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.

Cozy Cabin Playhouse finished

The Cozy Cabin is our smallest playhouse: perfectly sized for kids ages 1 to 5 years old. It will fit in a corner, on a deck, inside a play room or in the middle of a garden! Young children love to go inside, close the door, open the shutters, slide the "peek-a-boo", put mail in the mail slot, peek through the cut-outs and then invite you in. It is exactly right for their size.

While we are building the playhouse, Barbara works with the client on creating the color palette:











This beautiful color palette reflects the colors of the garden:


















Because this Cozy Cabin was installed on a slight slope, we secured it with 2 front footings, hidden by the extra skirting on the front.

No playhouse is complete without the sound of laughter coming from the adorable kids that really own it!

Back at the shop, Rudi is also working on adding color to the Cozy Cabin, our next project.

Here he has just finished staining the Universe "cut-outs" on the back wall (star, moon & planet) and has cut around the carvings with the wall color.









Next Rudi uses a sponge brush to wipe on the exterior wall color.

To the right are 2 of the interior walls, already stained & drying.







Daisy continues to wait patiently for Barbara & Jeff to return from site.


























3 out of 4 walls are done and left leaning against the shop wall cabinets to dry. Tomorrow, Rudi will stain the front wall with the kitty cat and tulip carvings.

Stay tuned for more Castle Play Structure installation images that Barbara will bring back with her tonight!

Pretty in Pink

Barbara Butler's Country Cottage Playhouse

We are about to pack up this playhouse and send it off to NY (along with a treehouse that is going to Southampton). Jose is "detailing" which is the last step in the process: hanging the Dutch door and shutters, adding the trims, adding any play accessories and touching up any scratches. Once the playhouse is perfect, we take it apart, "blanket wrap" the big pieces (and box the small pieces) then load it into the truck.




Barbara hand-carves the flowers, fairies, dragonflies, butterflies, birds and fauna on all 4 sides of the playhouse. Then Rudi, our Master Stainer, applies the color:
Jeff (Barbara's husband) will be driving the truck across country this week, then Barbara and crew will fly in on Sunday. Installations start on Monday.

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!

Rosefield Cottage

Hi all

Here are some photos from our new playhouse in Tiburon. I'm calling it Rosefield Cottage because my client loves roses. Soon the roses will be growing up a trellis that will cover the big I-Beams.

The outside is all carved and stained and the inside is all painted.

The playhouse is tucked under the deck of the main house, with a great view of the SF Bay. The playhouse barely fit between the I-Beams and under the deck and we had a hard time sliding the roof in place. I shouldn't cut it so close but of course I can't resist!

That's my sister Pat, visiting from Norfolk Virginia, enjoying the view.

Rosefield Cottage is completely waterproof and finished inside, with real doors & windows.
That's Suzanne sitting on the bottom bunk. She came and helped finish the touch-up on the last day.

Notice the drop-leaf table & benches against the wall.

My client found a great chandelier but we are still looking for the perfect sconces that are kid-friendly as well. Soon to be added are foam cushions for the bunk beds, a small area rug, curtains...