Facelift

Many years ago, in a galaxy far away, I bought a humble, plain wooden rocking horse with grand ideas to paint it and turn it into something amazing.  Charlotte was less than two at the time, and I had hopes of her riding this wonderful rocking horse.  Well, she rode it alright, but it was still the same plain wooden rocking horse with no personality and one missing eye.

Years went by and I didn't get around to painting the horse and it moved with us several times and sat in the basement.  This summer I decided to give up on my dreams of this project and gave it to my sister to sell at her garage sale.  Apparently it was a little too humble because it didn't sell, and it came back to live with us.

It seemed like perhaps it was a sign and I should actually do what I had always intended with the little guy.  So Charlotte and I went to Hobby Lobby (three times!) and began the transformation.  Over the last three weeks we've spent many hours sitting on the floor painting.  Charlotte loved helping (when I let her with the big stuff, not so much the tiny details!).  When we got to a point where she couldn't help much, we bought her a wooden birdhouse at Hobby Lobby and let her paint her own project.  And now, without further ado, the first "project" of my retirement from medicine and my new career as a stay at home wife and mom!

 Day 1.  The starting point.

 Later on Day 1 with one coat of white paint that didn't cover nearly as well as I had hoped!

 Many days and coats of white paint later (4 coats total, I think?).

Trying out a colorful tail...

Ta Da!!!  Here he is with his new identity!

We still need to figure out how to attach his mane and tail and whether to make it plain black, colorful, or a mix of black and color.  Any votes from the audience?