My Heart's Desire

"Whatever it is your heart desires, please go for it, it's yours to have." -Gloria Estefan

^ Here's what ten days of progress on my doll house project looks like.

And here's a link to my first post, if you'd like to catch up on the doll house back story. 

Correction. It's not an actual doll house. Let's call it a Night Before Christmas festive diorama, which is a more accurate descriptor, and leave it at that. 

This is Version 2.0 of the bed design - a length of square dowel, with the rounded ends of popsicle sticks glued fore and aft. A scrap of lace for a bed sheet, and another bit folded and stitched for a pillow. 

Massive upgrade over bare wood. 

^ After seriously considering the insanity of making actual micro-miniature quilts, I obsessively cross-stitched these faux quilts instead. Still fine tuning the details...do I want to somehow attach the covers so they stay in place on the beds, or leave them realistically loose so the soon-to-arrive lady of the house can actually snuggle into her cozy nest? 

Decisions, decisions. 

^ My custom fireplace mantel was framed out with a collection of popsicle sticks and square dowels. The bricks were fabricated with Sculpey polymer clay, and glued to grey cardstock so the intentional gaps look mortar-esque. Currently under construction is a miniature fireplace grate that will be adorned with actual real life teeny tiny logs. 

And perhaps felt flames? 

^ Check out the itty bitty picture frame on the mantel. My husband, who is slowly gathering enthusiastic steam for this project - or should I say, never-ending series of mini projects - went all out on the infinitely small mitered corners of the frame. Next up, there's the matter of choosing some type of art to fill the frame. 

My fourth-born suggested a sprig of holly. 

^ The handmade wallpapers are also undergoing some tweaks. The original shade of red looked more orange-y with each passing day, so I've been attacking the stripes and dots with various shades of red colored pencils to adjust. 

They're not perfect yet. But they will be. 

* * * * *

I know. Important, impactful, intense things are happening in the world these days: 

• There's a one TRILLION dollar infrastructure bill making the rounds on the Hill.

• My typically chill Pacific Northwest is about to get socked with another climate-change-induced heat wave.

• Arguments about mandatory vaccines and masking policies are blowing up school board meetings and deepening the divides in our already difficult public discourse. 

One might suggest that there are better ways for me to spend my time than twiddling my thumbs over such an utterly frivolous and perfectly pointless project. 

But I'd say that in the midst of these trying times, this doll house design keeps me surprisingly calm and centered, filled with positive energy. So I'm just going to keep going over here with my tacky glue and paintbrushes, because my Night Before Christmas festive diorama is exactly what my heart desires.