Miniature Dollhouse Display

This past Sunday, I took Molly out by herself, "without the boys," for the first time. We went to see a miniature dollhouse display at Locust Grove, the place where I recently attended the ball. I really wasn't sure what to expect. But it was amazing! It was put on by the Louisville Miniature Society.

By the way, my camera is putting the wrong dates on the photos, so I am not lying that it was Sunday the 17th!

Molly enjoying a miniature cottage house. The glass dome behind it looks to me like it houses a miniature Italian house, maybe, though I don't remember for sure.

We had to be very quiet and only whisper, because the Jane Austen Society was having a lecture right on the other side those cubicle dividers. A woman with a very British accent was giving a lecture on how Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice. Apparently this year is the 200th anniversary of the release of that book, so there are many events all over the world celebrating the occasion. Note to self: remember to start going to some of these meetings.

This house (above) was pretty amazing. Look at the tiny bookshelves in the front. Those tiny books and magazines on the shelves were each made separately out of paper! Each one had a title on the spine. I took this picture with Molly in front of it so you can get an idea how tiny the items inside were. Notice the bathroom at top left....

Here's a close-up of the bathroom. Look at the tiny pink fuzzy towel on the right wall! And the tiny, tiny garbage can... and the newspaper on the floor by the toilet. That cracked me up.

I was just entranced with the perfect little crocheted afghan in this tiny wooden cradle, and the tiny candle in the mounted holder on the left wall.

There were even displays guys might have enjoyed. This one was an old-fashioned filling station. On the other side (back) of it was a miniature auto repair shop with a little car lift and everything!

Some of the displays were in really unique containers, like this one. This one amused me because it's just like many guys' workshops I've seen—not too tidy! LOL
In fact, it looks a little like some areas of the print shop where I work!

Another scene in a unique container, a watering can. Look at the tiny green hose. Inside the brown tub were two tiny fish swimming in what looked like clear water (but it was hard). At the tops of the green vines growing up the wall were tiny pink flowers, with a tiny bluebird perched among the flowers. Unfortunately you can't see them in this photo.

This was one of our favorites. It was adorable.
There is even a tiny blue foil-wrapped egg on the ground in front of the table!

This was my second favorite scene. I love white wicker furniture. See the rabbit on the table and the Easter basket, complete with tiny plastic eggs, on the floor at left?

Now THIS one was my absolute favorite. The wedding cake was probably about 1 inch tall. There is a pearl-crowned veil draped across the sofa, and beside it is a white cushion with two minuscule wedding rings on it. The bridal bouquet is on the floor at left, and note the tray with champagne on top of the wicker tea cart..... The photos on the wall looked like real photos to me, just shrunk down tiny.

Only afterwards did I find out what Molly's favorite scene was, and I regret not taking a picture of it. It was a child's bedroom with white furniture, blue curtains and blanket, and a tall white shelf with a tiny Peter Rabbit ceramic plate sitting on one of the shelves.

Afterwards we went outside to walk around the fields and inspect the old cemetery and the log buildings which were once used as barns and sheds and an outside kitchen. We also walked all around the historic old house where George Rogers Clark spent his last years. I had to keep explaining that this item was old-fashioned and that kind of building was old-fashioned....

We also stopped in the gift shop, where Molly said she wants me to buy her (another day, because it was Sunday) a carved wooden fan and... a big plastic spider. We'll see about that one! I also showed her a quill pen set and explained how people used to write letters in that old-fashioned way.

When we left, I asked Molly what kind of a house she wants to live in when she grows up. It will be a big house, she told me, and it will be old-fashioned (I must have said "old-fashioned" once too many times!), and it will be painted light blue on the outside. Her bedroom will be white, with pink 'parkwy (sparkly) curtains at the window. Hmmmm. Can you just picture that?

She also said recently that she wants me to make her a dress with "ball sleeves." We are not sure what "ball sleeves" are, so my sister asked her to explain. She replied helpfully, "You know....the kind I want!"

So this Sunday, I asked her myself to tell me what ball sleeves are. She sighed. "Haven't you ever seen Cinderella?" she asked me.

Oh. That kind of sleeves.