Dollhouse Dream Come True

On Saturday morning I set out earlier than usual with one goal in mind:  to buy paper doilies.  I needed to finish a custom order of Christmas cards for a client.  I wanted to buy the doilies and then spend the rest of the rainy day tucked away finishing up the cards.  (You can see the Christmas cards I made for this client for past Christmases HERE and HERE.  I just realized that I didn't blog about last year's card because I was so bogged down with making cards for a craft show.)

While I was stopped at the traffic light near my house, there were several yard sale signs staring me in the face.  This is a usual occurrence for Saturday mornings in almost all suburban neighborhoods in America. I usually ignore them.  Who needs more junk anyway, right?

However, for some reason, these signs spoke to me.  I heard a voice in my head say, "Wooden dollhouse."  I usually ignore such nonsense, but this time I listened.  I actually had to make a u-turn, which sounds like no big deal, but for me it was.  When I have a mission to complete, even if it seems trivial, like buying paper doilies, don't get in my way or ask me to change my plans. This was different, though.  I eagerly turned around, mostly out of curiosity, to see what that little voice in my head was leading me to.

Just as I pulled up to the first house, a lady was hauling away the most beautiful light blue Victorian dollhouse.  WHAT????  I missed it by 30 seconds?  You have got to be kidding me!  I found out that she paid 50 bucks for it, so I didn't feel too upset about missing out on it.  When I took a closer peek, I noticed that it was made from a kit with the paint gobbed on.  It was much prettier from a distance.  But I was still a little miffed!  Why did that little voice speak to me, if it meant that I missed out?

Of course I became immediately obsessed with the idea of visiting every other yard sale in that neighborhood because I was determined to prove the voice in my head right.  I didn't want to feel like I wasted my time.
Look what was waiting just for me...



I am so glad I stopped at the next sale and asked if they had any dollhouse stuff.  The little voice in my head was right!  I am so glad I listened!  Best part?  It was $25.00.  The family forgot to put it out in the morning when they hauled out everything for their sale.  They only remembered about it when I asked.  Turns out their grandfather made it for them.  He was a builder, so you can just imagine the time and thought that he put into building it.  I made sure a million times over that they really wanted to sell it.  They had zero interest in keeping it. You know how the saying goes...their junk, my treasure.
I immediately drove my little gem to my parent's house because it needed some TLC.  My dad is the perfect person to help with such projects because he is the only person I know with the patience to do this to the entire house, every little nook and cranny:



Here are a couple of shots of the inside:



Look!  It has three fireplaces and a sun room.  Can you stand it? 




We bought a tiny can of "sample" stucco paint for under $3.00.  Here is the final result:



Aren't those little planters a hoot?  And look closely at the little gold door knobs. And the CHRISTMAS TREE WINDOW!!!!


I finally did make it to the store to buy the paper doilies.  I picked up a couple of pieces of dollhouse furniture, too.
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(Do you love dollhouses, too?  Click HERE for a tutorial on how to make a small paper house.)

 

(The blog post "Dollhouse Dream Come True" by Charlene Harreveld first appeared on eWillow.com's Paper Clips.)