COMMUNITY
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lisa Wilson-Pena and her daughter Bailey are reflected in a mirror at the Pampered Princess girl's day spa in Aiea as they put some finishing touches to a setting.
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Building dreams
A carpenter uses her skills to create a place where little girls and their dreams thrive
The smell of sawdust is one of Lisa Wilson-Pena's favorite scents. As a girl, she dreamed of becoming a carpenter, just like her dad. She can use a jigsaw, tell the difference between a finish nail and a 16-penny nail and can even read a blueprint.
"I helped to build our house," she said. "My job was to follow the contractor around and treat the wood."
As far back as she can recall, Wilson-Pena and her siblings were involved in construction. "I had nail gun races with my brother while we were nailing the floor down."
She continues to put her carpentry skills to work each year for Sacred Heart's fundraiser -- the school all three of her daughters attend.
The family's booth often stands out, including a Loch Ness monster mini-golf set-up that included a fogger. Another year, they created a food booth designed as a Chinese take-out box, using rolled screen, 2-by-4s, gutters and upside-down saimin bowls. "We do a lot of silly things," she said.
"I did May Day costumes, class parties, pirate treasure hunts and even painted watermelons (as dinosaur eggs), so my daughter's class could pretend to be paleontologists and find the dino eggs hidden at school."
Other parents suggested she start her own business, Wilson-Pena said, and eventually she did -- although it ended up involving a decidedly more delicate pursuit than carpentry.
One day, while doodling, she came up with a logo for a girls' spa to be called Pampered Princess. Her daughters loved the name and things took off. The establishment, located behind Cutter Ford in Aiea, opened in 2004.
Pampered Princess Little Girl's Day Spa offers salon and birthday packages that include foot baths, glitzy nail treatments, hairstyling and make-up application, dress-up and lunch with dainty settings. "We cater to girls ages 4 to 12 but have had quite a few 3-year-olds and a couple in Pull-Ups," Wilson-Pena said.
She and her family did much of the construction themselves.
"We signed our lease and helped to construct the walls, built tables and jigsaw shapes out of panel board for the walls." Lisa's husband, Glenn, fondly named it "the Castle."
"Sometimes we get out the floodlights and build new pieces, after everyone else closes down," said Glenn.
Everyone in the family has a responsibility, and extended family members help run the spa, Wilson-Pena said.
"I once overheard my daughter talking to her dad asking him to take a vacation day from his work so that he could cover her shift, because she had a basketball game."
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sisters Bailey, left, Lacey and Hunter have some fun with the bubbles in the foot baths.
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Wilson-Pena is accustomed to feedback from the kids. When she was a youngster herself, family dinners were a time to offer feedback and suggestions. "My dad would tell us all about the projects he was working on and we would provide input."
The same goes for her girls. "My daughters are the party consultants. They told me that the girls don't like cake, they want cupcakes. They don't like fruit cocktail -- they want peaches. The girls really help me with the marketing," she said.
"Sometimes they start taking over. I need to remind them that I'm the mom and they are the kids."
Hunter, Wilson-Pena's 12-year-old daughter, is following in her Mom's footsteps. She, too, can use a jigsaw and an array of tools. "I love doing the carpentry stuff," she said, along with painting and decorating.
"My daughter Lacey started helping us paint when she was 3. All of the girls know how to use a ladder," Wilson-Pena said.
Her husband often finds his tools missing and knows one of his girls must have them.
Despite their handiness with carpentry, the daughters love the spa atmosphere and the business side of things. "I paint nails," said Hunter.
"I spray cotton candy perfume on everyone before they leave," said 8-year-old Bailey.
In the listing of responsibilities, Lacey, now 5, gleefully added, "I just sit down and watch TV"
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The spa offers girls a chance to dress up in fancy gowns. Lisa Wilson-Pena organizes gowns as her daughters decorate a chair.
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