Dollhouses and Peg Dolls
My granddaughter Mabel was 2 and 1/2 when I decided that she would enjoy a sturdy age-appropriate dollhouse. My search led me to Etsy shops and beautifully handcrafted wood houses. Unfortunately, while the craftsmanship was inspiring the prices and shipping costs were more than I planned to spend. Turning as I often do to one of my favorite sources for local resale, Facebook Marketplace I found several good options. An older Melissa and Doug dollhouse made of sturdy wood was available nearby. When I pulled up to the seller’s home, a woman juggling a dollhouse and a conference call signaled that she was throwing in a wooden castle, a shoe box of unglued furniture pieces and a bedraggled doll family with unruly yarn hair if I would take them. Of course I did!
of the Castle
Little Homes for Tiny People
After hosing off the dusty toys outside, I set up the castle for Mabel in the family room, and moved the house to my studio for rehab. With my paint brush in hand and English storybook illustrations in mind, I gave the little house yellow walls, brown trim, wood floors, and pink climbing roses. A woodland cottage theme evolved influenced by my beloved troll house and a book series I loved, The Borrowers, by Mary Norton. Then I returned to my favorite kind of childhood play–gathering and arranging found objects to create little rooms for tiny people to live in!
Buttons from my grandmother’s collection, bark from a special tree, charms, china cats and a brass bell from a box of childhood trinkets; a coaster from my daughters wedding; rocks, shells and pieces of wood; vintage fabric left over from my Covid crazy quilt– these remnants of my life from across the years found their places in the interior. Part auto-biography, part memorial, and large part excellent play, the cottage took shape entirely from materials I had on hand.
The Peg Dolls Move In
I wasn’t happy with the scruffy doll figures I had which were floppy and hard to play with. While searching for more worthy figures to populate the castle and the cottage, I discovered peg dolls on Etsy–knights, kings, queens, and woodland fairies. Simple and adorable, they were perfect for little hands to hold and move. I started making peg dolls with patterns I bought on Etsy, embellishing them with embroidery and jewels. Soon I began to make my own nature inspired designs and creating my own peg doll patterns which I’m going to share here very soon.
One for Me and One for Mabel
For a few weeks, Mabel would visit my studio to see the progress on the dollhouse and ask “Are you done yet, Gran?”. My husband was mystified that so much of my creative energy was going to dolls. The house became too fragile for a child to play with and too full of tiny things. Facing that truth, I bought a different doll house for Mabel that can withstand the vigorous play of a three year old and her baby brother, and acknowledged that this dollhouse was mine–at least for now. It’s a living project. Tiny pinecones that I found in Denmark this summer took their place in the house just today. This winter I’ll find the right stones and build a second fireplace downstairs.
Why Dollhouses and Peg Dolls?
Why devote time all this time to a dollhouse and making peg dolls when I have this whole 70’s house redo to manage? There are several reasons, some to related to grief from letting go of my real life home in the woods, some related to joy and moving on. The drive to create is constant for me and brings me pleasure. Besides, I’m a collector of tiny and interesting things just as I was in childhood, and here’s a place for them. I think I’ll name the dollhouse Pine Cottage, and because Pine Cottage brings me joy it stays in my studio and continues to evolve. As for Mabel, I hope that when she is a little bit older the dollhouse will capture her imagination, too, and that we will read The Borrowers together in a big cozy chair with Pine Cottage close by.
