How the Obsession Began

I remember growing up hearing my mom say that she always wanted a doll house. I thought it was a cool idea. I remember longing for the doll house that I saw in some magazine once. I was facinated with all things small. We used to make things out of scraps of fabric and cardboard for my Barbies. My favourite books growing up were Little House on the Prairie, Stuart Little, The Borrowers but my all time favourite has to be the Littles. I always dreamed what it would be like to have them as friends and build them a home and supply them with their needs. It would be so fun. I kind of lost that feeling during my teens.

Then one day I was walking through a mall (For those of you familiar with Halifax, it was Barrington Place Shops) and found a store called "The Doll House". I was spell bound when I walked in and saw all the doll houses and all the little things in it. I remembered how much Mom wanted a house. I called my sister that night and said I had a brilliant idea for a 40th Birthday gift for my mom. So, we pooled our resources and bought her the Greenleaf Victorian Farmhouse. A nine room house, very ambitious but I was a novice...what did I know then! (That was in 1991)

I could barely lift the kit so I ended up just putting it in my trunk and wrapping a small box with my trunk key in it for Mom's birthday. The tag said, "Remember, good things come in small packages!" So, we all march out to the car in the dark and she sees by the street light what it is. She kept saying, "It's a mother [big] one!" She was so funny. So, over the next while she and her friends (non-mini) helped her put it together. It was fun listening to her stories. (I live a 3 hr drive from her so I didn't get to help often)

I kept going back to the store to buy her little things when I could. The store eventually went out of business but I started making her things because some of the purchased things looked tacky and/or were expensive and I knew I could make her things. That is when I got bitten by the bug.

I got my first kit in 1993 as a gift from my step-father. It was a Sugar Plum Cottage - I think Greenleaf too.

Now, after 20 years, Mom and I are still obsessed. We buy or make things for each other all the time. We also get inspiration from each other constantly. My daughter, Alicia, has a fantastic eye for minis. She can spot a mini use for a real item a mile away. She said she might make a room box but doesn't have an obsession... yet. My niece, Macayla, is a budding miniaturist. She loves all things small and has since birth. She's always making stuff. If I get to move to Yarmouth, NS, she will definitely be one of the first people I invite to our club.