Purple Chocolat Home

Tales of the Traveling Tote 46 and a Giveaway

2026-01-15T03:30:00.000-08:00

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

2025-12-03T03:30:00.000-08:00

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

2025-12-01T03:00:00.000-08:00

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.