Tales of the Traveling Tote 46 and a Giveaway

Welcome to our 46th 

Tales of the Traveling Tote 

where lovers of 

MacKenzie Childs tell 

you a few times a year 

what they have been up 

to and where they have been.

Miss Pansy and I had a grand 

time shopping for 

Valentine's Day 

decor, especially at 

Hobby Lobby. 

We walked in and saw 

this garland and the 

pink velvet bow garlands 

and filled our cart - 

all at 40% off!!!

I left the garland on 

from Christmas to 

give the banister decor 

some weight and I also 

left the lights.  Then I 

topped it with the tinsel 

garland and the velvet 

bow garland, using 

zip ties. 

The only ribbon I used  

was this double faced 

satin ribbon in a soft 

bow.  

It really turned out so 

Pretty In Pink!

Then I moved this 

pink tree into the 

entry and decorated 

it with all things I 

have had from the past. 

Notice my beautiful 

Queen of Hearts 

card that I saved from 

our dear Jenna.  I 

have so many of her 

beautiful pieces of art 

around my house.

Then keeping with the 

pink theme, 

Miss Madi K and I 

traveled to Salt Lake 

for the Harry Potter 

exhibition, and I 

did my best as 

Professor Umbridge 

in pink!

Miss Madi K made 

it through Platform 9 3/4 

just fine.  We had a great 

time and it was an 

amazing and interactive 

exhibition. 

We even met up with 

Snape while we were 

there.  

I enjoyed it so much 

I went twice.  This time 

was with my middle son 

and his wife.  They 

are working on potions. 

But I cannot tell lies, 

I loved sitting in 

Umbridges office 

probably the best. 

The same exhibition 

hall now has 

The Titanic.  It is 

also a walk through 

experience.  I have 

to fit it into my schedule. 

The day after Christmas 

we were off to 

Cabo to celebrate 

New Years and 

my birthday.

We tried a new pizza 

at Wicked Pizza - 

we had seen this one 

before, but hadn't been 

brave enough to try it. 

It is a 

Peanut Butter and Jelly 

Pizza and has bacon 

and jalapenos on it.  

We loved it so much 

we had it a second night.

We had fifteen of us 

there, so we did a lot 

of take out.  This was 

our New Year's Eve from 

our favorite Italian place, 

La Dolce.  They have 

the best Gorgonzola Steak. 

We have robes for 

the adults in each 

room, so I brought 

down robes for the 

kids for our iconic 

pool side picture. 

We also treated them 

to our ice cream on 

the beach at sunset. 

The family was all gone 

by the time it was my 

birthday.  We went out 

for steak and lobster at 

Solomon's Landing.

And it was a very 

Happy Birthday. 

Thanks for tagging 

along for a couple of 

my travels. 

Now for the giveaway:

Pop on over to see 

Debbie and leave a 

comment to enter 

to win.  

Then visit our other 

wonderful members 

of Tales of the 

Traveling Tote. 

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

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

We have changed and 

now will be posting 

three times a year 

instead of four, so 

look forward to us 

on May 15, 2026.

We are so excited 

to have you in May 

that we have two

reminders!

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.