u/scooter572021

My sweetie came in while I was rolling tiny plastic pearls dipped in glue and held on a toothpick in chopped up tiny pieces of plastic and gave me one of those looks. Understandably. I am way past round the bend. By the end of 2 hours of working today my eyes lost the ability to focus. Bifocals aren't set for things that tiny. But I am making progress, more of less.

Here's a summary of my process:

1. Find item on paper, cut out, miss tiny but important detail, glue it on. Remind self "no one will see it but me. "

2. Find tiny bead in little plastic bag, reach for it and watch another two other tiny beadsroll out of the plastic pocket, fall into my lap, and disappear.

3. Spend 15 minutes crawling around floor looking for beads. Sweep floor, move furniture. Conclude fairies wanted the beads and took them the same place they hide socks.

4. Glue pieces together. Notice pieces are glued facing the wrong way. Carefully tug on pieces hoping that they won't tear. They often do. Tell self, "This is supposed to be fun!"

5. Cut clear plastic attached to template. Notice, too late, that glue on finger holding the piece steady while I cut has now smeared on the middle of the clear plastic. Spend half an hour seeing if alcohol will remove it. Take off paint from wooden piece attached. Paint wooden piece. Say, "no one cares but me." Continue on.

Etc. Which is why kits that claim they take 5 hours take me a week.

That shelf took me most of 2 afternoons. The photo is more wonky than the actual build. The edges came painted on this one, so I haven't done any mods, at least not so far. But everything you see on those shelves starts out as a couple of flat pieces of paper. I'm still learning the best way to cut them out. I have learned that scissors don't work well on round things.

Keeps me from doomscrolling!

I wanted something 3D but not too challenging. This is a small build sold by the Kisoy brand but manufactured by the same Chinese company that made my Cureroom kit. The battery box actually says, "Cuteroom" on it. As you can see, the side panel is warped, which is unfortunate. There is an email to request replacement parts, but I don't really care that much. When it is done it won't be that obvious. And since it isn't a book nook, I don't have to worry about putting the box together and having it fit.

This kit came with a plexiglass dust cover, a music box (the same one that they all seem to come with), and several tools, including a break-off X-acto knife and a short transparent ruler which is very handy. Better than the one I had. All for $18.00! I think it must be on closeout as I can't find the rest of the series anywhere but Chinese sites.

This might be an older kit as the instructions are not great. Having done the other Cuteroom kit I had no trouble figuring it out, but it wouldn't be the one to start with if you have never done this kind of kit.

My son, a state forester, gave me the "Secrets of the Forest" book nook for Mother's Day. May daughter is bringing me the weatherproof treehouse kit next week. So now I have a backlog, too! I'll do the Secrets one next.