My Silver Bella friend, Jessi, is asking us to remember our child hood toys today. There is a lack of photos of myold toys, but that didn’t slow down my reminiscing. Her topic brought up lots of happy memories for me.
One of the best toys I had was this teeter totter. I’m sure that in today’s age it wouldn’t get past safety codes. We were always smashing and pinching our fingers under the rails of this thing.
(I’m the one on the left)
When neighbors weren’t around to balance it, I’d tip the thing on its side and pretend it was a pirate ship or a castle.
Another love was bags full of little plastic horsies. I could play with those for hours. I’d paint them too, because I loved to change them all to have white manes and tails.
When I came across a photo of my husband with a toy horse from his child hood, I had to frame it to display with a picture of me with my toy horses.
On the same shelf, I set out a photo of our "real" horses, Scooty and Fairybelle.
When I was little, I had severe asthma and couldn’t own the pets I desperately wanted. I made up for it with piles of stuffed animals and a vivid imagination.
After "outgrowing" my allergies, I made the most of having lots of pets, and loved filling up this big old falling down barn on our property. (it has since fallen down)
You can see Faiybelle to the right of the barn in this painting I did.
Remember saying this?
"Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight"
My wish, every single time I looked up at the stars was to have a pony. I loved to crane my neck and look out of the back window of the car (pre-car seat days!) waiting for that first star of the night to show itself so I could wish for my horse.
Finally, as an adult, my wish came true. I had Scooty, the Shetland. He was a baby when I got him, and followed me around the yard like a puppy. (of course, the horse I wished for had wings, but Scooty didn’t)
As much as I loved my Barbies and dolls, when I look back at my childhood, the strongest memories are of wishing for a pet, and pretending my toys were alive and could love me back as much as I loved them.
I’ve collected some of these thoughts and memories about my childhood and made a little scrapbook about myself to read with Sugarwings.
I put in lots of pop ups with pictures underneath, and little snippets of stories about my wishes and hopes as a little girl so I can share them with my own little girl as she grows.
And now here I am, turning 50. I can remember making those wishes on a star, and the feelings that went with it, as if those longings and dreams are as real today as they were nearly a half a century ago.
Thanks, Amy Wald for the sparkling card!
And thanks, Jessi, for this subject. It was a timely one for me. Birthday milestones are a good time to look back and remember the child that is still inside.
I hope to never lose the imagination that I had back then, when I’d paint a plastic horse and see myself riding it across the skies with its beautiful white tail flying behind us. And when I’d tip over a teeter totter and it would become a castle where I was the princess.
Happy May Day everyone! My birthday (which I am sure you are so tired of hearing about) is May 5th and I will have a special gift to go out then. All comments count toward that as well as toward my regular monthly drawing.
And who wins for the April Drawing?
And what is the prize?
she gets a choice of one of these prizes:
1- a pair of earrings made by me, with vintage pieces
2- a May Day tussie mussie
3- a Birds and Bonnets Vintage Workshop images tag
4- a Cottage Collage Kit with vintage wallpaper and millinery flowers
I have added more millinery flowers to my etsy shop, since I had such a good response for the ones I listed yesterday (5 bundles sold in an hour or so!)
Thanks so much for supporting my Etsy shop and for taking the time to visit me here in blogworld.
OMG!! look how cute you were. you are still so adorable!!
Happy Birthday!!
have a great time this weekend.
oxoox,
jessi
Happy May Day Karla! How sweet to share your pics with us.
Congrats to your winner!
Hugs:)
Irma
I love, love, love that little book you made of your childhood!
Karla, What would our lives been like without our imagination! Poor kids today! Later,Lori
What sweet memories you’ve shared today, Karla! I had a bag of toy horses, too! Plus a real little Shetland pony named Pal, but I had to sell him when we moved. Now there are some horses that live up the road & I get to dream that one of them is mine each day when I pass by!! Yep, imaginations can be great!!
Thanks so much for sharing! Please visit my toys when you get a chance ~ I have so many I did TWO posts!!
Big Hugs,
Stephanie
Angelic Accents
Isn’t it amazing that we 50+ people survived without seat belts, helmets and plastic playground equipment – not to mention those heavy metal roller skates that clamped onto our shoes with a little key and SO often came undone on a speedy downhill dash?
Happy Birthday, Karla. YOU are the one that gives us a gift every time we open up your delightful and imaginative blog.
What a fun post! I love the book about yourself to read with Sugarwings! I mean I really love it, I am thinking a version of me and one of my hubby would be a great Christmas present for my kids! Thanks for the idea!
Isn’t it amazing that we 50+ people survived without seat belts, helmets and plastic playground equipment – not to mention those heavy metal roller skates that clamped onto our shoes with a little key and SO often came undone on a speedy downhill dash?
Happy Birthday, Karla. YOU are the one that gives us a gift every time we open up your delightful and imaginative blog.
I had bags & bags of plastic farm animals that I adored. Is it any wonder I grew up to leave in the country surrounded by my one zillion animals and my kids and wonderful husband. Full circle! Loved your thoughts on your pony w/ wings. If only!
What a nice post.I really enjoyed it….Have a wonderful day….Mary
Good Lord, a teeter totter haven’t thought of one in years… it was so much fun.. but you couldn’t touch one with out getting hurt..Happy Birthday Lawrence girl..
Karla, what a sweet post…i love that you made a scrapbook that you share with your darling sugarwings, you are a wonderful grandma and i know you are making precious memories for your little one!!!
Karla, beatiful memories’s book and your paint of horse, too.
Great post karla. Jessi’s Toy Party has been fun
Alison
Lovely post Karla. I like your scrapbook to read to Sugarwings. My friend is working on hers and I need to start mine as well.
