Not needing a dollhouse

Treasured miniature dish set from the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh

I've always wanted a dollhouse, but for some reason or other I've never bought one. When I was very little I had a Fisher Price dollhouse with a yellow plastic roof and I really enjoyed that. It had illustrations on the walls, little plastic beds with mattresses made of sponge and of course little people to go inside. But over the years despite a fascination with miniature things, I never bought a dollhouse.

Until now. When my brother bought my niece a dollhouse recently (the Vermont Farmhouse kit) that got me thinking. I don't need a new hobby, I said to myself. It wouldn't be practical to spend money on a dollhouse, I said. There's no where to put it, my husband said.

But just for fun, I said, if I were to get a dollhouse (which I won't of course) would there even be any out there that I would like? So I had a look on The Little Dollhouse Company's website and discovered there were lots of really inexpensive kits you can buy. That way you can build the house yourself and make it just the way you want! Not that I was going to get one.

But if I did, for a mere $38 I could buy the Orchid, a charming little Victorian cottage. Or, as featured on Martha Stewart, the Storybook cottage, which even comes with a set of furniture! So sweet! But for both of those kits I felt there were things I would want to change. The Orchid seemed a little too fussy and both were quite small...

Then I revisited the Glencroft, a Tudor cottage that had initially seemed too fancy but had instantly attracted me with its half-turn staircase (with two landings!). Anyway, on second glance it turned out to be perfect, with two spacious rooms downstairs, two upstairs, the aforementioned wonderful staircase, two fireplaces, two window seats and a built-in bookcase.

What finally put me over the edge was a wonderful version of the Glencroft made by Susan Grimshaw featured on her tynietoy.org website. This website has unfortunately also given me an appreciation for Tynietoy furniture, which I can't afford, but absolutely love!

So here on my new blog, tiny handmade, I'm going to show you how I'm putting together my Glencroft dollhouse. And of course when it's done I'll be making lots of little handmade things to go inside.