One Nutty Squirrel

Over on the GardenWeb Kitchen Forums, there is a mythical creature known as Towel Pig.  His head is cocked at just the right angle, his expression is one of joy and whimsy, he stands at just the right height to drape a towel to dry.  He looks proud to carry the towel on his back.  The original Towel Pig was purchased by rmlanza for her remodeled kitchen.

The hunt for Towel Pig has led some to cry tears of frustration as they think they spy one, but he's not quite happy enough, not quite tall enough, or his stance isn't quite the same.  There have been multiple conversation threads devoted to Towel Pig.  Now I don't have a particular affinity for pigs, my first recollection of a real pig was hanging from my basement rafters.  My parents would buy one whole each year and butcher it in the basement.  So I was on the hunt for a suitable towel animal, that wasn't a pig. 

I like cats, but no self respecting cat would allow a towel to be draped across it.  I love elephants, and many were a contender for the spot in my window sill.  I spied an owl in the garden sculptures section of a home store one day, and nearly brought it home, but birds & owls have been so on trend, that I set it back down.  I was mainly looking at garden sculpture.  Banks wouldn't work for me because I didn't want moisture to get inside and possibly get mildew where it'd be tough to clean.  The same went with an elephant I found at Home Goods, that went around the store a couple of times in my cart, but was eventually put back, because of the cleaning aspect.  One sort of like this one.

So you want to see my new towel animal?  This is what I found and needed to bring home for towel holding duties.  A squirrel hoarding an acorn.

We have a large oak tree in our yard that towers over our home and drops acorns everywhere.  Last year was a bumper crop and the sound of squirrels running across our roof gathering acorns was deafening.  Seriously sounded like elephants up there.  Our cat, Socks, likes to sit in the garden window and watch the birds that nest nearby, and the squirrels running around in the yard.

I loved this little squirrel, and knew it was a winner immediately.(I've only been looking for a suitable towel animal for 2 yrs)  At only $5.99, I was doubly happy, perfect & cheap.  Woohoo.  Still I had to make it really mine, not a random ceramic animal brought home from Home Goods.  So I primed it.

And sprayed it a High Gloss Yellow.  Here he is in the window - Bright, happy, and proud to hold a towel on his tail.  And yes, that is snow in our backyard on the 3rd day of Spring.

Thanks for popping in and painting with me.  I'm linking this up to Debbiedoos' Color Party.