The Magic House

For me, this doll house is the perfect Christmas house. A lot of love and attention to detail went into the building and decorating of it, and it brings back memories of being a little girl and dreaming of being small enough to fit into the magical worlds of toy trains, tiny houses, and of course The Borrowers.

Mary Norton wrote The Borrowers 60 years ago. The main characters were 4 inches people, who lived beneath the floorboards of a human household. Arrietty Clock, is the daughter of Pod and Homily, and befriends a human boy. My mom gave me an anthology of all of the Borrower books when I was about 10 years old. I fell in love with these stories, and imagined living in their world in England.

I was introduced to tea and crumpets at that time, and enjoyed English Muffins with butter and jam, while sipping sweet tea and running off in my dream world of tiny people who lived off of "borrowing" scraps of food and discarded items from humans. I was fascinated that Arrietty's bed was made of a matchbox. Mary Norton described their world in a way that spurred my imagination.

I think that these tales of tiny people inspired my love of miniatures, for special things do come in small wrappings.

If you look closely at this photo, you will see the little people inside of this amazing doll house. It's a fantastical place, perfectly fit for The Love Child, no matter how grown up she may be.