Hugs Karen
Loved your post, Karla. Gee, I could just feel my fingers being smooshed under that teeter-totter. It was like I was there! I finished Aunt Caroline’s card today; I so hope I am not late!!!
I remember playing on a teeter totter a lot like that one!! Great pics of you and your man with the horses!! And love the way you put together the memories for Sugarwings!!
Happy Birthday!!
happies to Clarice (go on -holler, do the happy dance -holler and shout some more and then start bugging the mail)!
Great post Karla….yours always are. Didn’t you just love Leesburg? My sister spent her anniversary weekend there and loved all the shops. My favorite childhood toys were my pogo stick and stilts. I got pogo up and down stairs and all over the place. I was a great hula hoop girl too. Won all kinds of contest. LOL ~ Happy Thursday ~ Lynn
I love your photo of the teeter totter! I am having so much fun at this Jessi Party!!
:)mendy
I am so glad you got your pony. Love your scrap book. How wondeful. I had a pony named stony. He was beautiful, looked like your painting. Oh, memories. Happy Birthday to you Karla.
-Mya
Loved all the photos! So neat that you made a mini book for sugarwings and she can see you as a young girl….our imaginations were on fire even way back then….My horse was a rolled up tomato cage in the garden of my suburban back yard that I’d hop on and ride all over the prarie!
Oh, a very Happy Birthday to you! And Love those wonderful watercolors!
Sandra Evertson
Karla
Happy BDAY! And what I would have done as a kid for that teeter totter–you must have been the coolest family on the block!
I just found your beautiful blog through Yellow Daisy Cottage. I plan to spend a good bit of time, soon, reading all of your previous posts. What lovely ideas you have. By the way, MY birthday is May 5th too! But I’m four years older than you. I love having a May birthday; I think it’s the best birthday month.
Happy Birthday to US!
A.D.
I not only love the way you share and celebrate your birthday …but also the way you celebrate life! Happy Birthday Karla!!
What a wonderful post and a fun walk down memory lane! Like you, I had alot of toy horses and played with those much more than I did with my dolls. I would tend to bathe my horses alot in the kitchen sink… but I think I did that so I’d have an excuse to use Mom’s powder~puff on them!
I hope your 50th Birthday is awesome, Karla! My 50th is today!! Please come visit if you have time… I did a historical look at May Queens.
Happy May Day ~ Pearl
Karla, thanks for sharing your memories. You’re lucky–your bangs were much longer than mine! The more my Mom tried to even out the cut, the shorter they got! I was a stick horse girl–I can’t imagine how many miles my brother and I galloped on them. The book about you to share with Sugarwings is a great idea.
Karla, that teeter totter thingy is the bomb! I always wanted a horse, too, but lived in a subdivision. I still haven’t given up hope. 😉
everything is so wonderful. thanks for sharing. this was fun wasn’t it?
jenny
I love the little scrapbook you have made of your childhood, gorgeous x
Thanks for sharing your sweet memories and pictures. Have a great birthday!
Thanks for sharing your sweet memories. Have a great birthday!
Great photos Karla…imagination. Where would we be without it? Some of the best times with toys were when we would “pretend” one thing was something else…perhaps this is what has been at the root of our artistic leanings? I too used to paint things to make them different colours! Just for a change!
Love the old pictures, we had one of those teeter totters, too! It was a blast! Also love your water color paintings, they are beautiful!
Ohhh I won how exciting. Oh thank you Karla, you are much to kind to me. I know this will be such a perfect birthday and I can not wait to hear all about it. Love Clarice
We used to have teeter totters in the playground – I would pretend I was flying – gosh those things were fun! I forgot all about them.
Karla
Awww, what wonderful memories. I think the scrapbook you made is so great. What fun you and Sugar Wings will have looking at it together! Thanks for sharing.
Alisa
Thanks for allowing us to join you in your journey back in time. Such treasures (and the artist at a young age, too!) I loved that teeter totter — brought back memories! And the scrapbook is terrific. Isn’t it fun to be a grandma young? Mine was so very old. Dear, sweet, a terrific baker. But old…..
Thanks for allowing us to join you in your journey back in time. Such treasures (and the artist at a young age, too!) I loved that teeter totter — brought back memories! And the scrapbook is terrific. Isn’t it fun to be a grandma young? Mine was so very old. Dear, sweet, a terrific baker. But old…..
These are some great pictures, and an interesting perspective on horses as part of a heritage. I personally am very interested in horses, and I especially like the Paradise toy horses. They’re some of my favorites. Keep up the great blogging!
What precious childhood memories. Thank you for sharing them and for the wonderful pictures.
Have a great weekend.
Happiest of birthdays to you! I hopefully will get to say it again when you are aunt Caroline’s age 😉
Hey Karla! Like you and most girls, I think, I wanted a pony of my very own too. I still haven’t gotten around to that wish coming true, but I rode heaps because my best mate lived on a farm, so that’s where holidays and many weekends were spent. Love the sparkly card! Have a ball enjoying your extended birthday fun! Bear Hugs! KRIS (Tag Along Teddies)
I am glad you finally got your pet. I always wanted a dog and finally got one when
I was about 13 or so. She was so loved.
Sorry to hear about the asthma but glad it got better over time. My dd and I have a mild case of it but no none allergies except seasonal stuff.
Happy belated birthday!! You shared some wonderful childhood memories with us. I remember playing on the teeter totter with my sister when we went camping at Russian River as kids. Your post reminded me of some of my cherished childhood memories, too.
Michele
luvkittysmeowmail@gmail.com