Discovering the Magical World of Miniatures
I’ll never forget the day my grandma presented me with a green dollhouse she assembled, painted, and wallpapered herself.
I had no idea this gift was coming my way, so you can imagine my surprise when I peeked under the sheet that disguised my grandma’s creation. Inside were five rooms, each one containing a rug my grandma, a skilled crocheter, handmade. I loved it all immediately.
Though my sister and I had several dozen Barbies between us, I quickly abandoned them to spend time with my beloved dollhouse. I devoted hours crafting story lines about the man, woman, and baby that lived in that dollhouse. (Thanks to my babysitter’s devotion to soap operas, they were never lacking in drama and suspense.)
I was fortunate enough that my local mall had a miniatures store stocked to the brim inventory. It was easily my favorite shop in the entire complex—over a period of several years, I gave it nearly every one of my allowance, birthday, and First Communion dollars. Being in there felt like entering another world where a kid could dream and be in control of an entire home.
Here, I could make the sort of decisions I couldn’t make in real life. Stock the kitchen exclusively with Coke and cookies? Sure! Take the house back to the olden days with an antique sewing machine and a phone from the 1920s? Why not! This was my little world, and the sky was the limit.
As I transitioned out of girlhood, I started spending more time on after school sports and activities and less time with my dollhouse. Eventually, it got stashed in the attic, where it sadly collected dust for many years.
It wasn’t until I was 34 that I unearthed it. As I dusted it off and carefully pulled each miniature out of its tissue paper, I felt like I was being reunited with an old friend. Memories of rainy days spent inside decorating my dollhouse came flooding back. In some cases, I even remembered buying a particular miniature.
I was older, but my dollhouse gave me the same sense of wonder and joy. I decided then and there it would never get relegated to the back of an attic ever again.
That’s my story—what’s yours? Are you like me, someone who reignited their passion as an adult? Or did you discover the magic world of miniatures later in life? Let me know in the comments below!
It was so nice to read your story. I am 71 with several unfinished dollhouses. Got my first one, a Rich’s dusty floor samplem when my daughter was a baby. Marianne is now 41, Patrick, 39. I started making “scrapcraft” mini accessories to barter with a dollhouse shop owner who became a great friend. I bartered for furniture for Marianne’s dollhouse when she was about 9. Her daughter only had a shortlived interest in minis. This morning I started sewing several mini (simple) quilts and pillowcases; I am hoping to start bartering with another shop. Maine has very few places where minis are available. I know of only 1 shop in addition to corners in Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Miniatures fill a hole in my soul that my other hobbies don’t. And I have never met an unpleasant miniaturist!
I loved your dollhouse love story! So similar to my own it touched a chord of my heart strings…My father and I built my dollhouse when I was 14. It was abandoned due to sports, friends and boys!! I rescued it from the basement of my parents many moves. I introduced it to my daughters,who loved it immediately!! But life got in the way…Finally, daughters grown and on their own, I struggle to get it out of my basement only to feel that thrill of my youth and special time spent with my father building it, rush over me!!! I set it up in one of my daughters empty room and planned my moves. The outside first-I need to finish the exterior…Last year I DID IT!!! Exterior-check! Now I am planning each room for wallpapering and such. I am not done, no where near it, but the thrill is alive and well and dwelling inside me: I love my dollhouse life!
When I was a young girl I loved playing house and all the girly things I could do…I always wanted a dollhouse but we couldn’t afford anything like that. So Mom would give me last years Sears catalog when the new one would arrive…I had a vivid imagination. I would cut out each room’s furnishings and then a family etc. I would carefully pack all the pieces away in a shoebox till the next time I played with them. I am 72 now, a couple years ago my husband bought me a large dollhouse we found in an antique mall, a man had made it for his Granddaughter in the 70’s like a real house he had help make. It was and is a quality made southern style house. Since then he has found two more smaller ones like the big one. I’m preparing to start decorating the last one soon. I don’t know what will become of them when I am gone but I sure have enjoyed fixing them up, new wall paper, paint and floor covering. So many little things to make them realistic and comfy. I thought I was through buying small things for them and last week I saw some items we use in real life I hadn’t seen before that I had to have….a loaf of wheat bread in a clear plastic covering, a pack of Thomas’s English Muffins, a tiny bear shaped jar of real honey…okay, that’s it…no more….:)
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