A loving granddaughter who wasn’t able to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday because of the stage four coronavirus lockdown in Melbourne has found a unique way to throw a party.
Nine-year-old Penelope Kumar was prepared for a nice afternoon lunch at a restaurant or the possibility of a small BBQ in honour of her grandma Kalliopi Roussos’ 63rd birthday on Thursday but the family had to cancel.
So Penelope, alongside her mother Marketo Roussos-Kumar, 40, decided to stage ‘grandma’s Barbie party’ with dolls the young girl owned and craft pieces they found from discount stores – sending photos of the sets to Mrs Roussos.
Penelope, alongside her mother Marketo Roussos-Kumar, 40, decided to stage ‘grandma’s Barbie party’ with dolls the young girl owned (pictured)
Nine-year-old Penelope Kumar (bottom) pictured with her mother Marketo Roussos-Kumar, 40, (right) and grandmother Kalliopi Roussos, 63, (left)
‘My daughter came up with the idea on the day of her grandmother’s birthday,’ Marketo told FEMAIL.
‘We could tell my mum was a little deflated because of the restrictions here so that’s how the idea came to fruition. We worked out a little plan on Thursday afternoon and after homeschooling on Friday we got started with grandma’s Barbie party.’
The ladies from Wyndham Vale in Victoria emptied a shelf from Penelope’s Ikea Hensvik bookshelf which would become the ‘house’ the Barbies would sit in.
‘My daughter came up with the idea on the day of her grandmother’s birthday,’ Marketo told FEMAIL
‘We could tell my mum was a little deflated because of the restrictions here so that’s how the idea came to fruition,’ she said
The balloons are water balloons blown up and stuck to the ceiling with double sided tape and gift wrap ribbon cut in half to hang down
The balloons were water balloons blown up and stuck to the ceiling with double sided tape and gift wrap ribbon cut in half to hang down.
A tiny table was erected out of two white wooden letter X’s from Kmart and craft wood from Riot Art painted black, with the help of a hot glue gun.
Marketo made small gifts from leftover cardboard boxes and gift wrapped them.
‘I printed out Adidas and YSL Barbie scale bags from Google and added some tissue paper for effect,’ she said.
A tiny table was erected out of two white wooden letter X’s from Kmart and craft wood from Riot Art painted black, with the help of a hot glue gun
Marketo made small gifts from leftover cardboard boxes and gift wrapped them
‘The Adidas runners are a plain white pair of Barbie shoes I painted three black lines on,’ Marketo said
‘The Adidas runners are a plain white pair of Barbie shoes I painted three black lines on.’
The cake and drinks were Lori Doll accessories and all guests were dressed by Mattel.
‘I took two photos of grandma Barbie, printed them out and placed them in “cardboard” handmade frames with a black paper rim,’ she said.
The entire process took three hours with some sets very easy to stage, like the grandma Barbie holding her grandchild, while others were far more difficult.
‘I took two photos of grandma Barbie, printed them out and placed them in “cardboard” handmade frames with a black paper rim,’ she said
‘Lighting was a struggle as it can get dark in the shelf and waiting for the blur to capture the background perfectly would some time,’ Marketo said
The entire process took three hours with some sets very easy to stage, like the grandma Barbie holding her grandchild, while others were far more difficult
‘There were other scenes that were more challenging like when you see guests sitting down or standing up and chatting,’ Marketo said.
‘Some would fall time and time again causing a domino effect. That would take some time to perfect that scene. We lost the cake a few times.
‘Lighting was a struggle as it can get dark in the shelf and waiting for the blur to capture the background perfectly would some time.’
All of the photos were shot on Marketo’s iPhone XS Max – with stunning and lifelike results.
All of the photos were shot on Marketo’s iPhone XS Max – with stunning and lifelike results
‘My mother was overwhelmed, ecstatic, happy and a little emotional. She felt humbled and honoured. Despite the distance she felt loved and very close to us all,’ Marketo said
Needless to say Kalliopi Roussos was flawed by the result.
‘My mother was overwhelmed, ecstatic, happy and a little emotional. She felt humbled and honoured. Despite the distance she felt loved and very close to us all,’ Marketo said.
‘She could also see the humour and had a little laugh. She was very proud of her granddaughter.’