I am a bit of a creative soul. And being so, I have many hobbies that I like to dabble in. One of them being miniatures. But I haven’t worked on any of my miniature projects in years. They have been all tucked away in boxes spread all over my house, and shamelessly, not one of them completed!
My husband mentioned to me the other day that I should work on my dollhouse again. He’s been trying to encourage me to get back into my hobbies after my long hiatus due to educational, work and family demands.
Tonight I finally started (again) to work on my dollhouse Beacon Hill. The part I struggle with is the desire to get it done and do it quickly. But I really want my house to look nice so I have to hold back and take my time.
After I finally found my instruction sheets, which I had misplaced, oops, I began. Didn’t get too much accomplished. I simply primed the inside of bay window pieces. Tomorrow and the next day I will put on a coat of paint. And then I will finally glue them into place with white glue, tape the pieces into place and wait until the next day to move to the next step. I have to admit though there is a small part of me that simply wants to hot glue those silly pieces into place and jump to the next part. But I’m determined to do this right and take it slow. I know the end result with be worth it. I just pray for the patience to get there.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
My First Dollhouse
The very first dollhouse I ever fell in love with belonged to my dear friend Mrs. Camp. She owned the Beacon Hill dollhouse from Greenleaf. One Christmas I asked my parents for a dollhouse. But it had to be a specific one and no other would do. Yup, I asked for the Beacon Hill dollhouse. This put my mother under a bit of stress because the local hobby shop could not guarantee that particular house would be available for Christmas.
Our family has always enjoyed the tradition of opening our Christmas gifts Christmas Eve in the evening after dinner. We would have dinner then as tradition would have it, all the kids would have to go into one room, as my mother would finish wrapping her gifts. On this particular year when we came out of the room and into the living room where the Christmas tree was standing I noticed there was no dollhouse under, beside or anywhere in the room for that matter. Well I guess my face showed that my heart had dropped. My mother immediately asked me to fetch her sweater in her room because she felt chilly. So off I went. Well I was in for a surprise. There, under the sweater was the box kit for the Beacon Hill dollhouse! I don’t think my feet touched the ground for the rest of the evening. What a wonderful Christmas! Naturally I called Mrs. Camp right away to tell her me good news!
Looking back I am a bit ashamed of myself. I did not realize until I was older how much these dollhouse kits actually cost. And even though I received my dollhouse, as a kid I sort of wished it was already put together so I could play with it right away. Thankfully I have grown up and matured (I now know just how much work is involved in putting together a dollhouse) but I still have a soft spot for miniatures. And Christmas time for me always brings memories of going to Mrs. Camp’s house on Christmas Eve (which I still do) and Beacon Hill.
Our family has always enjoyed the tradition of opening our Christmas gifts Christmas Eve in the evening after dinner. We would have dinner then as tradition would have it, all the kids would have to go into one room, as my mother would finish wrapping her gifts. On this particular year when we came out of the room and into the living room where the Christmas tree was standing I noticed there was no dollhouse under, beside or anywhere in the room for that matter. Well I guess my face showed that my heart had dropped. My mother immediately asked me to fetch her sweater in her room because she felt chilly. So off I went. Well I was in for a surprise. There, under the sweater was the box kit for the Beacon Hill dollhouse! I don’t think my feet touched the ground for the rest of the evening. What a wonderful Christmas! Naturally I called Mrs. Camp right away to tell her me good news!
Looking back I am a bit ashamed of myself. I did not realize until I was older how much these dollhouse kits actually cost. And even though I received my dollhouse, as a kid I sort of wished it was already put together so I could play with it right away. Thankfully I have grown up and matured (I now know just how much work is involved in putting together a dollhouse) but I still have a soft spot for miniatures. And Christmas time for me always brings memories of going to Mrs. Camp’s house on Christmas Eve (which I still do) and Beacon Hill.
The Beginning
To understand my work one needs to understand how it all began. For me the interest in dollhouses came from my dear friend Mrs. Camp. As a little girl, (starting at the age of 4), I would go to her house every Christmas Eve to spend the day. This began as a means to keep me out from under the feet of my parents because they owned their own business and Christmas Eve was their busiest day.
One year Mrs. Camp had a new addition to her living room. It was a dollhouse. I was immediately fascinated by her dollhouse and this began the love affair with miniatures. It is also a special one, you see I was the only little person allowed to touch Mrs. Camp’s dollhouse. I apparently was so gentle with it she trusted me and I would play for hours with her dollhouse in my magical world of imagination and make believe.
One year Mrs. Camp had a new addition to her living room. It was a dollhouse. I was immediately fascinated by her dollhouse and this began the love affair with miniatures. It is also a special one, you see I was the only little person allowed to touch Mrs. Camp’s dollhouse. I apparently was so gentle with it she trusted me and I would play for hours with her dollhouse in my magical world of imagination and make believe.
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