Dollhouse Enthusiasts?

[susiestar]

Are any of you collectors or fans of dollhouses? Not the plastic ones or Barbie ones, but the kind that are built for and by adults as a hobby? Do you know of websites or forums for people who do enjoy these?

As many of you know, I love to cross stitch. The current trend in cross stitching is chunky specialty fibers that are very expensive and bulky. I enjoy using the finer versions of the specialty threads, but they are not the . MY preferences are smaller, finer and more detailed. As in 28 to 32 threads per inch for now until I can afford the much finer silk that I want.

I am having fun with this, but I am also very interested in finding a market to sell the items I create. I could fashion them into rugs, wall hangings, cushions, anything a dollhouse collector might want.

If you have any info on this collector's world, I would truly appreciate it. I would like to figure out which items/themes/designs are more popular, etc...

Thank You!

 

[DammitJanet]

I would check Etsy out.

I would love to have one of those wooden dollhouses but I dont know if I could actually do it. Maybe I should look into it.

I would love to have a few rugs or baby blankets for the dollhouse my dad gave to Keyana several years ago. She was 3 and we have kept it and plan on passing it down through the years to her kids. I need to buy some new furniture for it because it has gotten lost over the years. All the kids play with it when they are here.

 

[DDD]

I have NO idea about this subject except I had a friend who collected antique dolls and dollhouses etc. and she went to "shows" a couple of times a year. She also subscribed to magazines that were dedicated to those subjects. As a result of her "hobby" she was able to stay afloat financially after a nasty divorce left her scraping by. One doll she sold via the magazine paid for her to go to England for the summer. There is big money in dolls and dollhouses. Good luck. DDD

 

[DammitJanet]

Yes those handmade wooden dollhouses can be extremely expensive if you buy them. I imagine the pieces to make parts of them are expensive too. Like the wooden shingles for the roof.

However now that you have got me thinking about this I may just attempt to do one. If I do it will probably be an open sided one so that the kids can actually play with it when they are old enough to be careful.

 

[susiestar]

They can look so very cool. Thanks for the input. Janet, I would love to see yours and if you make one, would love to see that one also.

I am going to spend some time researching this and then make some things that could be rugs for dollhouses or wall handings, etc... I want to see how they would work and if I can build a market for myself. I LOVE cross stitch/needlepoint and am truly good at it. I just don't like the larger fibers and chunkier work, so I think this would be a perfect market and maybe I could make some $$.

THanks for the input.