My Christmas Dollhouse Makeover

The Christmas Dollhouse 

Makeover, or shall I say 

Mouse House is painted, 

decorated and inhabited!

This is a Fisher Price 

dollhouse that my friend 

found thrifting after she 

saw my Haunted Mansion 

Dollhouse Makeover. 

This is a less popular 

house to makeover so 

it was under $9!  Just 

look at the detail though.

Can you believe this 

bay window and balcony?!!

The detail is incredible. 

I spray painted it white 

and then sprayed it 

with glitter inside and 

outside.

The darling nutcrackers 

I found at Hobby Lobby.

I lightly sprayed this 

garland and glued it on 

above the light strip. 

Adding cute little vines 

and pots decorated the 

other wing.  Again, can 

I just say how much I 

adore the detail on this.  

The truth is that it was 

quite ugly before it all 

became white.  The 

colors were harsh, but 

now it is incredible. 

Now to the side that the 

grandkids love!

They were trying to play 

with it before I even got 

it finished, so we decided 

to have it be a centerpiece 

on our eating island.  We 

have stools on both sides, 

so they can get up and 

play with it. 

Since I love cooking 

so much, I made the 

kitchen filled with 

goodies and packages 

and gifts ready to be 

delivered.  

This cute little mouse is 

hiding under the stairs.

One of the attic bedrooms 

has this darling mouse 

getting her makeup ready.

One thing I have to 

say about this house 

is that the rooms are 

a bit tiny for most 

furniture, but we 

made it work.

I added mirrors and 

perfume to the bath.

I chose to do soft pinks 

to go with the colors 

in my own house.  I love 

these chairs I found 

online.  Stores didn't 

have much anymore.

Can you believe that bow 

chair and wedding dress?

This little crib came 

with a tiny stuffed bear.

And finally, the formal 

sitting room. 

My niece found one just 

like mine, but decided to 

get rid of it.  My daughter, 

who lives next door paid 

her the $10 and quickly 

painted hers.  Her little 

daughters helped to 

decorate hers too.  

We just have had so much 

fun with this already and 

it certainly makes a fun 

island decoration.

Tales of the Traveling Tote 45 and a Giveaway

Welcome to our 45th edition 

of Tales of the Traveling Tote.

Women from all over the country 

share where their 

MacKenzie-Childs totes have 

gone.  It is fun to see the 

travels and add places 

to your bucket lists.  

I am going to start with an 

upcoming change to our 

posts.  Starting in 2026 we 

will be only posting every 

four months instead of 

three, so we will have another 

post on January 15, 2026, 

so look forward to another 

post very, very soon. 

I also have very sad 

news to share.  Our 

beloved friend Jenna 

from Painted Apron has 

passed away.  We will miss 

her happy spirit and she 

always brought such lovely 

painted art into our lives 

and gifted us with a few 

of her pieces.  I will 

treasure those pieces that 

I have of hers. Much love 

to her friends and family 

as they miss her.

Miss Madi K and I have 

had some fun these past 

few months.  

We are on our way 

to Cabo for Thanksgiving. 

We will be joining three 

other couples who are 

empty nesters this year too. 

The Salt Lake airport 

was decorated for the 

holidays in new ways 

this year, so we had to 

stop and take fun photos.

We have a new to us 

farm to table restaurant 

that is just a ten minute 

drive from our home 

called El Huerto.  

It has a beautiful garden 

and a really unique outdoor 

covered eating space.  We 

had eaten here on our last 

visit, but only for dinner.  

On Thanksgiving we went 

here for breakfast and loved 

it even more.

We asked the waiter about 

the Chocolate Brownie Pancakes 

and he said, "They are more like 

a dessert."  We all said, "Sounds 

good to us!"  

They were amazing.

My husband ordered 

Short Rib Breakfast 

Burrito and you can see 

it was surrounded by 

a mountain of incredible 

greens.  Their growing 

gardens out front are 

so beautiful.  Our waiter 

said they have another 

farm too where they 

grow even more.

This is their Avocado Croissant!

What a fun twist on avocado 

toast.  The croissant was 

toasted on the open side. 

I think I will have to try 

making this.

Their signature dish is the 

El Huerto French Toast.

I have never had French 

toast like this.  It literally 

melted in our mouths. 

We set the table in the 

dining area for our dinner 

after a day of fun in the sun 

and spoiled ourselves with 

food we had delivered. 

One of our dear friends 

brought in her suitcase 

7 Days of Joy - a gift 

for each day for each couple. 

Today's gift was this cute 

turkey box with goodies in it. 

We started with this amazing 

shrimp salad and had 

pastas everyone picked 

for our dinner. 

This was our view of the 

sunset as we ate our 

Thanksgiving meal and 

told things we were thankful 

for.  You can imagine, people 

were especially thankful to 

be here in Cabo. 

The sunrise the next day 

was just as spectacular.

After a BYU football win, 

we celebrated Saturday 

in the pool with a great 

charcuterie. 

It was a wonderful 

Thanksgiving week.

Now on to the giveaway.

Leave me a comment below 

to have a chance to win these 

fun make up remover pads.  

As hosts, we love having 

make up remover pads 

so that guests don't ruin 

our white washcloths.  

These are so pretty and fun.

Also, spend a few minutes 

and visit our other ladies 

and see where they have been 

off to. 

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths

Patti with Miss Kenzie and Miss Taylor @ Pandora's Box

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess de Monet @The Bookish Dilettante

Those who follow me on FB 

know I was all decorated 

for Christmas before we 

left and even had a family 

party.  I had to include this 

picture of my decorated 

golf cart.  We got the 

inspiration from this from 

the Christmas Movie 

Haul Out the Holly!

Thanks for visiting 

during this busy 

time of year.

The Cookbook Club's dinner 

for October was going to be 

down in The Hollow - our 

lower property in the back.  

We have four acres at our 

new house and The Hollow, 

as it has been called for a 

couple of generations, is part 

of that. 

Well, a couple of days before, 

we had a big rain and it 

flooded The Hollow.  I had 

hung a black chandelier and 

had started to decorate the 

arbor, so now the event 

was moved inside.

It was easy to move as the 

Orangerie was already 

decorated for Halloween.

The theme of the house 

again this year is 

The Haunted Mansion, 

so Mickey and Minnie 

play a big role.

The plates were from 

Home Goods a couple 

of years ago and the 

soup mugs were from 

Wal Mart this year. 

I used my classic black

flatware and my copper 

chargers for the settings. 

They all went together so well.

My pewter glasses had 

black napkins tucked in. 

A runner was used on the table 

and we had plenty of candles.

I made this black velvet 

cake with purple filling - 

it is hard to get a purple 

just right!  I wanted a dusky 

purple, so I played with it 

a bit.  Then I dripped 

chocolate ganache and 

finished it with blackberries 

and Chocolate Raspberry 

Skulls.  I just used my skull 

mold and filled half with 

dipping chocolate brought down 

to 90 degrees, popped a fresh 

raspberry in and topped it 

with more chocolate.  

We had lots of good and 

spooky food.

Everyone brings a dish 

and each time we are 

sure this is our favorite 

meal.

I used my Red Velvet Cake 

recipe and just substituted 

a fairly small amount of 

black gel food color.  It 

didn't take a lot.

We all dressed in black, 

so I dressed as 

Wednesday. 

It was another great 

Cookbook Club.

Beaulah enjoyed everything 

as she watched from the 

kitchen, especially the 

decorating of the cake.

I will post this with

Love Your Creativity

and 

Tablescape Thursday