MacKenzie Child Traveling Tote in Whoville

There is a fun loving and gorgeous group of bloggers who love MacKenzie Childs and they have invited me to participate in their Tales of the Traveling Tote.

I have been watching them on blogs and Instagram, and thought it would be so fun to be a part of this group.
A few times a year the group does a post on the places their totes have been and offer a giveaway of a MacKenzie Child's gift.
Linda at Life and Linda and Sarah at Hyacinths for the Soul both encouraged me to join and then  searched out the large MacKenzie Child's tote for me, and voila -  Miss Madi K and I are traveling.
Before long, the mail man rang the doorbell and I received a surprise from Linda - these adorable MacKenzie Child's kitchen towels.  What a treat.  

What a sweetheart!

Well, off we went to try Miss Madi K out!

First we headed off to beautiful and sunny

St. George, Utah, about four hours

south of us.  While we are surrounded

with snow-capped mountains, St. George

has palm trees.  We have a place down here

and don't get there often enough.

I was surprised at how huge this tote is.  I can fill

it so full on a vacation, that I can't even lift it -

good thing hubby is willing to help!

We went to St. George for hubby's birthday,

and had a wonderful time, and he was so cute

in letting me stop and photograph Miss Madi K.

Those who follow me on Instagram heard me tell

of the St. George Temple.  It is a stunning building

and at the very top, back in the late 1800's, my

fourth great grandfather crafted the tin ball at

the top, and then promptly stood on his head

before the spire was placed on top.  He was a tinsmith

and the ball has since been replaced with a fiberglass

one, but we love that story.

We returned to St. George with Miss Madi K

filled to the brim for Thanksgiving with the

family and had a wonderful five days down there.

The weather was in the high 70's!  

But today's story is going to focus on our

shopping and preparing for our annual

Cheermeister Party that we hold for the

family - where we kick off Christmas and

give them money for their presents.  They

then have a few weeks to purchase their

presents and they bring them back to us

to wrap them.  By Christmas they have

often forgotten some of their gifts and we

add in a few surprises, but this has worked

great for us since they are all married now,

and as good as we are, we really wouldn't know

what to buy them.

Here is Miss Madi K filled with gifts, but before

that, she and I headed off to Hobby Lobby to

find some Grinch inspired goodies.  She is a

great shopping tote.

While we

were at the check out with our bright green and red

deco mesh to create table runners with, the sweet

lady who was ringing us up said that they had fun

Grinch signs and artwork.  So we headed right

back to the aisles and grabbed some great

Grinch artwork.

We had been calling ourselves the

Cheermeisters

for a few years for this event,

but we had planned a Young Single Adult

Dinner at our home for early December.

My husband is the Bishop of this group

of Young Single Adults, and I told him

I wanted to plan a party -

How The Grinch Found Christmas.

So the ball just got rolling, and that

sweet checker at Hobby Lobby helped!

Here is another of their cute signs that adorns

the kitchen counter.  A lot of deco mesh, some

curly picks, and some feather boas and we

had a very Grinchy Kitchen going.

One of my favorites were the striped candles

with a little bit of boa at the bottom - instant

Grinchville!

Miss Madi K and I were able to snatch two of

these darling canvases that we created deco mesh

wreaths for the door.  I glued on some bright green

boas to Grinchify them.

Plans just got bigger and better and I ordered

some yard art off Etsy.

Originally I had told hubby that I wanted the

Young Single Adult Party to be early in 

December so I could put up my regular

decor,

But we fell in love with the Grinchy theme

and took it throughout the house, except the

living room.

My sister in law is talented with woodworking,

so I told her I wanted a craft day where I 

could cut, paint and craft this fun sign. 

Tables were set,

for all the Whos down in Whoville,

even the small!

And a menu prepared,

and even the Grinch was found to be there.

Don't you agree that Miss Madi K

fits right in with Grinchy colors this year?

I love her touches of Grinchy green.

Even the rolls had a touch of the Grinch!

Some Who Girls waited patiently

while the Grinch carved the

Roast Beasts.

Even Grinchy Peppermint Ice Cream Macarons

with a wee Grinch heart.

The little Whos gathered round as we read

the story outloud, then danced to 

"You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch."

And at the end, Miss Madi K waltzed

in with Miss Martha May Whovier

who distributed the gifts to all the

Who's here in Whoville.

But all this fun is nothing compared to

the NYC trip the Traveling Totes had.

I can see many more travels and adventures

for Miss Madi K and I!  Definitely a trip to a

MacKenzie Childs store.

Now for the giveaway - leave a comment at

Pandora's Box to have a chance to win this

MacKenzie Childs Holly and Berry Glass Globe

Vase.  Winner will be announced Dec. 8th.

We would love you to visit each

of the members of our group to see

where they have gone with their totes.

Come along and travel with:

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Katie with Miss Daisy @ Preppy Empty Nester

Linda with Miss Rosie @ More Fun Less Laundry

Linda with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul Visit us on Instagram #talesofthetravelingtote
Come back March 1, 2018 for another giveaway and see where our traveling totes take us.
I will be posting this with Tablescapes Thursday Share Your Cup Foodie Friday