Would you like some tea?

Today, baby Charcoal cat and baby Silk cat are craving doughnuts. They take a stroll over to the doughnut shop where they hope to find the sweets they've been craving. "How about some tea?" baby Silk cat asks Baby Charcoal cat. "Why that sounds lovely!" he replies. Baby Silk cat reaches up to grab the tea pot, but quickly pulls away when she sees the steam flowing from the spout. "What's that?" she asks amazed. "Why that means it's hot." Mrs. Hounddog steps in. "...what's...hot?" asks baby Charcoal Cat. "You don't want to know." smiles Mrs. Hounddog, "Besides, you're much too young for tea anyway." Baby Silk Cat scrunches her nose, "But my mommy drinks tea all the time. Why can she and not I?" she questions. "Tea is a grown up drink. When you are grown up, you can drink tea, but for now you will have to stick with milk and doughnuts." Mrs. Hounddog tells them. Baby Charcoal cat smiles at Baby silk cat, "I can wait for the tea then!"

I recently set up my Sylvanian village. I didn't put out everything, but I had gotten a few new things and wanted to see how they looked. I really just need a day where I have the apartment to myself so I can set up every item and really have some fun. A few weeks ago I received my Juice Bar set with Betty Blackberry (which I was stoked over btw) and couldn't wait to see how she would look selling my Sylvanians the smoothies and juices that they have been craving. They were as excited as me! Father Mouse was glad to take his son out to the new stand for a smoothie, something he'd been begging for since the stand opened. Hedgehog and Panda brother are on the Chocolate Rabbits front porch enjoying a little picnic they had set up for themselves. Chocolate Rabbit brother is inside getting some napkins since baby panda had made a mess! I really hope to take some new photos soon since I wasn't exactly pleased with these. I was kind of rushing and snapping photos as my son pulled on my pantleg :) hopefully soon I will be taking some better photos, with everything set up.

Gifts

My mother recently visited from Florida and brought me some great gifts! she had told me she picked a few things up for me, but I wasn't expecting the gifts to be nearly as cool as they were. you know how when your grandma buys you a gift? you're glad she thought of you and greatful for the gift she gives you, but it's never something you would actually buy yourself; my moms gifts are usually like that. so when I opened these, I was more than thrilled. The boxes contained: Norwood Mouse Family, Norwood Mouse Twins, Panda Family, Panda Twins, Baby Love 'n' Care set, Hedgehog Family, Hedgehog twins, and Nursery Fun Time set. I am surely going to have an amazing time with these guys. I can not wait to introduce them to their village and new homes.

A Day In My Sylvanian Village

It is a hot summer day in my Sylvanian Village. Mrs. Slydale Fox is the village Day Care teacher. She watches over all of the babies while their parents work. She is kind, gentle and patient; which is why she is so good at what she does. Clement Polar Bear is stopping by the Crepe shop with Pete and baby Patrick Deer. Baby Patrick is so excited to have his first crepe. He imagines in his head what it will taste like and how great it will be. After they are done enjoying their crepes, they are going to meet up with Rufus Kennelworth. The boys will probably get into some trouble from there!

Mrs. Caramel and her oldest daughter Anna Lucia are taking their twins for a walk thru the village. Anna Lucia is begging her mother to stop by the ice cream shop on the way home, but her mother doesn't want her to have ice cream until after she's eaten her lunch. too bad Anna Lucia, looks like you'll have to wait for ice cream!

Susie Snow Rabbit is thrilled to have opened her very own shop! She wasn't sure how she would raise her twins on her own, but with the help of Mrs. Slydale Fox, she can run her new business smoothly and effectively. She enjoys providing the village with her waffles and crepes, made with her own secret recipe. She hopes to one day expand her shop, but for now, she is very happy with the lovely one she has. Susie's crepe and Waffle shop opens early at 7:00am, and stays open until 5:00pm. She is thrilled to be able to keep her shop open for so many hours everyday, and she will continue as long as her costumers allow her!

Project

Unfortunately I do not have the space in my apartment to have my Sylvanians out on display. I have seen many peoples Sylvanian Families displays, and I must admit, I am jealous. Not only do I not have a place to display my Sylvanian Families collection, I don't even have a place to set them up when I want to play with them or photograph them. This makes me very unhappy. So the other day I was cleaning out my children's toy room, when tucked away behind a toy cabinet, I found a plain board (which used to be one of the shelves for the cabinet, but was unused). an idea popped into my head that I could use that board to set up my figures. Only problem, it was plain white and boring. I decided that since I have at least some artistic ability, so I could do something about it.

First, I got out my supplies. I have tons of paints, brushes, and other craft supplies because I often like to do arts and crafts. choosing a color for the base was easy as I only had one green in my art box. it is a Citris Lime, and I thought it would make a nice bright color for the grass. The paint I used was regular Acrylic paint.

After several coats of the Lime green, I painted pathways. this was only the first coat of paint for the pathways, so thats why it looks crappy and unfinished.

After many more coats of the brown, I put in some detail. Living in Philadelphia, I have always admired the cobble stone of the streets here downtown. It has such a old timey, vintage vibe to it, and I love that; so I decided that I wanted my Sylvanians to have the same. I also decided to put in some flowers. I did many colors of purple, raspberry, blue, pink and yellow. I painted them all different, and no two bushels of flowers are the same.

After allowing to dry for several hours, I used Mod Podge to seal it and give it a matte finish that would keep the paint from rubbing off on my figures. this was the most important step. I waited 3 hours between each coat, and applied 3 coats. The finished project I thought came out great. I now have a place to set up my Sylvanians when I want to take them out. It's not huge, but it's an okay size, and better than what I had before, which was nothing. And I had so much fun doing it :)

When I was a child, I lived in a beautiful house in Philadelphia. the house was purchased in the 50's by my grand parents, and then purchased from them in the 80's by my parents. When I think of great times from my childhood, I always picture the house and our beautiful back yard which held a gorgeous Mimosa tree. I remember playing with my Sylvanians under this tree and having so much fun. The scent of Mimosa trees is probably one of the most beautiful scents I've ever smelled. My neighbor a few blocks down has a Mimosa tree, and I can not express in words how much I enjoy walking past it in the spring, when the flowers are in bloom. it truly brings back amazing memories and fills my heart with joy. I'm not sure why I chose to write an entry about this tree. for some reason when I walked passed the tree today, I pulled off a small branch with the flowers on it, and carried it down the street with me, smelling it and remembering such great times. I always knew that once I owned my own home, a Mimosa tree would have to be a part of our yard. I want my children to have the same sweet memories brought on by the scent of Mimosa trees in their future.

I recently drove past my old home. we haven't owned it in many years, and I was curious as to what it now looked like. When I saw the house and the yard, I was appalled by the condition it was in. the tree I once loved was gone. it was chopped down and all that remained was a sad stump. the rose garden next to it was nothing but a muddy section of dead and dried weeds. and the grass throughout the yard was dried and yellow. there was a foreclosure sign in the middle of the yard, to no surprise. I was disgusted how someone could buy that beautiful house and turn it into that. I pulled my phone out and quickly dialed the number on the sign and asked about the house. it was now for sale for only a shocking $45,000. I wanted nothing more than to go straight to the bank and get approved for a mortgage so I could buy it, and return it to the way it used to be; but I couldn't. the neighborhood was in just as bad condition as the house. by my feet were dirty needles and empty bags of drugs. I shook my head and returned to my car, where I drove home with my mind and memories crying. I wanted to find the person who did this and kill them. after about a week, the memory of the horrible condition the house was in faded, but I was still left with the wonderful memories of my childhood. as sad as it is, I guess it wouldn't make a difference if the house was still in the condition that my family had left it or not. all that matters is that it was beautiful while I was there, and that it is still beautiful in my mind.

I recently ordered the Lambrook Sheep sister from a seller on Ebay. Prior I had only the Sheep mother and felt she needed a child. So a month ago, I ordered her, and sadly she never arrived. I contacted the Ebay seller, who provided me with the tracking number. USPS said she was delivered to my apartment, but she never was. After weeks of calling them and stopping by the post office to see if she had been found, she magically appeared in my mailbox this morning! thank god. I was beginning to feel like she was lost forever. And since I haven't much money to spend on Sylvanians recently, I felt like it was such a waste. Sure, I didn't spend much on her, but still, money is money. And Sylvanians are so expensive, that it would have crushed me to lose that money, and her. Well, I'm glad she showed up so she can finally join her mother at home! Her mother greeted her with a big smile and happy tears.