WWOG: French Bakery!

The French Bakery has been calling from the other room for days so I decided to see how far I could get into the box and packaging before I'd need a second set of hands for maneuvering it. Grace Thomas is quite eager to see her French Bakery again as well!

The dimensions of the packing box are 26 7/8" H x 38" W x 18 7/8 D and the box and contents weigh 51.5 pounds. A single person can heft and carry this box, but because of its bulk, it is awkward to say the least. I'll just cut open the top seam...

After opening the top of the box and removing two pieces of styrofoam, I decided I could gently tip the box on its side and slide the French Bakery out.

The bottom of the box once the bakery is removed--I plan to save the box and all packing materials.

The French Bakery comes almost entirely constructed--only the roof pieces and the side store sign need to be added. The bakery seems so much more reasonably sized once freed from its packing box!

All the additional pieces and accessories are packed inside two interior boxes along the floor of the bakery. First, though, I needed to remove the two horizontal cardboard supports (empty) on either side of the interior. It worked best to remove the right support, then the top long cardboard container of items, and then the left support, since the left support wanted to catch on the wall mounted black cooking rack hooks.

The top cardboard container, removed from bakery.

The top cardboard container holds a bag of goodies (primarily paper made goods), the La Patisserie sign for the side of the building, and the roof pieces.

The bottom three pieces connect to made the front facing roof and the remaining two the left and right sides.

The roof pieces, including window and window panes are all plastic. After snapping together the first three pieces, the roof snaps with the lower tabs into the top part of the roof. No tools need and I was able to add the roof in under three minutes.

The shop sign is entirely plastic. I do wish this one detail would have been metal. It will survive moderate bumps and jostles, but it is not as sturdy as I would like.

The first goodie bag!

Many more pictures to follow--closeups of the goodies in the photo above, but also the treasures to be found in the second interior packing box inside of the bakery!

Waiting for Grace: Samantha's Holiday Set Unboxing

Posey, who is my BeForever Samantha poppet, was inspired by the pictures of Kini Zamora's red-and-black plaid dress and begged to be able to get out her new Christmas dress by unboxing Samantha's Holiday Set. So today's official Waiting for Grace activity will be more holiday preparations!

Samantha's Holiday Set is a large box because her holiday dress has been bundled by AG with her revised tea set. The box contains essentially three layers--the outfit on top, the tray and tea cloth in the middle, and the tea set on the bottom.

The cautionary note was appreciated! I plan to keep the entire box and styrofoam and stiff cardboard layers to be able to store the tea set components safely after use.

Ooh! Pretty! The tartan plaid is wonderful and the black lace detailing at the hem of the skirt divine. Posey noted that she would need to press out this dress before wearing it.

And look at the white lace bow! Posey can't wait to try it on!

On the upside of the design, the bow is attached to a scrunchie for ease of attachment, but this is also less than historically accurate. AG went for ease of play and practicality over historical accuracy here--a decision that I am sure does not please all customers. I am mixed on this. I have minimal hair styling ability so I appreciate the ease, but I love the long ribbons that came with earlier Samantha outfits that need to be tied on by hand.

Velvet books with bows and a pair of black tights. Posey was not thrilled with the velvet boots--they seemed very wrinkly. Maybe they will look better on.

Oh no, the velvet boots come with tiny heels. Posey is not certain she will be able to pose and stand securely in these boots if previous experiences with these sorts of heels is any indication. 

The next layer down in the box reveals the white tea cloth and silver-tone tea tray.

The tray is very nice and shiny, though the underside of the tray is already showing scratches (not pictured) just moments out of the box. Posey will keep you posted if more start developing.

And finally the tea set is on the bottom. I would have never bought the tea set had it not been bundled with the holiday dress. Let's face it, AG knew the holiday (Christmas) dress for Samantha would be a hit and could drive up profit margins by bundling. Well played, AG. 

The tea set itself comes with a teapot and separate lid, a teacup, saucer, and a set of three petits fours which do not separate. As a little tea set goes, it is cute, cut I don't have much use for a single place setting. Maybe it will show up in some photo shoots because it needs to earn its way!

Posey is thrilled with her new holiday dress and will return before the holidays are over and give a twirl in front of the camera. She has been so busy with the unboxing that she (and I) almost forgot that we were waiting for Grace!