Purchases For The Home Alone Movie Fan & The LEGO Life-Size Cat Is Complete

Some fun things to share…remember the Lego Tuxedo Cat I purchased recently?

Here’s how he turned out. You may remember that he was designed so that he can be made with a closed mouth or an open mouth. Here’s how the open mouth option looks, which is what I chose when building him. I went with the gold eyes option, but he can be made with blue eyes, too.

To change his mouth, the open mouth piece can be popped out, and the closed mouth piece added back in its place.

His ears are movable, as is the tip of his tail and his front feet/paws.

I placed him on the console behind my desk the evening I made him, and I kept finding myself doing a double-take each time I entered the room to sit down at my desk. He’s pretty close to life size, so my mind kept thinking, “There’s a cat!” Ha! I love how his shadow looks in this photo. He’s a great gift idea for the cat lover. (Lego cat is available here: Lego Cat.”)

I’m a little Home Alone movie-obsessed right now. You may remember that I ordered this “Battle Plan” to mount or frame to hang in the movie room. It arrived, and it looks exactly like the image below. I think instead of framing it, I’m going to have it mounted on poster board or something similar. Thanks so much to the lovely BNOTP reader who suggested checking with Michaels for having that done. I will definitely do that. I don’t want it to be framed behind glass; I want it to be more of a poster format. (Kevin’s Battle Plan is available in 5 different sizes here: Kevin’s Battle Plan.)

I also purchased this funny hoodie that I’ve been wearing almost nonstop. I wore it to go on a walk today and it kept me toasty warm. (Hoodie is available in 4 colors here: Kevin’s Battle Plan Hoodie.)

Great Christmas Gift or Stocking Stuffer: I just discovered that the previous owner of the Home Alone/McCallister house, John Abendshine, recently wrote a book detailing what it was like to live in the house while the filming was going on and what his and his family’s life changed forever after the release of the movie. It’s been over 30 years since the movie debuted in November 1990, so John’s friends were curious why he decided to write a book about the experience now.

In the book, he tells a funny story about how he was giving a speech/talk at a health conference, and when he was introduced, the first thing the host said when sharing info about John was that his home was the McCallister’s home in the movie, Home Alone. He was so surprised that the host led with that information, but was even more surprised when he finished his speech and every question he got from the audience was about the filming process, his home, and what it was like meeting all of the cast members. lol He realized that even after so many years, there’s still a lot of interest in this iconic movie and decided it was time to spill all the details. I’ve just started the book, and so far, I really like his writing style. He has a great sense of humor, and I can tell the stories are going to be great! I can’t wait to start back in reading it this weekend! (Book is available here: Home But Alone No More.)

Here’s a sample (from the book) of some of the questions he has been asked a million times over the years and that get answered in the book:

How did it happen that your home was chosen for the movie?
Did you live there during the filming? Did you watch the scenes as they were filmed?
Did you get to know the actors? What were they really like?
Did they destroy the place?
Did you expect the movie to be such a hit, and why do you think it’s become such a popular film? What was it like to live in what has become a world-famous home? How did you and your family deal with the constant stream of gawkers?
Did you get rich off this?
Would you do it all over again knowing what you know now?

Though I’m just a chapter into the book where he’s describing how disruptive living in the Home Alone house was starting just hours after the release of the movie, I’ve already gotten the impression that John, a practical, no-nonsense type person, softens up and comes to acccept and understand why so many millions of people loved and stalked the home during the 20+ years that he and his family lived there. Of course, the stalking continues even today, though John no longer owns the home. If you or someone you know is a Home Alone movie fan, I think this book would be a great Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. (You’ll find it available here: Home But Alone No More.)

I’ve been looking for a Home Alone movie poster for the movie room, but I haven’t found one that I like. I would like one that shows the house since it plays such an important role in the movie. Plus, I just love the home! It turns out that the artist who created the image for the cover of the book has released prints of the cover and made them available for purchase. I loved the image Julia Hagen created for the cover of the book, but for the movie room, I don’t really want a picture that includes the owner or all the tourists/gawkers like the cover does. But I did find another cool-looking picture/print on eBay and decided to order it in poster size. I hope it’s not too dark for the movie room. You can see that the artist blurred the name of the pizza delivery company and the name of the robbers/plumbing company, probably to avoid copyright issues. The large print that I ordered hasn’t arrived yet, but once it does, I’ll let you know what I think about it. Since it doesn’t have the name of the movie printed anywhere on the image, it’s going to be a “if you know, you know” kinda art for the basement movie room. Would you recognize the house if you saw this image in the movie room? This art/poster print can be found on eBay here: Home Alone Art/Poster.

See you tomorrow for Tablescape Thursday!