I would love to have a fancy hardwood barn and dollhouse for the kids to play with. But they are expensive! I think I made a smart decision to recycle some boxes from Costco, fashion a good working barn from them and gesso it for the kids. One morning soon, we’ll get around to “decorating” it. Until then, it’s been getting good use as it is.
Since I can’t have my own Hanoverian gelding, I bought a pretty one at Target. It’s a Schleich and I named it Claus. When the boys ask me to play, I tap it across the rug in a meditative half pass left, then right, then I a collected canter around the rug’s perimeter. Chas will pick up a heifer and follow my little program. Ford picks up the Velociraptor and shrieks, thrusting it through the upstairs doorway, attacking the little brown rabbit.
And there you have it: the farm play “corner,” which actually is sitting atop Chas’ birth quilt, atop the chaise in the living room. But we carry it all over, sometimes outside. See more corners here.
What a fun barn! My parents are actually bringing my old “real” dollhouse down this weekend for Bea so I’m sure it will show up on the blog soon. Love the circles on that quilt. Need to see it for real.
Amy’s post made me chuckle thinking of my excitement at shipping my dollhouse two Christmases ago from NJ to Houston for Clare to play with. Pat and I stayed up until the wee hours each night repainting it and thinking of all the time she’d spend playing with all the small furniture and dolls, as I’d done. I need to retrieve it once again–this time from our attic–where it sits this past year after Clare’s simple declaration, “It’s stinky, mommy.” I guess all those year’s in my parents attic made their mark….I think I’ll grab a few boxes instead the next time I’m at Costco 🙂