Mack inherited a ton of stuffed animals from me that have been carried all across the US and now to Germany. Some of them (like the gigantic tigers) are new and others are just loaners (like the huge white polar bear whose name is Norman and has been our marriage counselor since we started dating — if something goes wrong, it’s the bear’s fault!) I had all the bears and animals haphazardly lined up along her wall and the tiger was closer to her heater and a corner that sticks out. Not such a smart place since she LOVES to ride the tiger like it’s a horse. But please, call it a “kitty” or a “mee-mee” (one of our cats is named Marilyn Monroe and we thought it would be easier if we just called both cats “mee-mee” until Mack got bigger.

At any rate, I kept trying to figure out what to do with all these creatures, already having a much smaller basket which some of the smaller critters in it. And then I remembered we still had an enormous old basket in our barn, doing absolutely nothing. Or at least I hoped that was the case. Thankfully, I was right! So I hauled this bad boy off the wine cellar and down the precariously leaned ladder, shocked at how insanely heavy the thing is. But considering it’s big enough for me to curl up in (or Ayla), I guess it’s no wonder. You just wouldn’t think wicker would be so heavy.

Now I was not about to let that basket into Mack’s room with straw and feathers and who knows what else on it. So I “asked” google if wicker could be washed. And what do you know, it can! Again, lucky for us we have a GINORMOUS bathtub that easily holds 4 people (wow, we really sound like we love huge stuff around here — I am a Texas girl after all lol) so I heaved it in there and got to work.

Using a scrub brush and a bottle of vinegar, I scrubbed and washed the basket down on all sides. Once I was satisfied that it was clean enough without pulling out the bleach (I wouldn’t want Mack licking it but she’s mostly past that stage thankfully), I turned it on one of the short ends and let it dry for about a day. I read that the best way to dry wicker is to hang it…but I was not about to schlepp that thing back outside and there are no hooks to hang it from in our guest bathroom.

Something strange happened while I was doing this. I always find it amazing how a song or a smell can bring back things from your past. And for reasons I absolutely do not understand, the smell of the wet wicker reminded me of my grandparents house in Dallas. I really don’t get it because I don’t think they even had anything wicker in their house but I was pretty young back then so who knows. (Mom & Dad, I know you’ll both read this so maybe you can clue me in lol)

At any rate, once the basket was dried, I gave it a new home upstairs in Mackenzie’s room where it’s so far very happy. I am able to keep the stuffed animals (and Mack) from creeping too close to the heater and still have plenty of space for the warm air to flow away from the heater into the room. Plus it’s pretty amusing to look at all those bears piled up in there and will be an easy place for Mack to put things away once she starts pulling those guys out to play with them…which I know will happen sooner or later. Thankfully only the monkey has had to sleep at the other end of her crib so far. The rest would barely even fit! Although that might be the plan…she can say they need to sleep in the bed so she’ll sleep on the floor instead 😉

I’ve also brought out a little blue shelf that I have hauled around with us for years but was never really sure where to put it. It’s a really cute little blue shelf that my dad made for me when I was a kid. I used to have my piggy banks and other little collectibles on it. And now Mackenzie will be able to do the same. You have no idea how much stuff this kid has already. Going to have to get her a jewelry box soon too. She cleaned up at her christening! 😉

I just think it’s the cutest little thing and Mack loved playing with the drawers when I had it on the floor. I also just cleaned it up a little but don’t plan to paint it because it’s still in really good shape and I like the weathered look of it. Plus it  already matches with the other stuff in her room…not that we’ve really figured out a theme or anything in her room…it’s all sorta hodge podge at the moment. But hopefully we can change that in the next year too! We’ve just got to hang the shelf now (and by we I mean Stefan) and then we can start putting trinkets on it. Getting Mack to agree not to ask to see every single thing on the shelf morning and evening will be a challenge…but at least we know the stuff is being loved!

Have you rediscovered something in your house recently that could be doing something useful instead of just standing in the attic or your garage?