Project: Hello Kitty (aka: Pimpin' Lila's Ride)

Jake took to his 1st trike like a fish to water. Aunt Sally & Uncle Jerry bought him a Lightning McQueen "bike" for his 3rd Christmas and once Bubba got it assembled, Jake was cruisin'. Now 'Lila -- forever her own girl -- wasn't all that interested in the "baby bike". She'd cruise around inside the house on one. But when it came to being seen in public...well, that just wasn't going to work for this little Diva.

When Christopher down the street graduated from the little "big boy bike" to the bigger "big boy bike" we jumped on the opportunity. There was no reason to let a good 2-wheeler rest on its laurels, so we borrowed it pronto! Guess we could have guessed a reused boy's bike wouldn't be good enough for our little girl...even if it was Christopher's. (Yes, little Ladybug loves her some Christopher.) She was OK with it until friend-Sophia showed up with her pinkalicious bike. So what choice did I have? I mean, this is part of a creative stay-at-home-mom's responsibilities, right?

Ladies & Gentlemen, I present to you: Project Hello Kitty (aka: Pimpin' Lila's Ride)

Really...who can expect a girl like this to be happy on a bike like this?

First things first -- build a spray booth in the garage. I knew I hung on to those hideous purple curtains (from the previous owners) for a reason.

Lila really wanted a "pinkalicious" bike. If you're unfamiliar with Pinkalicious, just follow this link to one of Ladybug's favorite books. (Yes, put your curser over the word "link" and a little hand will show up -- allowing you to follow the "link" to a web page telling you all about "Pinkalicious".) And yes, we already have Purplicious (another link), so don't go thinking you've figured out the perfect birthday gift.

I really wasn't interested in painting the entire bike pink, so I taped off most of the red and set to replacing blue w/pink. I added a touch of yellow to tie it all together with the existing wheel rims (cuz I was also not interested in painting rims either). Add a few stickers with some help from Lila and...

Voila!

One Happy Girly!

Thank goodness she hasn't noticed the Tonka Truck training wheels!