WWOG: Bringing Home Bonbon

Today's WWOG Blog is taking a short break from unpacking the French Bakery and is giving Bonbon, Grace Thomas' adorable French bulldog, some attention.

Bonbon is completely plush bodied and soft to the touch. She has embroidered eyes, nose, and mouth. She is capable of basically her one sitting pose, though her face and ears manage to be quite expressive.

The black satin bow is sewn on just in front of her ear. It appears like it could be removed with a seam ripper, but I offer no guarantees on how much of a blemish the holes from the original stitching would remain visible. I like the bow, though I have heard other wish to remove it.

Her red collar and leash are also permanently attached her plush body.

Her red collar with bow is actually also a leash. The center "knot" of the red bow is secured with velcro and the accordion folds of the bow can be undone and turned into a leash.

Bonbon's face is very cute and her expressions like in the above photo seem to ask "Bring me home?" Conversely, this is also the face my real world puppies give me to ask for almost everything, but especially for treats!

I can see why Grace fell in love in Paris--with this little pup. Will Bonbon be coming home with you this year? (A+ for cuteness.)

WWOG: French Bakery - Part III (Major Appliances)

On today's WWOG Blog (The Wonderful! World of Grace) we continue to unpack and examine all the pieces of the French Bakery. We have reached the second inner box which contains the major appliances.

The long white box slides out easily once the double french doors are completely opened.

Inside the white box is the mini refrigerator, the bakery counter, and the stove and sink combined unit.

I love the mini refrigerator. I can't believe it took AG nearly thirty years to give us a modern stand alone fridge. I am even willing to overlook that it is a mini fridge because it is so cute.

Terrific attention to detail even on the back side of the fridge.

I do wish for the extreme price tag for the French Bakery that AG would have included working lights in the fridge as well in the large shop. I am not sure how that would  have effected the final price, but I would have been willing to shell out an extra $10 - $20 for some working lights! I do have experience electrifying dollhouses, but I like to shop AG because their outfits and accessories are generally "ready to play!" and not "fix me up!"

The stove and sink unit is really fun, with lots of moveable parts. Doors open and knobs turn. The sprayer unit can be removed from its cradle and be aimed like a real faucet sprayer.

Even the oven rack is moveable. The doors below the oven also open to reveal storage space.

Top of sink unit before installing the faucet.

I turned the stove and sink unit around and discovered two surprises. First, the back of the unit is finished and includes a La Patisserie sign. This is fantastic because it really makes this unit able to be placed anywhere in the bakery or even in another scene and it will look great from any angle. 

But the other surprise was that the upper portion of the unit had four visible indentations. It also appears like an extra coat of paint was applied to the top inch of the unit to better camouflage the indentations. I puzzled over whether this was normal or not for these units to no avail, but then I was able to stop at AGPSF to inspect their own floor model.

Above is the floor model of the back of the stove and sink unit at AGPSF. There are almost imperceptible indentations but one really needs to squint to find them. But even more to the point, there is just one smooth and even coating of silver paint. So now my dilemma is whether or not the flaws on my own unit is worth calling AG customer service for a replacement.

The serving counter comes stuffed with two bags of goodies (to be unpacked in an upcoming WWOG Blog).

The counter is entirely plastic and features a faux marble counter top.

The back side of the counter is gently curved and features a working drawer. This stand alone counter could be used for scenes selling anything from pastries to candies to flowers to balloons or plants--it is wonderfully generic and yet lovely.

With the exception of the questionable indentations (and bad paint over job) on the stove and sink unit, I really like the major appliances and serving counter. 

Next for the French Bakery will be the two bags of goodies--and then it will be time to inspect the building itself and move in!

AGPSF Flash: A Sleepy Quiet After the Storm

Today I had business in Palo Alto so I decided to stop by AGPSF. What a difference a week makes! It was lovely to be able to shop the store while it was fairly quiet--no lines, no crowds, no crush around the new displays. I am fairly certain there were more sales associates and staff on the floor than customers!

