I was so stressed out after all the problems getting the eight wall sections done on that Barbie room that I needed a breather. Time was getting short, but I needed to put it down and forget about it for a day or two.At this point I was almost convinced it was a jinxed project. I’m not sure who I wronged but I was beginning to suspect a certain 11 ½” blonde bombshell was behind all this. I must have left her lying around naked or dressed in something garish many years ago and now she was finally getting even.
Remember I said this gift needed to be shipped halfway across the country? Time was getting short now. It had taken me the full allotted time just to finish the walls!
I went ahead and packed the gifts for the rest of the family and all the “extras” I had gathered for K. (I admit, I ALWAYS over buy for the little kids.) I took that box to the Post Office and sent it off. The Barbie Room would just have to make the trip alone as soon as I could get it done. If it didn’t make it, there would be plenty for K to open on Christmas Day and she would be none the wiser until she did receive this special box. (I envisioned it arriving the Monday or Tuesday after Christmas, at the latest.)
I sat down that evening to begin working on the floor/base portion of the room. The walls, now connected to form one foldable panel, sits in little troughs in a base that is about ¾” thick with a floor pattern in the room and green (grass) around the outer walls. The floor piece then folds in half for easy storage. There are about 20 of these room patterns out there but the floor plan and a matching carrying case are printed on one separate pattern that can be used with any of the rooms. It’s in a separate pamphlet.
A separate pamphlet which was NOT on the shelf where it should be. Okay, this was easy enough to deal with. I’ve made enough of these that I could wing it on this portion. In fact, I decided to use the 5 count plastic I had on hand (since I wasn’t planning to use it anywhere else!) This took me a little bit longer to formulate than it would have if I had simply grabbed the printed pattern and worked from it but pretty much went smoothly.
I quickly moved on to the furnishings for the room. The piano went together smoothly. Only now, I was running out of plastic sheets (the 7 count size). Somehow, I had miscalculated my needs. I was forced to stop for the evening until I could get to the store for supplies the next day. I knew at that point, it was not going to be there on Christmas Day and I strongly suspected it might not be there that week at all. (Thank goodness for all those “extras” I’d picked up for her along the way!)With a replenished supply pile, I sat down to work on the rest of the pieces. The keyboard and stand went together quickly. As did the amplifier. The microphone was a little trickier as I found the base wasn’t strong enough to hold it upright on its own. I had to redesign the base to offer the proper support but turned out a satisfactory finished product.
Then came the intricate little music stand. Cutting on this item was very intricate and quite delicate. I cut it out once and realized it was wrong. Twice - oops, different error. Three times, perfect - but then, a corner broke as I tried to attach it to the stand. Don’t even ask about the 4th try. Bear in mind, this little piece didn’t even measure 2” x 2”. I was getting quite frustrated. The fifth time was a charm!! Again the base didn’t support the framework. I adapted it the same way I did the microphone stand and moved on.The stool was a little tricky to cut. I made at least two mistakes and had to re-cut. Once all the pieces were cut out, it stitched together fairly easily. The piano bench, complete with storage under the lid, went together like a piece of cake.
Finally, I was down to the last piece, the guitar. Again, this was tricky and very intricate piece to cut. I thought I had it right on the third try, but then found an error as I began to stitch. The fourth effort was totally off and the fifth also had a problem. I decide at that point to piece a correction together. (Besides, I was, once again, running short on plastic since I’d had so many re-dos.)Da! Da!! Finished!!! At Last!!!! I set the room up to admire it and then went to bed.
By the light of day, I wasn’t happy with the way the guitar strings looked so I cut them off and restrung the guitar. Easier said than done. Just take my word for it.
Okay, NOW it was done.
End of story. NOT quite. There was one more glitch in the process. That’s a tale I’ll tell you in "Barbie gets the last word!!" -- The Final Chapter of the Barbie Room Fiasco!!
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