Dollhouse Spring

Late spring in Michigan, both in the realm and dollhouse. The forsythia is blooming. The spring door wreath is up. (All the wreaths are from 4hala on etsy.) The roses bloom all year. I made the Climbing Joseph's Coat, and Fair Bianca because I had these in my yard at another house. Bearded iris and blooming hosta were made of masking tape and paint. There is an Easter basket on the bench.

A close-up of the basket, complete with eggs, chocolate bunny and marshmallow chick.

The spring set before installation. I made the White Rabbit, the egg dye cup and the baskets. The other pieces were to go in my garden shed which I haven't yet gotten around to building.

The bag of garden shed supplies. There is a receipt in here from 2004. The components included a printed set of seed packets, which I cut out, crushed seed beads [giggle] and glued together. I sold those a few years ago. As an emerging adult, I'm going to put this bag back where I found it. For now.

Spring cleanup fix-it. Noticed my garden hose was lost in the move. I'll make another. Some day.

Dollhouse Beginning 1992

My sister was cutting my hair in her kitchen in Detroit, while my other sister talked about what needed to happen in that house before the arrival of the baby, due in 2 months. Crib assembled, supplies laid on, daycare acquired. Susan quoted some prices, having 2 children of her own in daycare. So much money! I peeked around my hair - for an infant? What do babies do? Sleep, eat, eliminate, sleep some more. I told my pregnant sister - if I don't have a good job by then, I'll watch the baby. A week later, my niece was born prematurely. We started running. Paint the room, assemble crib, lay on supplies, get to library to learn how babies really do work. That tiny girl changed my life. She didn't sleep in a crib for a year. I had to watch her breathe. In out in out. I called her mother to report every new skill - working mothers miss all that great stuff. And when my other sister figured out I wasn't going to abandon this lovely role, she brought her 2 out of daycare. My day started at 5 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. when I dropped the baby off at home. Three years of love and learning and joy. And I banked every nickel I could, because a divorce was in my near future.

Dollhouse

The dollhouse began as all stories do. Once upon a time. One time a long time ago a little girl like me...is the first line I write on a blank paper. In 1992 divorce was in my near future. I was blessed to have my sisters' little children in my care then, and having never put away my childlike awe, we played and learned from each other as hearty loving equals. I started the build of this dollhouse and finished the construction in 1994: the year the divorce was final, and I had a new home in my mind if not in real estate. In 1996 I was diagnosed with cancer. I needed a haven, respite and safe harbor from the world of disease. The outfitting of my alternate reality commenced in earnest. Most of the accoutrement in the house is art from life. The wreath in the bedroom stairway is a scaled reproduction of one I still own. The bedroom furniture is modeled on my set which is 120 years old in 2017. The Black Mariah stove is constructed to resemble my great-grandmother's, and there is a coffee grinder with real coffee in it. On the fireplace mantel is a miniature of the hand-tooled clock I bought for myself in 1980 which still keeps time and good company on my desk. As the years went by, I gifted the house. Last year was a plate of artisan-made springerle cookies.This year is the 20th anniversary of being cancer free, and I think this is the year to donate the dollhouse. My lovely friend Carol suggested C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. With that goal, I will chronicle the tale of the dollhouse here. Life is stories. Parents and ill children need good stories. And a place, path and passion to imagine.

Miniature Pumpkin Carving

I finished building my dollhouse in 1994, but have added items to it each year since then. The date on this newspaper under the pumpkin is 2001. I hollowed the pumpkin and reamed the eye hole with a drill. The pumpkin innards are thread mixed with sesame seeds. The dollhouse was my project to keep me sane during a divorce. I was divorced in 1994, and the house was ready in 1994. I wanted so to move in to it! It's not a traditional dollhouse. The decor is reproductions of furniture in my life, and items I would love to have but could not afford. There is a grand piano in the living room that my sister Carol saved from a display at her store. And my dream copper leather couch is next to the beautiful fireplace. The Black Mariah stove in the kitchen is a mini version of my great-grandmother Mariah's wood burner. The copper teakettle is the same as the one in our cabin on Drummond Island, handmade by a Finnish coppersmith. My grandmother's coffee grinder handle actually turns, and the drawer beneath has coffee grounds in it. The rug is hand woven by Ruth Wales, a Drummond fabric artist. I made the towels, hand painted the dishes, and every tile on the bathroom floor. The paintings on the walls are miniaturized framed reproductions of my paintings. I made the computer in my office from a bead box, and carved the keyboard from toothpicks! There is my old trackball mouse, with a coiled wire connected. The computer actually plugs into the wall. The landscape is all handmade, including the rosebush in front called Fair Bianca, after my beloved niece and a Jackson-Perkins rose that was in my backyard. The fish table is not 1:12 scale, but I had to have it! Pisces people are like that; when we dive in to what we love, we're long distance swimmers. Yes, we are.