There is not much new to report about Grace Thomas at the store, though I did get a chance to go upstairs and see her displays on the second floor (I avoided going upstairs on January 1st). I can not recall seeing Isabelle having displays on both floors last year at AGPSF.

Upstairs I noticed that MyAG 61 and MyAG 47 appear to be temporarily out of stock.

I did enjoy having peace and quiet to examine some of the new MyAG items which were quietly put in stores after Christmas and which are now also available online as well.

I spent some time scoping out the new Sit & Snooze Fold-Out-Bed for my twins Annika and Ingrid, though the price seems steep for the three piece set.

The lavender color is my favorite and I am in love with the sweater-knit blanket. It looks like something my mother or grandmother would have made at one time.

The felt flower-blossom pillow is a bit odd in terms of texture, though looks nice. I think the pillow just misses in the comfort department. The pillow base is spongy enough, but I can't imagine laying my head on the felt petals. However, even with all of these reservations, my birthday is next month and I keep coming back to considering this set.

And now for the AG Question of the Month. Lovely Leopard PJs: Lovely or Ugly?

I can't decide if the Lovely Leopard PJs are a tacky, hideous mess, or perhaps so tacky and so hideous as to be terrific. I ask my readers: Fuzzy leopard hearts shorts? Are they a marvel or a mess?

The pink top is cute, if a bit snug. I have also come to accept the bizarre pink tulle fringe. 

I think my biggest hesitation for purchasing the Lovely Leopard PJs stems from the felt hearts tacked onto the slippers. I absolutely love most of AG's fuzzy doll slippers, but these look a bit odd, like the hearts were last minute addition. I rarely (very rarely) alter AG clothing--but I am wondering if I could find cuter heart shaped objects with which to decorate these slippers.

Like the Sit & Snooze Fold-Out-Bed, I will think on the Lovely Leopard PJs this until my birthday trip to AGPSF next month.

I'd love to hear from my readers! What do you think of the Lovely Leopard PJs?

WWOG: French Bakery - Part II

If AG's website is any indication, the French Bakery is probably meeting sales expectations as it is on backorder until February 13th. The bakery will be interesting to keep an eye on because its success or failure could give indications for big ticket items (BTIs) in the future. Also note the Pastry Cart, which went onto backorder almost immediately upon its release, has since returned.

There is so much to unpack and look at in Grace's French Bakery! Today we are going to start by looking closely at the first goodie bag (there are three total). This goodie bag was pulled out of the first interior box.

I am curious about AG's claims of the bakery having over 60 accessories. In this first goodie bag alone we have 20 items, though I am counting the small pile of Euros as a single item.

First out of the bag is a sadly crushed two-sided poster. The poster fits in a frame on the wall inside of the French Bakery, though I have not tried it yet. I am hoping the poster will straighten over time inside the frame, but either way, this poster needed to be packed better for transport to our homes.

The second side of the poster.

Many of the paper products, such as the torte boxes above and the cupcake holder below, are almost identical to the paper products found in the Pastry Cart, just with slight variation in color or the addition/subtraction of the store name.

Above: a macarons box. Below: baguette paper wrappers.

The flour and sugar boxes are empty (not weighted).

A cute milk carton--count the hearts!

The hot pad is cute and features a stylized bow pattern.

This pastry bag is pretty much identical one offered in an earlier AG baking set.

If the menus look familiar, it is because they are almost identical to the single menu offered inside of the Apron Giveaway in the first days of Grace Thomas' launch. The cover above features a new image, but the actual menu on the flip side below is identical.

The recipe cards are a mini stroke of genius. Perhaps the Grace Thomas midsummer release will feature a doll sized and girl sized recipe box?

Well, at least now we have 25 euros for doing business, but no ability to give change. More paper money, please! The euros, like the dollars with the Pastry Cart set, are printed on one side only.

Love the shopping bags, but the same complaint and request: more, please! At least 4 - 6 for a set of this size.

Finally, the closed sign. Very cute, made of firm cardboard. I do wish this, like the store hanging sign, would have been made of painted metal. A few extra touches would have taken this French Bakery from a fantastical children's toy and elevated it into near heirloom quality.

Next up: the "large" appliances and serving counter!

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!