How We Play // Dollhouses

Hello my dears!
Guess what? This post marks the last in my series of How We Play! You all must know that I have not even begun to exhaust the the amount of cataloguing I could still do with this series. But since a great majority of you have been pleading for more hairstyle tutorials, and since Tuesdays are my regular posting days, I feel I must bring an end to How We Play. Perhaps one day I will rummage through old drawers and find some toys to share with you all again, but for now, it is time to move on. Tally ho and tootle pip!


Many moons ago, during the advent of my 13th birthday, I made the decision to use my gift money to buy myself a dollhouse kit. To Hobby Lobby we gals went, and searched high and low for a decent, not too shabby dollhouse model. I settled for one called, the Orchid House, and for a long while that is what we called it until a particular family of dolls moved in.

Every day after school, for a whole month I believe, I would set up the hot glue gun, lay out all the perforated wooden sheets, and proceed to tediously punch out, and piece together the lovely little abode you see above and below. It was a great deal of work, and though I decided to skip the last step (shingling the roof *gasp*) I did carefully paint it with as much finesse as I could muster and... viola! Orchid house was complete!




This great stride of accomplishment (in my mind anyway) was my pride and joy for many, many months, even a couple of years! I recall the most potent of decor inspirations came from a myriad of dollhouse books, historical Painted Lady houses, as well as the touch of a modern feel. I loved warm colors, and I knew that orange, green and pink were to swath the walls with such senses of coziness. I also was fond of having lots and lots of little bits of flower bouquets, busts, jars, and tiny tables all over the house. All in all, I made up my dollhouse with the frame of mind of "If I lived here, my house would look like ––"

I treasured every moment I played with my house and my dolls. Nori and Patrick what's-their-name lived in my little house, and they had a grand life together. They remained childless for a while (even though I made up a little nursery) and so Nori was always dressed up in lace and frilly hats before her little baby came along. Patrick worked at home doing I cant remember what, but bringing in a steady income to live off of. They were never rich, but always held an air of charm and civility about them. With them lived a little West-highland Terrier, named Westie, and every day they would go for visits in the town of Carnationton. (All three of our girl's bedrooms made up the boundaries of the town, and thus this made it possible for the little families to have horses and wagons to transport them from house to house.) It was so much fun, especially when they visited their neighbors, because some mischief was always bound to happen!



Now, living in a family of three sisters who always shared (oops! Not really!), Charlotte raved about my dollhouse for the longest time, and one year after I finished mine, Dad and Mom bought the same kit, and tirelessly built it and painted it for her 10th birthday. Brigi and I pitched in by gifting her with furnishings from Hobby Lobby. The look of astonishment that came into her face was priceless when she ripped away the wrapping paper! Her eyes were as big as the little porthole windows on the second flour of her house! And her mouth could only pipe with delight! Oh it was so fun! She quickly took her little home up to her room, and before long, had it set up and peopled to her liking.


The Pennington family occupied it's little rooms for a long, long time, before moving away to let a new family stay (don't forget about these precious dolls!). And as I stated in the last post, Charlotte was more prone to changing the arrangement of furniture in her house than changing her socks! She could have been a great interior designer with all the practice she gained! Haha!


And of course, Brigi had to finish of the trio of houses. I think it was another year before the last kit was walked through our doors. So, with the help of Dad, Brigi too completed her house, and the good old soul, Miss Bella, along with her adopted daughter Hitty, took up house within it's walls. Brigi always pretended they were very poor, and so her house was the most... um... shall I say... neglected looking? Plain? Plain is the word! Until the royal Botsford family moved in and added on a Town-dollhouse (not photographed), along with much more furniture and dollhouse accessories. They had about 3 maids, a cook, 3 menservants, something like 5 bedrooms, including a cupola, a conservatory... quite elaborate, no? ;) And unfortunately quite a lot of it was demolished due to lack of proper storage space.





So! Now that you have read the very last post in this series of mine, are all of you ladies ready for some hair tutorials? I hope so! Make sure to check back next week for the kick off! I will be holding a vote for what hairstyle you want me to do first! :)

If you had a dollhouse, how did you decorate it?

Did you ever make your own furniture or food?

Did you play with your siblings and make a town like we three did?

Much love to you all!

Jessica

The eldest sister & singer

CREDITS // Author: Jessica Boyer; Photography: Charlotte Boyer; Photos edited with VSCO Presets