days of our day care Barbie Style!

Seriously... I don't know what's wrong with me!  Here it is Thanksgiving week and my mind here at the day care is no where near Thanksgiving minded.  In turn, we aren't doing squat as far as Thanksgiving and turkey crafts and such.  Booo! Oh now... we have talked about it and said all month long what we are each thankful for every day at lunchtime and our thankful tree overfloweth!  I guess it's all in what you fill their heads with.  Makes me feel a little bad but I figure they'll get enough on Thanksgiving... on Thanksgiving... which is today so... Happy Thanksgiving! 

 

 I've had Barbies on the brain for a while (yea since like birth until now!).  I was a big Barbie girl growing up.  We would spend our summer days making Barbie houses out of anything and everything.  Since a couple of the girls here at the day care are getting a little bit older I figured it was time to bite the Barbie shoe.  I wasn't really into searching out a fancy Barbie house so I have tossed a couple of ideas around as to where in the dc it should be and such.  I came up with leftover pieces of shelving in my office (pack rat my foot... I use this stuff eventually!) and last Saturday I went to Lowes to get some shelf brackets.  There's a nook in the back bedroom, the room I used to call the big kid room but haven't used it in forever except for ones who need to nap in the pack and play.  So I decided the nook is where the Barbie house would be.  I had Shaun cut down one of the pieces of wood because it was too wide and today little Joe helped me use the drill to screw in the brackets and shelves.  Sorry no pictures... I was too determined and excited as were they. 

 

I already knew that I was going to use some vintage contact paper for wallpaper.  Good flowered stuff that can simply be pulled off if and when the shelves serve a different purpose.  And last Saturday I went to my Mom's and dug out my Barbie furniture and accessories... and Barbies.  So today, by ten o'clock, there were two thrilled kids playing in our new Barbie nook!!! Not including me!  I took the liberty of soaking and washing the old clothes I dug out.  Some made by my Mom.  I foresee myself making things for this Barbie house from here on out.  I have it on my list to buy another roll of contact paper for the bottom floor.  I didn't have as much as I thought I had. 

The bottom floor will soon have wallpaper.  I gotta cover that hardware up.
And I wish the top shelf went all the way across but maybe we will have stairs there one day.

I remember which one's Mom made and which ones came on which Barbie and the ones I got that came in a set like this skirt here.  It came with a yellow sleeveless top.

Ahhh the memories.  I don't know that baby with the braid though.  That must have been my nieces'.

I added the tension rod with a valance.  I thought it gave it a bit of a finished look.
You know I am dying to hang some white twinkle lights in there too!

I went through the play food, kitchen stuff and accessories and handed them over.

I wanted a cut out chandelier here but wound up not wanting to cut out that much detail. 
Drawing lights on the chalkboard contact paper worked just as well.
I'm thinking of how to make some kitchen cabinets and an oven.  Maybe a refrigerator!

 

 

 Happy Thanksgiving again!  I feel so united and together again now that my Barbie stuff is here.  An odd feeling.  I know I'm too old and big to set up and play Barbies (by myself that is) but as long as I have the option... who would be the wiser?!?  I would have given some fingernails for a Barbie nook!  Me and Mandy from up the street would have never left it!  I guess we kinda did.  We had the area behind the bar downstairs.  But I remember building houses everywhere... even in the garage one time!  Ah the memories.  I'm not finished with this one.  My brain is all a-buzz with ideas.  The kids aren't going to know what hit them! 

BTW Joe said not to tell Shaun he played with the Barbies. 
So I'd be grateful if you kept this to yourself! 

 

Livin Like We're On Vacation

A little thing I like to say about my husband and I and the way we live is "We live like we are on vacation" so there's really no point in going anywhere.  We have our farm, the woods, our garden, our pets, our jobs, not to mention... each other.  This past weekend, we made ourselves a "get away" spot in the woods.  A little hide away where we can go to chill or camp or cook... all outside.  A little woodsy nook just for us.  Complete with bugs and all!

 

We gathered big rocks from piles that have been in the woods for... ever.  They were cleared from the fields and stacked by people farming the land here years ago.  I was leery of finding a snake so I wore my gloves.... it made sense then.  Plus I bite my nails so I like to keep unidentified dirt out from under them. 

 

We found out spot and cleared away the leaves.  I actually found my first Morel Mushroom while doing this.  Kicked the head right off of it!  Then I cooked it and we ate it with the quail for supper. 

 

We stacked the rocks in a circle to make our fire pit.  Then we went to a spot where we had a tree fall and got three loads of wood and made our wood wall.  It turned out the wood was too wet and rotten to burn very good that evening.  But the maiden voyage was had.

 

Shaun put out his fire pit cooking gear from his rendezvous days.  All cast iron pretty cool stuff.  Then we put our lawn chairs out and sat and drank us a cold one. 
Life is good here at the hide out!  We plan to vacation here a lot this summer! 
 

Sorry.. I cannot disclose the actual spot of the hide out on our farm...
it wouldn't be a hide out then, now would it?!

 

We plan to have different chairs and maybe wood benches.  As Shaun said "we can't do it all in one day.. that'll take the fun out."