays a big part in the movie.

Mary Poppins Returns 
    I love the original Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews, but the 2018 sequel just screams spring to me (I rewatch it every year). It stars Emily Blunt and Lin Manuel Miranda, the music is incredible, and the costumes and sets are stunning. 
    The story takes place in the 1930s when a grown and widowed Michael Banks is struggling to make ends meet, who should show up to care for his three children than Mary Poppins? I love the themes of this movie so much, it’s about family, hope, and never giving up no matter the odds. And add in the cherry trees blossoming on Cherry Tree Lane, an escapade up Big Ben, a group of charming Lamp Lighters, and a flight above the park while holding onto balloons with Angela Lansbury singing in the background, and you have the perfect spring movie, (Dick Van Dyke and Meryl Streep don’t hurt either.)

Saving Mr. Banks 
    Staying in the Mary Poppins vein is this incredible Biopic about the life of the author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson.) Set in the 1960’s, the story flits back and forth between her childhood, and as she and Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) battle it out over turning Mary Poppins into a film. 
    P.L. Travers is a persnickety character, and Walt is just the opposite, their tension brings humor and compassion to the screen. 
    As for spring vibes, we of course see cherry trees in England and spend a great deal of time in the Australian countryside, and at Walt Disney Studios. This movie made me cry, and view the story of Mary Poppins in a whole new light, it also brought forward the power of both the written word and film, and how both can change lives.

Tangled 
    This might be one of my favorite Disney films ever (other than all the ones I already mentioned, oh and the ones I didn't mention)! The animation is so good, the music is so good, the voice actors are so good, the story is so good,  it’s just a fantastic movie. 
    If you somehow don’t know, Tangled is about Rapunzel, and how she leaves the tower she has lived in with a woman who isn’t her true mother and embarks on a journey with the scoundrel Flynn Ryder to see the floating lanterns that appear on her birthday every year. 
    This movie is so sweet, and it’s filled with flowers, dancing in the square, and a harrowing quest. 

Pride and Prejudice (2005)
    What kind of person would I be if I didn’t talk about this movie? A bad one, that’s for sure.
    Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, but this movie is so much more than just that. Starring Keira Knightly as Lizzie Bennet, this film brings the Regency period to life with stunning costumes, cinematography, and beautiful music. 
    It’s perfect for spring because of the glittering English countryside, the balls, and the romance.
    The story follows the Bennet family as their five daughters come of marriageable age. It’s full of misunderstandings, pride, prejudice, and eventually love. 
    You have to watch this movie. It cannot be missed.

Cinderella (2015)
    I have a special place in my heart for Cinderella stories of every kind. My favorite film version of Cinderella is Disney’s 2015 live-action Cinderella. It stars Lilly James as Ella, (Cinderella) in this early 1800’s inspired retelling.
Of course, it is absolutely beautiful, with butterflies playing a major part in the telling of the story, ballgowns that are to die for, and a prince who is quite charming. 
    Everything about this movie screams spring, and everything in me is obsessed with it. It cannot be beaten.

​The foodie bucketlist
I am such a foodie, I love food and drink and love to cook and bake. Here are some food-related bucket list ideas, including places to go, food-related activities, and recipes I want to try for spring.

1. Get one of the new Starbucks spring drinks - Starbucks is doing lavender-flavored drinks this spring, and I am here for it! I really want to try the matcha with lavender cold foam.
2. Try making this strawberry almond cake - https://bromabakery.com/strawberry-almond-tea-cake/
3. Make a tea latte like this London Fog - https://www.ohhowcivilized.com/london-fog-drink/
4. Go to an early spring farmers market and make something from the things you find there.
5. Make a literary meal. I am obsessed with cookbooks inspired by literature, wouldn’t it be a blast to cook Jo’s unsuccessful dinner in Little Women, or your variation of everything pudding from Betsy, Tacy and Tib? There are also fantastic cookbooks based on literature, such as the Secret Garden Cookbook, The Little Women Cookbook, The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook, and Dinner with Mr. Darcy.
6. Another recipe I’d love to make this spring is these pistachio rose scones from Under A Tin Roof https://underatinroof.com/blog/pistachio-rose-scones-bridgerton-inspired-recipe also, this blog is beautiful and full of literary and historically inspired recipes, I would highly recommend browsing around here
7. I can't make a list of recipes to try without mentioning a cookie recipe! Not only are these raspberry white chocolate cookies so pretty, but I adore all of Sarah Kieffer’s recipes, so I know they’ll be good https://www.thevanillabeanblog.com/half-and-half-white-chocolate-raspberry-cookies/

Photo by Jovan Vasiljević on Unsplash

Outfit Inspo -
    The changing of seasons always brings the challenge of making your wardrobe suit the season. Here are a few ideas for outfit combos and colors to wear this spring.

1. A sweater over a dress. This is one of my favorite looks for spring and autumn. I love it because it’s comfortable and casual enough to wear on any old day, but it’s also cute enough to wear out and about. Bonus points if your dress is floral.
2. Layers. Where I live, it doesn’t really get warm until late in the season, but afternoons are often warm and mornings are often cold. So, layering is your best friend, sweaters, and sweatshirts over t-shirts, for spring lean into floral prints and pastel colors.
3. Wear fresh flowers in your hair. I know I mentioned this earlier, but I have to mention it again, when spring flowers start to bloom, it's the perfect time to make flower chains and wear them!
4. Regency-inspired outfits. I am a huge fan of the history-bounding trend. This is where you wear modern clothing with a historical flair. If you want to bring some Regency era into your wardrobe, opt for light colors (like white or beige) and thin materials like muslin or linen. Regency style dresses are defined by a high empire waist (below the bust), there are so many modern dresses with this style, or you can tie a ribbon around a t-shirt dress to mimic the style. 
5. Victorian-inspired outfits. Fashion in the Victorian Era was very broad and diverse, big skirts and tight waists were all the rage, this is pretty impractical for the 21st century, but any long maxi skirt (especially if it’s an A-line), can work for this. Blouses of similar colors and patterns, button-ups with vests, or embroidered tops can be good options. 
6. Edwardian-inspired outfits. This is one of my favorite eras of fashion, it’s simpler than Victorian but more elegant than Regency. Long skirts of any color, and lacy, high-necked tops are perfect, if you don’t have a lacy blouse (like me), white turtlenecks fit the bill here.
7. 1940’s-inspired outfits, I understand this is kind of a time jump, but I just love this era so much, and it’s one of the easiest to history bound. Short skirts of any pattern, Peter Pan collared blouses (or just a regular old t-shirt), and a cardigan are all perfect for this look.

A little tip for history bounding, look at outfits from the era and at historybounding ideas on Pinterest to get yourself inspired. What I love about this way of dressing is that it doesn’t have to be accurate, it’s just about adding little touches of history to your pre-existing wardrobe.

Want to see more about what I'm going to be up to this spring?

Well good news, I just launched a YouTube channel! This channel is an extension of An Old Fashioned Girl, and I am going to be posting a lot of fun spring content over there, so be sure to check it out!

So these were all my spring recommendations, What do you think? What are some things you are planning on doing this spring? Let me know in the comments!

Belle Thomas

Belle is the writer and dreamer behind An Old Fashioned Girl. She is passionate about reminding girls of their identity in Christ, classic books, history, Louisa May Alcott, and earl grey tea.