A Microwave Cart and a Dress-Up Station

You are probably wondering why those things are in a title together. They have nothing in common and don't even belong in the same space of a home, right? Well, read on. :)

When I was 4 or 5 years old, my parents bought a microwave cart. My mom originally re-purposed the microwave cart to be used as a TV stand. She cut holes in the back of the cabinet so that the cords could come out and the electronics could be hidden. The kitchen in our first home in northern California was a good size, but oddly laid out with not a ton of counter space, so converting the cart back into a microwave cart was necessary in order to have a space for the very large microwave that we had. Over the years, the microwave cart was used again as a TV stand.  I apologize for the poor quality of the "before" picture... but digital cameras were not around... and this is a picture of a picture because, quite frankly, I didn't have the time for it to be scanned. :) You get the idea though, right? 

The glorious "before" picture... circa 1986-1987.

Fast-forward to when the hubs and I got married. We had practically no furniture and not a ton of cash, so we gladly took any hand-me-downs that we were offered. This microwave-turned-TV cart had been temporarily sitting in my parents' garage! We were using an antiqued dresser as a TV console in the living room, but needed something in our bedroom. It didn't match any of the furniture in our room, but we figured that no one was really going to be hanging out in our room anyway, and took it! :)

Once we moved to the central coast of California, we used the cart in the hubs office to hold a TV and DVD player in case he wanted to watch a movie in there while studying or working. The great part about it having wheels was that we could easily roll it into our room if we wanted to watch a movie before bed!

Now we are in Georgia and for the first few months it sat in our garage. I didn't know what I wanted to use it for, but for some reason or another it made the move with us across the country. One day last year, it came to me! Missy desperately needed more storage in her room. So we the hubs sanded it and spray painted it white. Then I used some hot pink and neon green craft paint and painted the little grooves in the doors. Voila! A cabinet that kinda matched the decor in Missy's room!

Excuse the nicks in the paint and a the few stickers... its been in her possession for a little while now.

Originally, it held coloring books and crayons on the shelf and the striped storage bins held puzzles and stuffed animals underneath... but today, all of that changed!

She has been in dire need of a new way to store her dress-ups. The cardboard trunks that her original sets came in were breaking (she was stacking them and then putting her step-stool on top so that she could reach the top drawer of her dresser) and therefore, oodles of tulle and other shiny material were exploding all over her room! So, I emptied the stuffed animals into a plastic storage box in her "baby's room" (ie. her closet floor) and also found a new home for the puzzles. In one storage bin, we put all of her hats and purses and other make believe play toys. In the other bin, we stored all of her play makeup and her Strawberry Shortcake wig and her fairy wings. On top of the cart we have her tiaras, a tin purse, and her piggy bank displayed and an old train case that used to belong to my grandmother. In the train case we housed all of her costume jewelry and gloves. The piggy bank opens by removing the nose, and it is crooked because Budboy has recently learned how to open the bank and Missy is not a fan of him stealing her money... so it has to be turned very tightly now. 

Those bins fit perfectly on the shelf and inside the cupboard we folded all of her dresses and skirts and tops and stacked them... I do realize that they will not stay folded for very long... but I can hope, right? And as you can see... we ran out of spray paint before we could finish the inside of the cabinet and finishing that part has not been at the top of our priorities. Eventually, her dresser will get a face lift and the cabinet will be finished then. :)

There you have it!! A microwave cart turned dress-up station!! Missy is beyond thrilled!!


Until next time!

~Monica

Midnight

When I was younger, I had an imaginary friend zoo. Yes that's right... a zoo. Well, maybe more like a farm... or a menagerie. Anyway, call it what you want, but it was not a person. No little friend that spoke to me or ate with me. I clearly remember in third grade, sitting there while the teacher was talking and then thinking, my bird is sitting on my friend's shoulder!! I giggled, then proceeded to tell her that Tweet, my bird, was sitting on her shoulder! Oh the look!! You'd have thought I had sprung two heads!! She looked at me like I was crazy because, of course, there was no bird sitting on her shoulder!! After that, I only told a select few about my "friends."

The bird in third grade was probably my first imaginary animal.  The first that I can remember. There were more at that time, but the bird was the closest to me. In fourth grade, Midnight entered my life. Midnight was a beautiful black stallion that I found in the baseball field of my school. Like all of my "friends," he did not speak to me. He was like any real horse, except he lived in my backyard instead of a stable. He also came with a white mare and a spotted black and white foal. Whitey and Spotty, if you must know their names. For the next three years or so, these horses went everywhere with me! They went on family camping trips, to the grocery store, to my grandparents' house... they simply ran along side the family van along the freeway. Now I know what you are thinking, "She must have been a loner" or "This chick is crazy!" No... I was not a loner, I had many friends, and I may be a little crazy, but my imagination has always been vivid!

So, imagine my surprise (and glee) when Missy walked up to me and asked me where her horse was!!! Yes, that's right!! My 3-year-old has an imaginary horse!! I was so excited! Inside, I was jumping up and down... outside, I had to keep my cool... I don't want my hubby to think I'm completely insane! He knows about Midnight and the others, but I don't think he realizes the depth of these "friends." I asked Missy what her horse looked like and what the name was and if it was a boy or a girl. Galahap is black with pink streaks in his black hair. "He wuvs to gawup (gallop) weally weally fast," she told me as she demonstrated around the coffee table. :) I am so excited about her new friend and intend to encourage her in this, but not force her into keeping these friends. She has also mentioned a pink giraffe with green spots, but she doesn't have a name as Missy says she is "wittle bit scared of da giraffe."  :) I love this age we are entering! Pretending. Imagination. AAAHHHH!! It's just so much fun! Dress-up was the beginning of the imaginative play in our house... and it's an everyday thing! But more on that later. :)

The tiger is rawr-ing at the kitty!

Did you have any imaginary friends or animals growing up? What about your kids?

Until next time!

~Monica