Mike and I ordered a new mattress because ours was old and it was time. We ordered it from Amazon and in two days, a brown cardboard box the size of a a washing machine showed up on our doorstep. We unrolled the mattress and plopped it on the bed. Then we had the real treasure in front of us. This was the PERFECT opportunity to introduce Caroline to all the fun that can be had with a brown cardboard box.

So after she was tucked into bed, I got to work. I pulled out the scissors, an Xacto knife, ribbons, and Sharpies. I spent the next hour creating a Sugar Bear Bakery for my little Sugar Bear.

And voila, it was complete!

I wanted to make sure the sides would be appealing to tiny people, so I added a regular window and a special peek a boo window. But the real highlight was the Sugar Bear Secret Passage :

And on the other side, I added some festive fleurs and made a ribbon window, perfect for small fingers to toy with:

Mike helped ensure the back was festive. Taking a phrase from The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, he wrote “Many happy returns of the day!” This is a fancy British way of saying Happy Birthday 🙂

The very next day, we unveiled the surprise! She loved it. She loved climbing in it, and pulling on the ribbons, and escaping through the Secret Passage. It was wonderful.

Note the special star cutouts on the top…which were fun when we turned off all the lights and climbed inside with a little light.

Cheers to the first of many cardboard box adventures, Sugar Bear!