Duncan's Nook

This is the little nook we will be using for arts and crafts in the corner of the basement room we're turning into an office. Duncan seems oblivious to the fact that the ceiling and walls need to be covered with drywall. A realtor would call it an open-concept, industrial work-live space.

The chair was garbage picked and freshened up with off-white paint. The old sixties kitchen table has been with our family forever. I don't know where it came from.
We are a family of book-lovers. We all have books scattered all over the house. This is the $2.00 magazine holder I painted black last week. I never thought the day would come when I read to Duncan in the basement, but it's actually happening. I see Miss Rumphius poking out of the pile. I love that story.Sharing the space: Duncan's number chart and my William Blake postcards provide eye candy.
I put some of Duncan's favourite pictures and postcards at eye-level. The name plate was given to him when we registered him for kindergarten. He's almost able to write his name by himself. The adorable dog belongs to our next-door-neighbours.
I've attached labels to the front of this oh-so practical, but not very beautiful drawer set. Duncan can't read yet, but he can see through the clear plastic.
Here's a gorgeous paintbox that was made in England. I bought it at a yard sale last year for fifty cents.

Voila!

Vintage Tupperware Mix It kit that cost $1.00 at a yard sale last year. The box looks like it survived a war...
Inside are Tupperware pieces for kids that have never been used. Duncan might use them for salt dough activities.
Ubiquitous Spirograph set. I bought this for next to nothing along with a pile of board games at a Catholic Church rummage sale in St. Catharines last year. Duncan's fine motor skills aren't quite ready for the gears yet.

A pile of old and newer tins stacked on the plastic drawers.

Vintage candy dish now used to hold Mr. Sketch markers. My favourite is the licorice scent.
I have a few of these beautiful state cocktail trays, but we never really use them.

Now, West Virginia holds Duncan's paint pots. The paint washes off the tray easily.My most cherished cookie tin. It was made in England, but reminds me of this bird sanctuary in Australia I went to as a child. The colourful birds land on your head and eat a mushy bread mixture off a tray that that you hold out in front of you. I'll have to ask my dad where that place was. Maybe near Brisbane?
Souvenir shortbread tin from Scotland bought for $1.00 last summer.

It now holds oodles of Duncan's crayons.

Another gorgeous tin. I bought this at a contents sale last year for a buck or two.
It now holds dozens of rubber stamps, which I also bought at a yard sale.