Welcome to a special edition of
Tales of the Traveling Tote,
where we are celebrating five years of travels
around the United States,
and the world, with our
MacKenzie Child's totes.
As you can see from the collage above,
my MC bags have been from Hawaii,
to the Caribbean, to
London, Rome and Paris,
and all the way to South Africa,
besides
having lots of fun in the
United States and Mexico.
If you have been following for a while, you know
Patti from Pandora's Box started this fun group
five years ago, featuring the large checkered tote from
MacKenzie Child's. Click here to see how it all got
started.
I was invited along three Christmas's ago
and have had so much fun taking my checkered tote
around the country and around the world.
This was a highlight as I visited the flagship
MacKenzie-Childs store in New York in 2018!
As self-appointed ambassadors for the
MacKenzie-Childs brand,
at the end of October Patti let us know
that MC was creating
a surprise gift for all of us in the group -
a custom made
bag, individually designed for each of us,
based on our blogs.
In addition, they created a gorgeous bag
to give away to
one of our loyal readers -
this is quite the grand giveaway!!!
Keep reading to the end to see how to win
one of their
lovely custom made totes!
It was so fun as the totes created by Julie and Joan
at the Sewing Department of MacKenzie-Childs
started arriving to our group across the country.
Here in Utah
mine was one of the last to arrive, as
they were coming from New York.
We went out of town
by the time it arrived. My daughter
told me a huge box had been delivered.
It was so exciting to come home from our trip and
open it and finally see my custom tote.
I held my breath as I drew her out of the bag.
It is just as big as Miss Madi K, so it is
wonderful to take around with me.
I decided to name her Miss Pansy,
because all of her colors remind me of
the colors of pansies in the spring.
We were told that some of the details would be
similar to have continuity in the purses,
and I think all of us fell in love
with those details.
Look at the button and tassel closure,
and the metal name plate! Just wow!!!
The name plate is my absolute favorite detail.
I also adore the MacKenzie-Childs ribbon that
becomes the handle, and the checkered trim
on the top and bottom.
Miss Pansy arrived just in time at
Purple Chocolat Home
to celebrate Christmas.
Once everyone had received their totes,
we each had a chance to guess whose bag was whose.
I only guessed a few right, and that was with some
help. Of course, mine was easy, as it had purple on it!
We also wanted take our photo on a
carousel horse. It was a cold Thanksgiving morning,
but I found a cute carousel in St. George, Utah,
and went for a ride with a couple of my
granddaughters. We had the carousel
all to ourselves.
There was a sign that said no bags
were allowed, but I explained the bag
was the reason we were there!!!
She was very kind
and let us get some pictures. She told us the music
wasn't working, but we said that was ok, we would
sing songs ourselves. So we sang and made up
Christmas songs as we rode around, and around,
then did it again.
Miss Pansy enjoyed the holidays,
just spilling over with lovely Courtly Check items.
We wanted to do this post up in a "grand way",
so what better place for Miss Pansy's debut
than at The Grand America
in Salt Lake City, for our traditional over-night
right before Christmas with all of our
children and grandchildren.
It's our little reward for working so hard to get
Christmas ready, and The Grand knows how
to do it up in style!
Miss Pansy was happy to be invited along,
and she felt every so elegant there.
She felt right at home with the lovely decor, and
especially these gorgeous Mark Roberts nutcrackers.
I really would have loved to purchase these, but
they were way past my budget.
We both went to the French patisserie in the Grand
and ordered croissants and macarons.
Then we were off to The
Grand America Gingerbread House,
which was a replica of The Grand America
this year with little vignettes of Maileg Mice
in each window.
I feel so honored to have received
this amazing gift.
Thank you so much to the
lovely people at MacKenzie-Childs
who made these beautiful
custom totes for us,
and to Patti who got all of the fun started.
Miss Pansy just sparkled with the holidays.
Here is our carousel of travelers with their
matching totes. Look closely to see
if you can see their personal style
in their custom-made totes.
Thanks to Linda for our
Now for the fun for you -
This gorgeous bag has been
custom made by MacKenzie-Childs
for one lucky winner!
We will be submitting names to Patti of those who
are loyal followers and commenters on our blogs,
Instagram and Facebook pages. She will then
randomly pick the winner.
This is definitely the grand prize of all of our
MC giveaways, to celebrate five years of
Tales of the Traveling Tote fun!
Good luck to the winner.
Be sure to comment below and visit and comment
on all of the posts of our fellow TTT ladies.
Patti with Miss Tizzy@ Pandora's Box
Debbie with Miss Tassie @ Mountain Breaths
Emily with Miss Lulu @ The French Hutch
Jenna with Miss Hello Gorgeous @ The Painted Apron
Linda P with Miss Gigi @ Life and Linda
Rita with Miss Penny @ Panoply
Sarah with Miss Poppy @ Hyacinths for the Soul
Jackie with Miss Pansy @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)
Ricki Jill with Miss Square Peggy @The Sketchy Reader
Cherry Kay with Miss Waverly @ Entertaining Women
Then join us again in March for another adventure
with another giveaway.
