I took Chloe to paint another ceramic masterpiece yesterday because Christopher Walken’s “More Cowbell!” seemed to instead be whispering, “More Ceramic Trinkets!” in my ear as we drove around looking for a place to park our car made of clay.

Chloe chose the beautiful princess from the $14 rack. I was clear she could select from any of the items on display. Any of the items from the bottom, or cheapest, row and $14 seemed to be in keeping with my idea of two hours of frustrated brush strokes and asking if she could trade in her princess for the bigger, more expensive Smurf piggy-bank.

Sure she implied she would have been happier with the stack of playful penguins for the garage sale price of $58 or even the “Wonky” teapot for $65. I would be hard pressed to agree to pay over say, $20 for anything with the word “Wonky” right in the title but to have to actually do the work to finish it too? The $14 princess was looking better by the minute.

My five year old selected a colour palette of pale neutrals. Nothing that could have been construed as offensive on its own or even in the pleasant grouping of Dixie cups and paint brushes. Somehow though, in just two short hours, she found a way to transform a beautiful $14 princess and create Carrie’s prom-night, minus the bucket of pig’s blood.

Right down to the smeared eyelashes.