Pretty bones and small things…

I have been stalking Emily Henderson ( you know ..Secrets from a Stylist, HGTV) …there..I said it…well, technically not HER specifically, but a DIY challenge that she gave little tidbits of details about, involving..are you ready..DOLLHOUSES!!! WHAAAATT??!! That’s right folks..its a challenge and I am READY!! Emily has extended a challenge to any and all bloggers who may be interested, the challenge is called “I’m A Giant, Challenge”

Please stop by Emily’s blog to get all the juicy deets!

So, Here she is…My beautiful dollhouse that needs sooo much love….but like all historical homes, she too has a story, and here it is..

It was Christmas at My Gramma and Grampa Millers house when I was 9 yrs old. Earlier in the year, they had asked me if I would like to combine my birthday and Christmas presents, and they would make me a dollhouse, by hand, all on their own!!! Oh my goodness, if I could bottle up even a slice of my happiness on that day, and share it with all of you I would. I didn’t know for sure when the house would be done, all I knew is that it was going to be beautiful. My Gramma and Grampa had always built things, and they were always beautiful. Summer weeks staying with them would be filled with handcrafting things like wooden writing desks, and sewing clothes for Native American Baby dolls, and making necklaces out of rolled up magazines. I knew, this dollhouse would be perfect. They would call from time to time through out the year with cripted questions like, “do you like Straight or curvy?”, “Do you prefer clear glass, or green glass?”, “Would you rather have red, or blue?”, never, telling me what my descisions would end up being for! it was the best year ever. Not knowing how things were going, but knowing that they were working hard on every single detail. Later, I found out that straight or curvy was for the stair case, clear or green glass was for the fake Tiffany chandelier, and red or blue was for the tiny little perfect serving and cookware that they stocked my miniature kitchen with.

Christmas morning at my Gram and Gramps, I ran out to the living room, and there she was….my beautiful dollhouse, WITH REAL WORKING LIGHTS!!! WHAT??!! AND A FIREPLACE THAT HAD TINY LITTLE LOGS ON IT, AND A SPIRAL STAIRCASE…..so much detail…the roof was individual cut pieces of sand paper, the windows were double hung and really worked. My friends and I had many many yrs playing with this beautiful dollhouse, and then, as it happens, we grew up 🙁

and that brings me to today!

I’m am so excited to bring back the love that this pretty lady deserves! I haven’t decided how many rooms I am going to do for the challenge, because I want to do it right. The first thing I need to do Is a little( okay a lot) restoration..the floors to be sanded and any repairs that need to be done!!

Here is what she looks like now, after years in a dusty basement and even a short time in an old garage where oil was spilled..sigh…..can you see through all the dust, how pretty her bones are 🙂

 Please follow me on my journey of restoring an old friend!!!
P.S I will be adding a tab at the top, and will post progress weekly so you can follow along!

Enjoy your weekend!!

~K

(Edit: I Added the top tab “I’m A Giant”challenge..check out the progress along with my Pinterest Mood board)