Tiny Dancers

My little one is turning into a little lady--at least out of the sandbox. When she isn't getting dirt under her fingernails in the yard, she's floating around the house in her lavender tutu wearing any combination of necklaces and bracelets she's accumulating. Yesterday, as I was untangling her Hello Kitty necklace from a red and gold beaded bracelet and a pair of my chandelier earrings (!) I realized that she needs a jewelry box.

So, with her third birthday only one week away, I am on the hunt for the perfect, girly, ballerina-twirly music box for her to store her treasures. I'll likely find one at a local store, but peeking around online is fun, too. I've found some very sweet, very ladylike little boxes out there.

Like this traditional ballerina music box from Lenox, which plays a respectable "Fur Elise" when you open the lid.

Just In Case Music offers a more enchanting take on the theme, with painted fairies and a spinning harlequin.

This one from The Music Box Collection, Inc. is a little on the saccharine side of sweet for my taste, but I imagine most 3 year old girls would think it's pretty neat. Also, it plays the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, which is way better than Lionel Richie's "Ballerina Girl," apparently a popular tune these days in children's music boxes. (Huh?)

There's also this sweet and delicate Peter Rabbit music box from the San Francisco Music Box Company.