When I was a about 6 years old, a girl in my class brought along a toy to school one day that had me completely enchanted. It resembled a big plastic apple, which opened up to reveal a multistorey dollhouse for the little animals that lived inside. Much to my dismay, I never got to play with her ‘apple house’, but a few years later, I came up with something just as fun for myself one school holidays.
Out of little more than a scrap piece of paper, my textas, and some already-been-used blu-tack, I made myself a hand-drawn teddy bear’s dollhouse when I was around 9 years old. Unfortunately, my dollhouse has not survived, but I remember that I drew a big 3-storey house on a piece of paper and my three bears, a dad, a mum and a little girl bear, complete in outfits inspired by my parents and I, drawn on a separate piece of paper which I then coloured in and cut out. I affixed a frugal dot of blu-tack on the backs of my bears so that they didn’t stick too hard to the house drawing and tear off bits of paper with them when I moved my bears around. Day by day, I gradually added to my bears’ house by drawing cabinets, which I would then sticky-tape doors to from more paper cut-outs, and when the ‘doors’ were opened, more cut-out doodads like bottles of sunscreen (very important for the Aussie weather) were stuck to the shelves with blu-tack and could be removed and taken outside with the bears if they ever decided to have a picnic.
Playing with my teddy bears’ dollhouse is one of my most vivid and fond memories of crafting as a child, a deep-seated nostalgia that was re-sparked yesterday evening when I discovered upon Beccijo’s lovingly handcrafted wooden playboxes, from The Enchanted Cupboard.
fairy kitchen playbox
When I saw them, my heart skipped a beat, and I got that surging through my entire being I get when I am truly inspired. I love the space family. You can even order a OOAK custom playbox from Beccijo, for between $114-154 USD depending on the size and complexity.
max in space playbox
Although Beccijo’s skills in hand-turning and painting her wooden toys are evident in every one of her pieces, I considered that the needle felting supplies I have recently invested in may also make for great alternatives for wooden accessories and dolls. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, I leapt out of my chair and began scribbling and sketching an idea for a ‘playbox’ of my own; an enchanted forest home.
I cannot wait to share with you the result!
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