What I thought was going to be a fun easy little project turned out to be so much more. This was seriously like a bad romance. It was fun in the beginning, then little disappointments added up, then it came down to sheer commitment to finish the project. Now as I sit here writing this, I’m looking at this beautiful little thing I created and kind of wanting to do it again…kind of…maybe…I’m going to show and tell you about its twists and turns and all that went into such a little package and YOU can decide if you have enough of your life to waste spend on gluing, shaping, and even soldering micro-sized things to create this. The only advice I can offer should you chose to go on this journey is “Take your time and Good luck”.
I got inspired to look into this in January after seeing it on a few Youtube channels. It looked so fun and easy, and quarantine had just started so I figured why not! The prospect of staying in my home staring at the bleakness of winter was more than I could bear and the thought of looking at a cute little greenhouse in loo of dead trees warmed my heart.
So I ordered the Keadic 9 piece Tool Kit and Hobby Building Craft Set and the RoboTime DIY Mini Greenhouse from Amazon.
It actually came in the mail early, but given the number of posts I had that was now canceled due to the quarantine, I delayed putting it together until the beginning of last month.
My Review (with a Video) of Cathy’s Flower House by autumnbecomes.me
At first, I didn’t think this would be any worse than putting together Ikea furniture (which I actually enjoy and I’m pretty good at), but as I ventured further into this I realized it was more like putting together Legos from a provided picture. While not suggested, I had bought a miniature tool kit that included several pliers, a clipper, and files. I NEEDED THAT. I don’t think I would have done very well with just the items they provided in the kit. Then there were other simple things, like a ruler which (while used constantly) was not provided (unless you count the little paper one they included which wasn’t even accurate).
My Review (with a Video) of Cathy’s Flower House by autumnbecomes.me
The instructions explained that the pieces would first be linked to the bag in which it comes in. Then you would grab the pieces you “think” are the ones necessary, and compare them to a little paper that has to size silhouette with numbers that are referenced in the instructions. It got complicated especially when said pieces were missing.
Next was the large number of paper pieces you will be cutting out by hand with an X-Acto knife. If you thought this would be a fun project for children THINK AGAIN. There were so many little pieces of paper my office looked like a confetti factory that blew up.
My Review (with a Video) of Cathy’s Flower House by autumnbecomes.me
They didn’t really specify which of the two types of glue you needed to use first, so considering how many little items I had to glue, I used the large glue bottle. I ended up using it all up, but fortunately, it had the same feeling as clear Elmer’s Glue so I substituted with that. I used the smaller glue bottle for the house construction. Eventually, I used Superglue because I just couldn’t hold some items in place and wait all day while they dried. The drawback of this is that the fumes from the Superglue fogged up my windows! I lessened it slightly by wiping it down with nail polish remover, but it wasn’t ever as clear as it was.
I also had to wire up a light, which was extremely delicate. In the end, I actually used my husbands soldering supplies to solder the two wires together.
While everything turned out okay in the end, it did take me a month to make. If I didn’t have this blog, cooking, or chores to do, it might have been a lot of fun. However, for me, I ended up stressing because I while I wanted to create this little greenhouse I wasn’t prepared to go at it as long as I did.
My Review (with a Video) of Cathy’s Flower House by autumnbecomes.me
Would I do it again….hmmm….this is hard. Again, if I wasn’t up to my ears in blog posts and I was just sheltering in place and bord with watching Netflix, this would be perfect. I think I would also do it during the winter when things are just dark and cold outside. So yeah, I guess I would do this again, and it might even turn out better because now I know what to expect.
I really enjoyed putting this together, but I wouldn’t suggest it for young children. Unless you as the adult would like to help them create it and do things like cutting things out or soldering things together. Lastly, I would also invest in some paper clamps. The wood can warp and these helped hold pieces together while the glue dried.
I hope you enjoyed this little review and video and if you try it out please let me know how it went in the comments below. I hope this inspired you and looks like a fun project to try. Let me know how it goes and have a wonderful day! -Heather Astaneh
My Review (with a Video) of Cathy’s Flower House by autumnbecomes.me
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