Childhood Treasures

If I had my way all the kid’s toys would be wooden or cloth and handmade. I’m just old-fashioned, I suppose. I probably spent too much time reading the Little House books and Anne of Green Gables. My imagination lives in a world before the invention of plastic.

Of course, I’ve made the necessary compromises. I realize I live in the real world and have welcomed a variety of toys into our home. Still, my heart leaps when I find little wooden treasures. Especially when they fall into my hands unlooked for.

There’s a used furniture store next door to the post office. From the outside it looks quite unappealing and the faded signs don’t inspire. Our home doesn’t have any room for more furniture or more knick knacks and so far I’ve resisted the temptation. Still, every time I go to drop something in the mail, it catches my eye and I think I’ve got to go in there some day.

Well, today some day arrived. I’d just shipped off a box of used books to a charity that provides books for prisons (hooray for Book Mooch, hooray for educating prisoners and hooray for getting rid of unwanted textbooks!). And it just seemed right to turn my stroller to the left and head next door.

I was quite surprised by the quality of the used furniture and the reasonable prices. There were quite a few pieces that I would have considered adding to my home if I had the space.

And then there was this that caught my eye:

A little wooden doll cradle. I’ve been wanting to get one for Isabella for some time now. I even priced them on eBay; but they were all a little too much. This one was only $10. I scooped it up so quick you’d have thought we were in the toy aisle on Christmas Eve. I almost glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one else was going to claim it. It would look very nice if it were refinished; but Bella’s eyes don’t see that. They like it just the way it is. It will look so adorable once I sew a little patchwork pillow and quilt for the dollies, don’t you think?

And then this caught Bella’s eye. A treasure that I would not have noticed.

“Mama! A dresser for a dolly!” At $2 I absolutely had to get it for her.

The funny thing is I’ve been thinking about all the scattered doll clothes. I’m constantly picking them up an searching for a place to quickly tidy them up at bed time. I knew I needed to find a solution, a permanent place for them to go. Yet somehow a plastic box didn’t seem right. I knew the girls would never remember to put the clothes away. How nice it would be if we had some sort of dresser for them. I’d even thought about getting some plastic drawers; but even that didn’t seem quite right. This little wooden jewelry box is perfect. Like the cradle, it could stand to be refinished. But then again, Bella doesn’t seem to mind. As soon as we got home, she carried it to her room and hunted up all the scattered doll clothes and stuffed them carefully into the drawers.

I’m pretty proud of our finds. Not bad for $12. And I know we’ll be stopping back in next time we go to the post office.