Playhouse Details

Honestly, when I first envisioned how the playhouse would be decorated I had in my mind all of the beautiful, perfectly styled playhouses that I've seen on other blogs, pinterest and in magazines.  It quickly became apparent that my children had ideas of how they wanted the playhouse to look and to be used, and I came to the realization that this is their space, not mine and it should be a reflection of them.  Therefore, the children chose where their pictures would hang and what they wanted to be in the playhouse. I'm sure it will be ever evolving!

My friend, Sonja, suggested to Grace that no playhouse is complete without a mailbox.  Grace took it to heart and we now have a petite mailbox to collect mail, notes and tiny packages!
 

We also have an adorable fox doorknocker, I love it's whimsy!

We moved the play kitchen that Al built for the children out to the house.  The sunflower paintings, as well as some art Harris created, also found a new home in the playhouse. 

Grace and Harris created some house rules.

The cleaning set should help with at least one of the rules (I can't wait to see how that goes!).

Every house needs a hook to hang your superhero cape on.

The children and I made a paper mache bunny to hang on the wall!

I needn't have worried about whether the playhouse would be used.  The loft is a huge hit and the children have already spent hours in the house and in the loft (I've also taken a catnap in there!).

The Children's Playhouse

I've never posted about the playhouse because we've still been putting finishing touches on it.  However, I've realized that this little house is going to be just like our house in that it will continually be evolving and changing as the children grow.  Time will determine how it is used and how it is "decorated."

Al built the frame for the house, Bryce completed a lot of the woodwork and details and the children and I painted it.  It really was a family affair! 

The door is one from our house that was taken out during the kitchen remodel and stored in our garage.  Al cut the door in half in order to make a charming dutch door.

 Plexiglass is in each window and the windows on the side and in the loft can all be opened.  I also love the cedar shake on the roof!  Maybe we will get lucky and some moss will grow up there!

 Tomorrow I will post about the inside and the fun little details of the house!

Pirate Ship Playhouse

If you have been reading this blog since close to the beginning you might remember Harris' pirate birthday party. At that party the focus was supposed to be on our new pirate ship playhouse that Bryce built- but it rained. Soon after the party we did manage to paint and stain the ship but many of the details never quite got finished. We are a little embarrassed that it took us almost two years to finish everything but we feel better by assuring ourselves that it has been totally play worthy, just not as cute as it could have been.

While we were in Annapolis we found a fun pirate ship flag and that is what propelled us to finish everything up! We gave the ship a fresh coat of paint, added some twine rigging, a flagpole and we christened it with a name!

We still felt like something was missing though. Everyone knows that pirate ships have a figurehead and we really felt like ours should have a frog to match it's name. Fortunately, we happened to have a garden statue that had been in the throwaway pile numerous times but somehow kept finding it's way back into the garage! It was meant to be! Bryce cut the frog in half, spray painted it, set it on wood and then mounted it to the ship. I LOVE it and think it adds just the right touch to the ship!

Fairy Mobile

I sometimes regret that my children have no idea how blessed they are to have such a wonderful father. All I can do is hope that when they are older and parents themselves they will realize how good they had it!

A couple of days ago, Grace came down in the morning with the idea that she wanted to invent something on that particular day. She proceeded to sketch out a plan for a fairy catcher. Her invention morphed from fairy catcher to fairy spotter when she decided that she didn't want to harm the fairies. Bryce listened to her ideas, made a few of his own and then they were off to bring her invention to realization. They spent the better part of the day sawing, glueing and painting her invention. At the end of the day she had her fairy mobile. The only disappointment? She wanted to attach a GPS device at the helm to help her track them down. We had to draw the line somewhere!

It's probably hard to spot with all the clever camouflaging that was done!

Pirate Playhouse

Towards the end of last winter Harris and Bryce had a conversation that went something like this....

Harris: Let's play pirates!

Bryce: You know, we should build you a pirate ship to play in.

Harris: Really?

Bryce: Sure, why not?

Harris: Can we build it now?

Harris (approximately once a day since the original conversation): Can we build it now?

Bryce (on Sat. morning): Yes, we can!

Bryce and Harris started working on the pirate ship Saturday morning. First they went to pickup materials; it took forever and they had to go to a second building supply place and wait for the rental truck to get them home. While they were out, they had lunch together and talked about their plans. I was worried about how a three (almost four!) year old would do trying to get materials for so long, but Bryce said he did great. He is so excited about building and helping Bryce that he is really engaged in this project. They came home and got started right away. Harris is a great helper and stays quite focused. Way to go Harris!

The pirate ship plans are from the book, Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build. I found it online and let me tell you it has some amazing treehouses and playhouses in it. It's worth looking through for the entertainment value alone.