I was probably about 7 or 8 years old, living in Germany, when I had the grand idea of making a doll house from an old shoebox that I found in the attic of my parent’s house.
I cut and glued and painted and drew until I had a perfect little home of my very own with table, chairs, bed and probably other things that are important to an eight year old girl. My parents were impressed because not only did I glue cardboard together, I also cut up fabric to “upholster” my furniture. I was encouraged by my parents to craft and “make things” because they realized I was good with my hands. They thought I should become a home ec. teacher because I was a practically oriented child. That did not come to fruition, however.
After high school and some formal training in civil service, I eventually married, moved to the US and pursued a different path.
Many years later, our family fell on hard financial times. I had a three year old niece whose upbringing I was quite involved with. Barely making ends meet and not having any means to buy Christmas presents, there was no question that the child would take priority and Santa would bring her presents, no matter what.
So one day in October I remembered the shoebox doll house and rescued a large heavy duty box before it went into the dumpster at work.
“What’s the box for?” I was asked when I got home. My response “I’m making a doll house” was met with raised eyebrows, doubtful grins and a couple of drawn out “oh-kaays”. I, however went to work. All supplies were at my immediate disposal at next to no cost because I either already had them, cluttering up my “studio”, or I used materials that were otherwise going in the trash. By mid December my doll house was a fully furnished efficiency apartment that included a tiny replica of our beloved dog Ebony, a Shih-Tzu/Cocker mix who is no longer with us.
That dollhouse was made as much of love as it was made of those ragtag fragments. It also inspired me to create villages inspired by my childhood in Germany and Switzerland.
That is what I do. I sincerely hope you like it. Apparently, the folks at Culture Salad and Blogcritics did. The publicity is cool, but that’s not why I make these villages. I build them because they make me happy, and I hope they may make you happy, too.I am taking great pride in my work and have therefore recently started research in framing roofs and architectural styles of various periods.
More about that in the next post.
