I’ve made four VERY CUTE things in my life, and this house shelf is the one that hurt the least.
It actually didn’t hurt at all. You should try making one yourself with our downloadable plans here.
You should also have kids. It’s so painful and fun, and after about three years, they start saying awesome things. I highly recommend you keep track of these things because they make for great entertainment later. My nine year old got very quiet this morning and then said:
“Hey Mommy…I just thought of something. Did you know roosters commit adultery?”
This was a great introductory paragraph.
This is what Grace’s room looked like back when she had less freckles and a lot more spice. She has mellowed out with age, thank goodness.
For extra cuteness I hung up this little Mexican number we got her in Puerto Vallarta. A button fell off almost immediately after buying it because, you know…we got it in Puerto Vallarta.
I put the dress away, meaning to sew the button back on (lol), so she hadn’t seen it in a while, and halfway through the photo shoot, she came in, took her clothes off, and helped herself to the “Pweety Dwess.”
Another special pweety thing in her room is the little house shelf we made when Forest was a tiny guy. Now he’s practically an adult and doesn’t need it anymore. He is far too mature for these types of things. He has deep thoughts and uses the word “shall” a lot.
But we keep reproducing, so the house shelf lives on.
What is the opposite of hoarding disorder? Because I think I have that.
My husband and children tremble when they see me roaming the house with a wild look in my eyes and an empty cardboard box in hand. I MUST DOWNSIZE. Always.
Which means we only have REALLY GOOD TOYS, and it also means cleaning up isn’t awful because we don’t have a hundred categories of toys.
One of the best things I did in the kids’ rooms was getting rid of deep baskets because they never played with any of the stuff at the bottom, only dumped it out occasionally, and sometimes an old grape came out.
Now, in Grace’s room, she has:
– This set of classic wooden blocks. Both kids love these.
– This classic pink baby doll stroller that reminds me of my childhood.
– A pink shopping cart, much like this one
– This cash register with a functioning microphone thingy. Very cool.
– This classic wooden shape sorter
– A few purses hanging from this tiny peg rack Graeme made.
– This little flower building game that keeps her entertained for very long, wonderful periods of time.
She also has this pastel-colored play kitchen from the nineties that I almost painted to make it look a little cooler, but then decided to leave it because meh, she likes it and I am immune to Instagram peer pressure! YEAH!
I do what I want! I am a free woman!
Look at me, putting an outdated play kitchen all over your screen. I just don’t care anymore. It’s great. It must be the three decades, I don’t know. But I like where this is going.
I did tidy up for these pictures, but you can tell this wasn’t staged just from looking at the socks, which match the rug, I guess.
By the way, this is a Safavieh rug and wasn’t very expensive.
I don’t mean to horn my own toot, but gosh darn, that is a photogenic house shelf. Reminds me of myself at 21. Smooth, firm, attractive…a little brown but also white…what is the house shelf’s nationality? Hmm, hard to say.
If you own a little person, these stackable flowers are a great gift. So good I have kept them! Grace loves playing with her plastic garden and she builds quietly and contentedly for a long time, like a full ten minutes, which is really long when you are a mom and have very, very low standards.
I snatched one of these little peg racks from Graeme’s shop, and it has been great for hanging tiny purses and those awful dollar store necklaces little kids enjoy so thoroughly…
We have longer peg racks in this same style and color in the bathroom and hallway. I love the look and they are very useful! These are very popular in the shop and you can get one for yourself over HITHER!
I am an old lady at heart, so I love antiques. This basket used to be in Graeme’s grandparent’s house and it’s a special favorite. And hey, this wasn’t staged either! Grace got tired of ABC Mouse, came over, stole the dress, and knocked some blocks around.
Forest didn’t get tired of ABC Mouse, however, and informed me later in the day that “Willy Wonka’s place is in the Gulf of Mexico, by the Nile River.” What a great educational resource, ABC Mouse.
But hey, it’s better than Caillou, right?? RIGHT? I’ve never seen it but I hear it’s the worst thing that’s happened to children since Red Dye 40.
Speaking of antiques, this old doll crib is one of my favorite things in the house. It was a little hard to let it go, but our landlady-friend, finally decided to part with it.
It used to be her daughters’ play crib. The first little girls to ever play with it have teenaged kids now! So I love the story behind it, and I love the design. If you’re looking for something similar, I often find beautiful doll cribs at antique shops.
Little sheep never makes it to the Goodwill box either because he also has a special story. We got him in Ireland, that time we were crazy and went with Forest, who was a year old at the time, and not at all happy with our traveling choices…but you know, memories.
You can read about our youthful adventures in Ireland over HERE.
And in case you missed it, here are the plans for our wonderful, whimsical, practically perfect in every way HOUSE SHELF!
Grace very thoughtfully replaced the hanger with her red dress now on it.
Thank you, Chica.
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