Monday, August 8, 2016

Small Town Flats Lovely Loveseat, Trestle Table and Pair O' Chairs; A Doll Furniture Review

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I am in several Doll Related Groups on Facebook. The groups and my Facebook page for this blog are really the only thing that keeps me on Facebook because otherwise, what a time drain!! I digress... I bring it up because the other day, in one of those groups, a lovely lady named Alison Zajac joined a group and told us about this amazing new product she had designed and produced for 18inch dolls! I am so impressed! I often have flights of fancy about making doll items on a large scale but to actually take it from the drawing board and implement a business plan and and and.... All the many things that are involved in actually starting a business, well, it has always seemed too daunting for me. So I was so impressed just by the gumption it took to get all that done... It didn't matter to me at that point what the doll product was, I was going to see about helping her succeed in any way I could! Then I checked out her website and was blown away by her neat idea!! So I offered to tell about her website on my Facebook PCR Page and here on my blog. I honestly wanted to help out because I thought her products looked genius... What are they you ask?? *drum roll* 



Awesome, well made, customizable, collapsable Doll Furniture!! See here the Trestle Table, Pair O' Chairs and Lovely Love Seat. Aren't they swell?!


I really wish she would've designed them about five years ago when my Lil's fell in love with American Girl dolls. I've since found all manner of doll furniture here there and the other place but there are so many 'problems' with finding and/or owning doll furniture and this neat idea solves so many of them!

The first problem I always had with 18inch doll furniture was storage. When it comes to having several items of furniture, it ends up taking up a lot of room. Even when it's not being played with... When you have a room cluttered with doll furniture that you have no room for, oftentimes it gets shoved into tbe back of the closet and forgotten about... But what if you could have your furniture and your space too? The Small Town Flats furniture is perfect for this reason!! It's just the right size for your dolls but when you're done playing with it, you simply take it apart and slide it back into it's really top notch envelope and it takes up hardly any room at all! Such a great idea!!!


So anyway, when I offered to tell about them on my Facebook page, Alison offered to send me a sample to tell you about here on my blog! Oh. My. Goodness. My very first 'sample' to review! Talk about a way to make my day... I told her I'd love to review one of her cool furniture items! So when I opened the mail and saw what she sent, I nearly passed out! Look at all the COOL?!? I got them during the work day and had to wait until after work to even touch them really... Oy!!


The first one I opened and put together was the Lovely Loveseat. I decided that, in the interest of reviewing just the kit itself, I would use every single sticker provided in the kit, not one more and not one less. On the other items I'll probably use my own stickers and embellisments but I wanted to show what you could make with what came strait out of the envelope. 


Here is what I came up with style wise. I love it, if I do say so myself... Blue is my favorite color and so her using it as the background color for the stickers was a cool plus! Now... As for the quality of the item itself... It's really top notch all around. I am a pretty tough critic and I can't think of any thing I would change about it the design or idea at all! The cardboard itself is similar to the kind you find in the large, high end floor puzzles. It's sturdy and cut very cleanly and it slips together with numbered grooves in a matter of minutes. The surface of the pieces is a flat white to leave it plain for each girl to design herself. Included in the packaging is a colorful flyer with ideas of how to decorate it in ways other than stickers. The quality of all of it is really great, on par with Mel&Doug (I am not sure if i am allowed to use their whole name?) or Usborne Books. 


Mind you, the furniture is made out of a paperboard product and so is likely better for children over the age of six or so, depending on the child. As a child I was super careful with my playthings and I would've taken care of this product like gold... My own daughter, however, isn't quite as careful with things as I was as a child and I think she'd have been great with this after that age or so. You naturally don't want to allow the furniture to get wet and so indoor play is probably a safe bet as well. 


I love the way the furniture is made to be customized!! I imagine Mother and/or Grandmothers and daughters making the designs together and the furniture all becoming heirlooms to be tucked away for dolls to use in the future. I know most girls end up hanging on to their American Girl Dolls but often get rid of all the 'stuff' they own to go with them because they don't want to store it. Wouldn't it be awesome to just take it apart, slip it in an envelope and have it safely tucked away to pass on to the daughters daughter? Aw, just makes me smile to think about. I loved passing my dolly items on to my daughter but I didn't have anything cool like this!! 


Another idea I had was that a Grandmother could buy some furniture for the Grands when they come over to visit! What a great surprise it would be to get to Grandma's house and have a special bed and special tables and chairs for your dollies or stuffed animals! It'd be something that would get taken out and played with by all the Grands and become an heirloom that way too... 


The dolls sit very well in the love seat and its just the right height to pose them around as well...




The next item I opened was the Pair O' Chairs. Oh. My. Cute!!! As you can see, they are cut so nicely and have little embossed numbers near the slots, indicating where the pieces are put together. 


I just happened to have my little 'cafe' set up and the chairs, being bright white as they are, are perfect in it!!


Here are the dolls in the Cafe with the Trestle Table and Pair O' Chairs. Aren't they just perfect in there? I love them! I am not positive yet, but I think I may just leave them plain white because I think they look super just like they are! But... Who knows?


I think the table and chairs are so nifty by themselves but then...


I realized that the Lovely Love Seat made a perfect "booth' for the end!!


Isn't it perfect?


The Dolls love the furniture and feel very 'famous' modeling it for us!!


I think it all matches up perfectly with the other doll items I have in cafe!


So I highly recommend them all around. I still need to get the review of the Four Poster Bed written and posted as well... She sent two so...

I plan to have a drawing to give one of the Four Poster Beds away to one of my lucky readers!!!

Stay tuned for details... Can't wait? The link to the Spots and Ladybugs Small Town Flats Website is here!! Go check them out! 


Aren't they neat!?



Here's a couple of photos of the cafe with more of the gang there!



Gotta run! Stay tuned for blog about drawing for the bed!!
Till next time!
XXOO
 Heather



















1 comment:

  1. Oh! Collapsible furniture is an awesome idea and your kind telling is also awesome. Right! They are perfect for kids. After setting them up for doll play, kids can easily take them apart for storing. I have an idea. If we have various stickers, we can make our own unique furniture. I will visit her website right now.

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