Kirsten is an 18-inch-tall girl from 1854, and Nellie is an 18-inch-tall girl from 52 years after Kirsten!
(If you'd like to do algebra, Nellie - Kirsten = 52, and Kirsten = 1854. So, by substitution, Nellie - 1854 = 52. That means Nellie = 52 + 1854. So you can do the math to figure out when Nellie is from. :) )
Kirsten complained, "Cheap lady, this page is not supposed to make people think!"
"What's it supposed to do?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Make people laugh?"
Kirsten stared in disbelief. "No, it's supposed to make people see how great I am!" she cried.
"Well, lately, the point has been to show off all the nice things I've bought you," I said.
"And the things you've made for Nellie," Kirsten grumbled.
But her tone changed when I got out a package with her name on it. And there was one for Nellie, too! (Thank you so much, Kim; it was a pleasure buying from you!)
"Why would someone send me a package?" Nellie asked. "That's not even something you bought for me, is it?"
"Don't look a gift square-wrapped-in-tissue-paper in the mouth," Kirsten said, ripping the paper off of her rectangle.
"It's my historically-accurate fable book!" Kirsten said in astonishment. "Does that mean you're going to start buying things of mine and not Addy's again?"
I looked around shiftily.
Nellie opened her present...
The mini-book "Great Gifts!"
"Oh!" Nellie cried joyfully. "It's so practical!"
Kirsten was a little jealous that Nellie's book had pictures, until I explained that Nellie's book was all about how to make presents for other people.
"Do you think she'll make something for me?" Kirsten asked.
"Maybe," I replied.
And Kirsten beamed. "I'm so happy for you!" she said.
But I had more presents for them....
"I'm sorry yours is so small, Nellie," I said.
"Miss Cheap Lady, you know you didn't have to get me anything!" Nellie replied.
Kirsten smiled greedily. She didn't even bother to read the sticker on her box...can you see what it says from here?
Nellie opened her present...
"Shoes!" Nellie called joyfully. They didn't match her yukata even a little, but she was so happy to have new shoes.
"And they're not both lefts!" Kirsten teased.
Nellie and I both flushed.
"Miss Cheap Lady did a good job," Nellie said defensively.
"I'm just glad she doesn't make shoes for me," Kirsten said.
"Be quiet and open your present," I said.
Kirsten's eyes grew huge....
(For those of you who don't spend hours reading about retired outfits on websites like Curt's, that's Addy's Limited Edition Stilting Dress. Mint (as far as I can tell) in box. With stilts.)
"Do you forgive me for buying you so many Addy dresses?" I asked.
Kirsten silently nodded.
"And I bought you something else," I told Kirsten.
"Really?" Kirsten asked.
"Oh, it's so pretty!" Kirsten said. We played with it, and it will definitely fit one of her dresses! I wonder if there's different sizes for the bag; some people said the carpetbag is very small, but actually, I believe Kirsten's head would fit in!
"Don't you dare try!" Kirsten said.
To make sure I didn't get any ideas, she hurried to put away the carpetbag....
Nellie said, "I don't think the people online have seen our new shelf. Or how we got it!"
"You mean, by complaining?" Kirsten asked.
"No, no!" Nellie said.
"Or because we covered Cheap Lady's floor with clothes and boxes until she had to buy us some shelving?"
"Well...maybe," Nellie admitted. "Miss Cheap Lady, can you give us a flashback?"
I opened my cheap but useful shareware graphics program and gave it a try with a rather subtle ripple effect! And sure enough, the girls went,
BACK IN TIME!!!
"Wow, I'm dizzy," Kirsten said.
Nellie squinted. "I...think it says "3 Shelf Bookcase. From the receipt, I think it came from Big Lots."
"And it cost $66.61?!" Kirsten yelled. "Wow; maybe she's not a cheap lady!"
"I think it's upside-down," Nellie replied. "It must have cost $19.99. That was a lot of money back when we came from!"
"Well, it's almost the price of a dress," Kirsten admitted. "I guess she cares about us a little."
Nellie helped me take the pieces out of the box...
She always reads the instructions if she doesn't know what she's doing!
"Aren't you going to help, Miss Kirsten?" Nellie asked.
"I'd rather sit here and look pretty," Kirsten said.
But finally...
Well, this is almost the finished product. We put one shelf on the bottom-most set of pegs (just to the left and above Nellie's right shoulder, your left) and one on the very top set of pegs. You'll see we put a sharpened dowel in the second set of pegs, the set nearest to us. That allows for hangers; the clothes stick out quite a bit, but since there's no doors on the display, it doesn't matter.
And here it is in the present day, in action! More than enough room for hanging clothes (although I'd definitely recommend a taller shelf for Felicity's or Elizabeth's clothes; some of Kirsten's and Nellie's drag the floor already, and you can see the St. Lucia gown (the red sash on the very left) is just a little too long!). There's not nearly as much room for the boxes and such, but I LOVE how clothes look hanging up, so I just HAD to have a rack for them! I'm hoping to make enough clothes to fill up all the hangers I bought. :D
"Hey!" Mini Kit said, dragging us back to the present day. "I was hardly in this album at all!"
"You could've helped Nellie build the shelves in the flashback," I said.
"Hmph," Mini Kit replied.
Kirsten stilted around quite a while, and almost worked her braids loose. But I did stop her and Nellie from playing long enough to get this picture (which is currently my favorite of the girls; I just wish I'd put Mini Kit in there :( ).
See you next time! (Colleen, I STILL need to put up that album of your WONDERFUL gift, but I keep having other adventures come up; I'm SO SORRY! It WILL go online sometime, I promise!)
On to 10.26.06