Garden Potpourri: Josie visits her old/now new playhouse

Garden Potpourri Playhouse will be auctioned 9/24/10.
All proceeds to benefit Coyote Point Museum.

Josie (almost 16 years old now) stopped by our shop last Sunday with her mom, Michelle, to visit her old Garden Playhouse. Josie enjoyed her Barbara Butler Garden Playhouse from age 3 to 15 and then decided to donate it to help raise money for a good cause. Barbara collaborated by throwing her skills at refurbishing and re-creating the playhouse, using reclaimed materials.












Josie and her mom loved the new playhouse and almost want to buy it back at auction! Instead, they hope that a wonderful family with small children will fall in love with Garden Potpourri and bid to buy at the auction this coming Friday.

For more information about how to purchase tickets to attend the "Tinkering by Twilight" fund raising event, go to www.coyoteptmuseum.org

To see more images of Garden Potpourri playhouse, click here!

Garden Potpourri: Barbara Butler playhouse to be auctioned

Join us at the September 24th fund raising event for Coyote Point Museum!

Barbara's "Garden Potpourri" playhouse, made from 100% reclaimed materials, will be auctioned to highest bidder!













A few months ago, Coyote Point Museum sent a request asking if we would create/donate a playhouse made from re-claimed or re-purposed materials for their Tinkering by Twilight fund raising event. It was an exciting idea!

Around the same time, Barbara was contacted by former client, Michelle Furbershaw, who wanted to sell or donate her daughter, Josie's, Garden Playhouse. Barbara had made Josie's playhouse back in 1999 when she was 4 years old. After 11 loving years of use, Josie was no longer using the playhouse and it was sitting empty in the backyard.

It was a timely combination of events!



Josie and her mom decided to donate their playhouse which Barbara would then clean, repair, refurbish and enhance to create a new structure for the auction, to be purchased and enjoyed for another 11 years by a new family, and raise funds for a good cause. Recycling at it's creative best!

Garden Potpourri playhouse was created by adding a large front deck with steps up and a rung ladder out the cafe doors at the back. The railings are made from extra unused shutters gathered from different playhouses and a couple of abandoned ship's wheels. The skirting comes from all the left-over stained pieces of redwood saved and stored over the years but never used. Special touches were added such as the Top Secret Safe under the playhouse and step railings made from old stain sticks.

Here is the Garden Potpourri playhouse drying on our dock after a final coat of tung-oil.


















DONATION/AUCTION INFORMATION:

All proceeds donated to:
Coyote Point Museum, San Mateo, CA
a non-profit organization for Environmental Education
Auction info:
Tinkering by Twilight gala event
on September 24, 2010
www.coyoteptmuseum.org

PLUS, other playhouses and animal habitats created by teams of designers, contractors, builders & suppliers will also be auctioned at this event. Children's playhouses & animal habitats will be an exciting and unique part of the live and silent auctions!

For more information, click here to go to the Coyote Point Museum website, or click here to go to our website.

Bid on eBay for donated Magical Bridge Playhouse!

If you have ever wanted to bid on a Barbara Butler playhouse, then this is your chance! You can now bid on eBay for The Magical Bridge Playhouse, donated by Barbara Butler Artist-Builder Inc.

100% of all proceeds from this sale go towards building The Magical Bridge Playground in Palo Alto, a playground for families of all abilities. The value of this playhouse is $12,180. This magical playhouse will be delivered & installed free of charge within a 30 mile radius of Palo Alto or San Francisco, CA (an additional $1,460 value). Outside of this area, the bidder is responsible for shipping and assembly costs.

Click here to see more about the playhouse, including specifications and dimensions.
Click here to bid on eBay!