When Grandma Assembles a Vintage Kitchen Set

I heard when Bug and her parents visited NashvilleDaughter and DrummerBoy (auntie and uncle) Bug had a blast playing with a friend's kid's kitchen set. That's all I needed to hear to make me decide we needed one here so Nashville Daughter and I looked for the one Bug enjoyed in Nashville and when it showed up on Zulily it went straight into my cart and BAM! sold! We were so excited and couldn't wait for it to arrive which took a super short time (totes unusual for Zulily purchases.) And then, it happened.

When you open the box containing the kitchen set you purchased for your grandkiddos and see this:

That's the hardware. So many screws. And hinges.

the aforementioned excitement quite quickly turns to dread and you might even utter something akin to, "O, HELL NO!" Or maybe not but still, the feeling of dauntiness (is that even a word?) will bring about thoughts of WTH?! or why me? or SERIOUSLY?

Saturday came and went without the thing so much as coming out of the box. TeacherDaughter was coming to help but ended up dealing with a car issue which is about as much fun as the assembly of the kitchen set appeared to be. Anyway, Sunday was the day.

The box inside the box. Sheesh. 

I hauled all the pieces into the living room and sat in the middle just staring at them and then thought the best place to start would be sorting out the pieces when help arrived. These two came to assist with the assembly. Can Y'all guess how much we accomplished in the hour they were here? Ha!

Afterwards, it took me another 2 hours and 40 minutes but I did it. Of course, the journey was interesting.

The closer I got to completion, the happier I got but I'm not sure if it was because it was so cute or because I was sick of the assembly process. Probably a bit of both.

These were the hardest part. I've never struggled to get something screwed in as I did with these legs. And there were 5 of them.

Almost there...

I'm guessing the vintage part of the set is that phone. Who has those anymore? But guess what? Bug knows exactly what it's used for and she just chatted away with the thing up to her ear. Go figure. 

Afterwards? It's adorable!

That's Tucker's basket beside the kitchen set because he has to
have toys wherever Bug has toys. 

But that's not why it was worth the effort. This is:

She kept saying, "Wow" over and over again with the biggest eyes.

I started doing some things around the house and could hear the opening and closing of the cabinets and Bug just talking up a storm. She loves her new kitchen set and I'm loving what I hope to be independent play on her part. Ha!

A word about the assembly: While it was worth the effort to see her enjoy the kitchen set, I would rather pay someone next time. Let me assure you the people who assemble toys are not paid enough so if you need something assembled, gladly fork over that money and make sure you include a nice tip! I will give Kidkraft credit for decent instructions though they weren't perfect they were better than others I've seen and tried to follow. If you've never tried to assemble a somewhat complicated item before, I wouldn't suggest you begin with this unless your superpower is figuring things out.

Have Y'all assembled any toys recently? Do you remember the process when your kiddos were growing up?

Help Grandma pay for the kitchen set by

visiting my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles

and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
while you fill up your cart! 😁💓

Here's a sampling of the newest creations: