The Simple Things

Memory: "Farlow Family Edition"

Whipped up this cute wooden set of Memory Tiles for my nieces and nephews for Christmas.

2" square wooden tiles...cute, no? 
But flip them over and you have this:

Tiles with each member of the family on it. Kids get their own...grown-ups share. 

 They're sturdy, so they are perfect for even the littlest hands. Since our family is so spread out, I thought that this would be a good way of becoming familiar with all the cousins, etc. 
I loved it so much, I'm making one for us and for my sister-in-law and her kids. 
Family Night has a new favorite game!!

(can't find the picture of the cute tin lunchbox I sent it in. Will track it down and post later.)
 

My Masterpiece...

Here is the playhouse in all of it's glory. I love it. The girls love it. It consumed me for the past 2 months, but was totally worth it. HUGE thanks to my mom who came in and helped me finish it before christmas. As of Christmas Eve at 12:00 we were still piecing it together. Stressful, but so much fun!
Enjoy!!
 
Here's the front. It's tall. 52 inches tall. I told you...it took on a life of its own!! 
The bird, flowers and letters in the mailbox are all removable. 


The girls adore the letters and play Mail all day. 

here's the right side. The apples come off, as do the bones and dog bowl. The girls think this doggie door is brilliant and also use it for a secret exit! 

The cute dog is the handiwork of my super talented mother. She can draw anything. He's darling! 
 
Here is the back. The uber-cute garden. Squirrel, birdies, apples and veggies are all removable. Basket is lined to store apples/carrots/etc. 
 
The cute baby birds almost do me in. They're darling! I also love the corn! 

Seriously! Look at the cuteness!!! 

The last side is the "Barlow Sweet Shoppe". I still need to make a little sign that hangs over the window as well as a drop down counter, but it's fabulous. The girls peddle their Baked Goods to each other. 

here is a sampling of their baked goods that Mom and I made. Candy sticks, donuts, cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies. 
They also have cupcakes, donuts and a birthday cake courtesy of PBK as well as some cute felt Caramel Apples that my mom made! 

So there it is. The Miracle of Christmas 2009. Probably took me 800 hours and at least that much money, but it was worth every bit to see the girls discover it on Christmas morning!!!