Its Wednesday and midway through the second week of April. With all that is going on right now, it's essential we stay true to our hearts and do the things we love. Eat properly, get out and enjoy the beautiful weather, hug your pets and give them lots of attention, and play dolls. And I'm doing just that.
Some years ago, when I was on a vintage Barbie roll, I was collecting all of the most minty, rare and beautiful outfits from the early 60's. During that time, I'd found out about Mattel's reproduction Barbie Dream House and found a new one on Ebay and purchased it.
I had a great time punching out the furniture and putting the pieces together, then setting them up in what I will refer to as, her studio apartment. It had no kitchen. Just a sort of living room with a bed, a vanity with closet next to it and a bookcase. I loved it. I played with it every season and holiday, dressing up Barbie and Ken and sometimes decorating the interior for the holidays. Later I bought the porch swing and a barbeque and a plastic table, probably from the 70's, and set up an outdoor patio. What I really missed was having a kitchen.
So, I kept my eyes open for the Kitchen-Dinette and have since. I've never been able to afford what sellers want for it, and one just sold for $1,500 on a Best Offer. It's just not in the cards for me.
But back then, I became interested in Barbie's New Dream House because it did have a kitchen. Small, but included. I found one for under $400 and bought it. When it arrived, I was
a bit shocked because it was so much bigger than the first Dream House. I had nowhere to put it. I kept thinking of adding some kind of long table to some room to display it, but there was really only one place for toys like this. This round table that my husband won't throw out and is in my bedroom.
Well, I boxed it back up and there it sat. Eventually I found someone who might really enjoy it and sent it to him. I really never thought about it again until recently. It was when this seller had sold the Kitchen-Dinette and had listed a New Barbie's Dream House as well. It looked to be in pretty good shape and was twice what I paid for the other. Sick about not being able to buy the Kitchen-Dinette, I really started wanting to play Barbie again. What sealed the deal was the instruction booklet. In the lower left corner, it shows the structure situated for a small table. That would work! So, I gave him a best offer and buried myself in PayPal Credit. That's okay. I made a decision and wanted to give the house a try again.
When the box arrived, I was dubious. I was so afraid to open it and find a pile of dusty, smelly old cardboard. Didn't matter. I was committed to giving this a whirl. The outside was in decent condition, a 7, but the inside blew me away. It was like it had never been played with. Or very little at least.
It took me quite a while wiggling these pieces around to get the configuration shown on the manual, but I did it. I do not give up. Never. The key to this was not having the tabs hooking the
two structures together. They did it! So could I.
Included in this set was several sheets of unpunched furniture and lots of extra pieces in various stages of condition. My goal was and is to make all those pieces so that I have what will present as a nearly new Barbie's Dream House. I am not disappointed.
The goal of this blog journey is to share this house in its near pristine interior condition and present how things would look like were it brand new.
Last night I punched out and put the yellow sofa together. If there was ever a central piece of furniture to a play set, it's this yellow sofa. I was excited to discover the unpunched page for one. I do not slap these things together. I'm very careful and I read the directions over and over and study the illustrations until I'm confident I know how to put it together. It's amazing how many pieces like this had not been assembled properly over the years.
The play set is complete and even came with the paper rug, which is pretty hideous, but it's there.
Check out this kitchen. One thing you'll notice is that the doors on the cabinet and oven do not have tab handles. The slots still had the paper piece to punch out. I could not find tabs for handles, but I will make them from printed other pieces that I won't use. They are the same color as the doors. I researched this. Not only that, but the shutters had never been bent. They look great folded, but I would have to be careful folding them. I already did it to one. I may leave the other just because. The photo above is the Ebay seller's photo.
Here's the bedroom. As you can see, the floor or what is the outside carrier of the set is in pretty bad condition. There's not much you can do about this but put nice furniture on it and play it down.
Here's a photo of the closet doors closed. What is usually in pretty poor condition is the interior of the closet. Little girls would store their Barbie's things in there so it would get lots of use.
Besides the shelves there is a platform box that houses a pull-out drawer. There is a tab on the platform that the closet doors close onto with slats.
Lucky me, there was an unpunched page of this assembly, so I made that up as well and put it in the closet. Three photos down, I show what the new pieces look like in the closet.
Here is a close up I took of the unfolded shutter doors that go between the kitchen and living room.
I also ironed the paper rug. I put tissue paper over it and on SYN, carefully ironed it smooth.
My one folded shutter door. I'm just too skittish to do the second one right now, and like I said, I might just leave it.
Here's then new drawer and top with the tab that holds the closet doors closed. The closet is in new shape. If I had any question about this, there is a page to punch out and make new shelves.
Here's what I think. I think the person that owned this bought several New Dream Houses and took the good stuff from each and put this together. The funny thing is, they used old ratty furniture in the house when there was mint, unpunched furniture to be made.
One thing, sadly, that is in poor condition, is the television. But it has all the card shows. My guess is that like the closet, it was played with a lot. That's okay. When it sits on a brand-new table, it will look lovely. I'll keep my eye out for a better one, but I'm pleased just to have it.
It took me quite a while to figure out why the patio was so long and big. You're supposed to fold up the hedge. This had never been done either. Now it has been. The side brick rail is a nice touch. There is an extra unpunched one if I ever need it.
Below, I'm sharing the unpunched sheets. If you want to buy one of these Dream House structures, you'll find them assembled and in the furniture in varying stages of played with condition. So, this is pretty cool stuff to see. Even better to play with for the first time!
One of the things that perplexed me was that the seller included three of these blue conical tubes. There was only one lamp shade, but I couldn't figure out how to assemble the base to the shade. So, I looked in the instruction booklet and saw that there was a round piece with a hole in the center. The tip of the stand goes through the hole, and you push it up into the shade until it fits nicely.
Guess what? There was an unpunched lamp round in the papers! I put that together this morning.
I am in no rush to finish this. The assembly of furniture and such is a treat and I'm going to enjoy it a little at a time. I have all the time in the world, I hope!, to do this and enjoy it. It's like discovering a new world.
And I'll have to take my titian Barbie and blonde Ken out and dress them up so they can enjoy Barbie's new home when it's done. Skipper can come over and play, too.
Here's my kitchen. As you can see, I found a square to use for the cabinet and oven handles. I'll hang onto this awhile and see if there's a better piece to use. This might actually belong to something!
I'll make a new table to go into that wall slot. Although, yes, I did this, I bought a Kitchen-Dinette table that I may use instead. The kitchen was the center of many homes in the 1960's. Children played games and did homework there as well as ate their meals. This is a very sentimental journey for a long-ago time in history. I never had beautiful toys like this, so this feels very special to me.
Here's a photo of the pristine built in barbeque grill. There are two very nice lounge chairs already built, but there is also at least one unpunched one.
I was talking with my friend, Betsy, today about all this. This first blog is for her. She had these beautiful toys as a child and kept them. It must be fun for her to see me go nuts for them.
I take my doll play very seriously. This is not an inexpensive hobby. Oh sure. There are some very affordable dolls and toys, but when you're collecting vintage like this, it's a whole new ball game.
I hope you'll enjoy watching this house get put together. And over the coming year, I'll be setting it up and decorating it for the seasons and holidays. I had so much fun doing this with the Little Theatre if you recall.
Let's be grateful and appreciative of what we do have today. We don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, so let's play dolls and find peaceful joy in doing so.
Pretty nice patio door here!
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