Don't Take The Fun Out Of It
When I was about 9 years old, during one of my dad’s many tinkering times, he made a jewelry box that resembled a china hutch. It was about the perfect size for a Barbie. I was later one of the lucky recipients of one of these jewelry hutches and it sits proudly upon my dresser, along side the original one he had made for his mom. It wasn’t long before the handful of these hutches that he made led into him into making all kinds of other Barbie furniture. Couches, chairs, coffee tables, dressers, beds (even bunk beds that would come apart), dining room tables, etc, etc, etc!!
Dad would spend an enormous amount of time in his shed and I couldn’t wait to see what creations he would emerge with! Of course I wanted them all and he would ward me off by saying he thought someone else was wanting them. This wasn’t a misrepresentation of the truth for he did end up selling his designer Barbie furniture pieces to family and friends. It was good quality stuff!! But it was a cover up.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that he was making a collection for me that was a Barbie loving little girls dream come true! I realized this on Christmas morning when out in front of our Christmas tree sat an entirely furnished two bedroom Barbie home! The rooms were created by two wall sections that fit together to form four different rooms. The living room had a fireplace with each red brick perfectly set. The television had a carved wooden plug that fit into the receptacle on the wall. The kitchen had cabinets, a sink (I believe this was made out of two empty, painted ketchup containers), a range and a refrigerator. The dining room table had 6 chairs with an elegant candelabra crafted from wood, sequins and toothpicks. Each bedroom had a closet with sliding doors and a dressing table. It was heavenly and I still have it!!
Dad continued for a time to make various furnishings for friends and family. And even though I loved mine, I still wished I could have had them all. Mom thought he should go big with it- trying to find a place and sell them as fast as he could make them. He didn’t agree. I remember him saying that doing this would take the fun out of it. As a kid, I didn’t really understand how he could possibly ‘take the fun out’ of this stuff!! As an adult, I now understand.
Dad had that creative blessing (or maybe it’s a curse!) which I’m assuming he has passed on to me. It starts like this…he most likely saw a china hutch somewhere and thought ‘Hmm, that looks like it could be a jewelry box’. And so it, ever so simply, begins. One way I am certain of this is because I still have the 1970’s newspaper and magazine clippings he collected with different styles of hutches. He also had collected pictures of several other furniture styles. I have his boxes and bins with tiny brads, hinges, clasps. I have his old TG&Y bags with small cuts of upholstery type fabrics. And envelopes with cut outs of scenery that were to be the perfect framed Barbie wall art.
And that’s how it starts…a Hmmm. And then the fun part that follows…the collecting and creating!
Barbie furniture was by far not his first or his last creative idea. But many years after the Barbie craze, Dad had a massive stroke. It took away his ability to do so much. He could no longer drive, he had a lot of trouble with balance which kept him immobile most of the time. His speech and emotions were affected. He had difficulty writing his name meaning his fine motor skills were affected. He had his home health nurses and physical therapist that came to the house with all kinds of things he needed to do to try and improve. But he had a therapy of his own to try. And even though it took a bit longer than it had so many years before, by golly, he made a table and a set of chairs. So in spite of all the things he couldn’t do anymore, I think he knew how he could still have some fun!
Pictured is his first jewelry hutch, my elegant candelabra and the last table and chair set he ever made...and some dust
