"Mouse-a-lina" Ballerina

A thousand years ago when I had little girls I wanted a special little child sized "cookie cupboard" for the to pretend and play with. I drew up some plans and gave them to a friend of mine and he build the little cupboard you see in the photos.

He used scrap lumber and finished it off beautifully with a gorgeous stain that match all that country look we all had back then. My two girls (and yes, my boys too!) played with that little cookie cupboard for years and years.

Eventually they grew up and away from pretending and the little cupboard was placed in the garage to wait.

A couple of months ago one of the kids decided to give it another try. His wife thought it would look fresh with a new coat of paint and some frills. It was sanded and handles and hinges were removed and Gramma went a painting.

Mommy decided that a "Mouse-a-lina Ballerina" would go perfectly in a French nursery, pink, celery, creamy butter, and a few variations on those colours would do just right.

A few days work, new pewter finish hinges and hardware, rose coloured glass knobs and pulls- she's all updated! The little cookie cupboard is seeing a band new day and gearing up for new little people playtime. When all is said and done, this recycling job was well worth it!

I'll post more photos after it hs been completely reassembled and I can get to it!

Curious George!

For the last two days I have been in the jungle! And at the lake. And building New York. My son and his wife are getting ready for baby number one, a boy, and they wanted his room to be decorated as a Curious George book. Each wall will be a different adventure. This top photo shows the almost complete (still need to add finishing touches to the tops of those palm trees) corner that takes George from the lake to the jungle. (if you look closely enough you can see the chalk outlines for fish in the lake)
Paint cans abound! However this shows how cute the jungle is going to be when we finish the tree tops! Oh and we're going to add some flowers in there too. Mommy loves her orchids, so we're going to have some growing in the jungle.
The jungle corner wraps around into Central Park and down into New York City! Lots and lots of high rise buildings! The Brooklyn Bridge, The Chrysler Building or is it Met Life?, Empire State Building, and of course a toy store, book store, and others!
Miss Liberty is out there in the harbour, George will be flying with the Man with the Yellow Hat in a helicopter, and the city wraps around to the third wall. On that wall (no photo yet) will be more tall buildings and a Fire House with "real" fake brick! George will be balancing on his blue and red ball as he goes down the street.

The 4th wall is where poor George falls into the lake, fascinated by the fish in the water. A small yellow pier and a few dragon flies will complete the total cartoon look. We took the cartoon drawings from the many stories and tried to put them on the wall as closely as possible, telling a few of his more famous adventures.

Tomorrow we head out to the OC to move the RDH back home for two weeks - I'm excited to have her home again for a bit- (she's in between apartments over the holidays), and then tamale night we have a schmancy business dinner. Always busy, but always fun!

Another short post.

Just went to a church conference this morning and it was pretty great. We presented a power point to the all the women. Thor went to our regular ward and came home with an assignment. I will be putting up the Christmas tree again this year. A few years back I got the assignment and we had a budget for the tree and ornaments.

The tree looked fabulous and was a great addition to the foyer through the season. However over the years a few others wanted the opportunity to dress the tree and who am I to say not to that! However, because I was not involved I didn't have control of where the tree and decorations were store or how. Last year the tree was in shambles and no ornaments were to be had. This is extremely disappointing as they both should have lasted for at least ten more years.

I don't think the church has the funds available this year to repurchase everything they need, so Thor and I decided we should just offer up one of our trees and the decorations to go with. It just seems like the easiest solution this late in the game. We have a toy drive dinner at the end of the week, so this week I will be gathering what I need to get the hall looking Christmas-y.

Each year our congregation collect new toys for the children and families who may need them locally. Ages and names are available also if there is a specific need so that other items may also be purchased. The Bishop collects all the items at the end of the night, distributes what he can to the locals and any left overs are then delivered to Deseret Industries to be given freely to others who may need them.

So that's the report for today! I am off to bed. Yesterday I was exposed to a heavy smoker and ever since I have had a migraine...ick and yeeeowch! So me and some frozen peas have a date!