Putting It Together...

Bit by bit

Putting it together

Piece by piece

Only way to make a work of art

Every moment makes a contribution

Every little detail plays a part

Having just a vision's no solution

Everything depends on execution

Putting it together

That's what counts"

Yes, I'm quoting Sondheim on a rainy Sunday.  And it's not even from a favorite Sondheim musical.   (Sorry!  My favorite has always been "A Little Night Music.")

But on this rainy Sunday my husband and I finally put it all together...well...sort of...kind of... 

Let's go back through the mists of time... (That's a Paul McCartney reference; IYKYK.)

Before I was married, before I knew my husband, I was a Beatles fan.  (If you know me you probably know that I was a McCartney fan BEFORE I was a Beatles fan which I realize is sacrilege, but...)  The pinnacle of fandom for me was in the 1990s when I started to go to fan gatherings and made some incredible friends (you know who you are) and I even met my husband as a result of the Beatles. (That is not today's story.)

There are tons of Beatles "collectibles."  I put that in quotes because while obviously the true collectibles (at least in my book) are the records (or cds).  But in the 1990s there was a lot of "stuff" out there to buy.  (There still is, but I'm focusing on when I was seriously making purchases.)  I made some good buys, but I also got roped into some not so great stuff.

If you were around then, you might remember The Bradford Exchange.  They are still out there selling "stuff" for collectors of various fandoms (Disney, NFL, Thomas Kinkaide...the list goes on and on.)  But back in the 1990s they were selling Beatles collectable plates.  (Yes, you read that right.)  There ended up being 14 in the "collection" and they sold in the neighborhood of $30 apiece. (Apparently the current resale value is about $10 to $30, so I didn't make a great investment.) Yes, I bought all 14.  And I had no place to display them when I purchased.  Even when I got married and we had a house, I had no idea what to do with them.  They remained wrapped in tissue paper and stored in a dining room sideboard.  

If you are thinking this was a really silly (or stupid) purchase on my part, I'm going to agree with you.

Of course plates weren't the only things I purchased.  Around the same decade, I also purchased Beatles plush dolls.  I had two sets; one that were from the "early" years (in the black suits) and then the "Sgt. Pepper" set.  Those I DID display; putting them on the top of bookcases that I had at the time where they collected dust and faded from sunlight.  They, like the plates, were eventually packed up and stored away, not to see the light of day.  Not until...

When we purchased the house in the Poconos, there was a lot of space.  More space for storage than I've ever had.  Spaces that I didn't know what to do with.  I didn't want to over clutter things.  (I'd seen that done in the house from photos.)  I was cautious.  (As was my husband.)  We put up art sparingly.  We didn't want a lot of "stuff" out just for the sake of having space.  As a matter of fact, we have an over the window shelf in our dining room area that is only used during the holiday when we put out our Rankin Bass "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" plushes.  (Remember them?  They were sold in CVS back in the late 1990s. I believe a set of 3 was sold each week during the holiday season and it was pretty crazy.  Maybe not Beanie Baby crazy [something, I thankfully never got into], but still pretty crazy.)  Other times during the year, the space is empty.

The house had one large area that was obviously there for displaying items, but it wasn't easily accessible. 

It's really high up there.  We didn't even have a ladder tall enough to reach it. So the space sat unused (and uncleaned.)  I had ideas of what to do, but nothing seemed to really grab me.  I didn't want to put "stuff" up there just to fill the space.  I didn't want to start collecting new stuff!    I didn't want to display kitchen items because I knew I'd never be able to get them down.  So the space sat.

By now you can figure out what happened...

What prompted me was not the plates, but a collectible platter that my husband found for me (more collectibles!) that I wanted to display in the china cabinet, but I needed to be able to have it stand up rather than lie down where you couldn't see the pattern.  So I had my son look for a "plate stand" at the thrift shop.  He found 3 that he thought might work.  One did, but then I had two others and I started to think...

I went into the cabinet where I was storing those wrapped up plates that I'd never done anything with despite having them for over 30 years and...

I put one of them on the stand and it worked.  However, I would need more than one stand AND I would need a ladder to do so.  With my husband's guidance (because he was going to be the one to actually get on the ladder and set up the display because I'm too darned short), I bit the bullet and ordered a Little Giant Ladder and a whole bunch of 6in Plate Stands, 4-Pack Metal Display Easels.  With fingers crossed I hoped it would work.

Everything came the other day.  The ladder was perfect for what we needed.  (Although the light fixture in the kitchen made it a little difficult to navigate.)  I pulled out all the plates and put them on the stands.  They looked pretty good.  

Next up the difficult part.  Hubby put up the ladder and checked out the space.  First he called for paper towels and cleaner.  Then he asked for the hand vac.  He says I don't want to know/see.  (He's right.)  He climbed up.  I handed him the stands.  He set them out.  I handed him plates one by one.  He put up a set of seven and then had to carefully move the ladder to the other side to set up the next seven.  To say it was tense is putting it mildly.

But he did it!  And it looked pretty good.  

However, there were still the two higher "niches."  We knew that putting the plates up there would not work as they wouldn't be very visible.  What about the Beatle plush dolls?  They came with stands and there just wasn't enough height for that, but...

I have a smart husband.  He figured out that the stands could be lowered and instead of having the dolls stand, they could sit.

Back up the ladder he went.  And there was more disgusting "stuff" on these two top spaces.  (Including a plate stand that had been lying down so it wasn't visible...I'll be sending that to the thrift shop along with the other easel that I didn't use.)  Once more paper towels, cleanser and hand vac were used. Then, one by one the dolls went up and...

I'll let you be the judge:

 

 

  After 30+ years those darned plates are seeing the light of day.  After 20+ years those dolls are on display again.  Bit by bit, we put it together!  It works!  You don't have to like it, but I do.  And as Sondheim wrote:  

"Small amounts

Adding up to make a work of art

First of all you need a good foundation

Otherwise it's risky from the start

Takes a lot of earnest conversation

But without the proper preparation

Having just the vision's no solution

Everything depends on execution

The art of making art

Is putting it together

Bit by bit"