Back When I Was a Creator of Fantasy

Many, many years ago, my father made me a Spanish hacienda-style dollhouse. At that time, miniatures were very popular and everyone in my family had either a dollhouse or a model train set. My grandmother's was a Swiss chalet. My sister's was southern-style with tall columns on the porch. My mom decorated shadow boxes, rather than a full dollhouse, with colonial-style room settings. My preteen self enjoyed the south-western aesthetic - earthy pastels, terracotta pottery, geometric rugs, bleached cow skulls - so the hacienda was perfect. I lovingly painted each room the perfect color and constructed a little kiva fireplace all by myself. I probably even made some furniture for it out of balsa wood, but I can't remember. At that age, I lost interest in things rather quickly. I gave up on furnishing the dollhouse and it sat untouched for I don't know how long. Then, one unremarkable day, I was struck by inspiration and the hacienda became a fantasy realm filled with fairies, gnomes, dark hooded figures, mermaids, and other mystical creatures.

My hacienda fantasy dollhouse.

By my mid-teens I was deep into fantasy and my forgotten dollhouse was the perfect place to create my own magical world. The entrance hall and living room was the realm of the fairies - delicate, handcrafted felt creatures with butterfly wings made of painted feathers that were easy to find at the local craft stores at the time. All the figures were, in fact, handmade by me of felt. Felt was cheap, easy to get, didn't ravel when cut, and was very easy to hand sew. The white unicorn liked to hang out in the fairies' living room when it wasn't just chilling on the front porch.

Where the fairies are.

The kitchen was where the dark hooded figures gathered to perform rituals. They did more conjuring than cooking in there so they never bothered with getting any major appliances. The dark unicorn enjoyed spending time with them.

Not sure what they were up to but none of the other residents seemed concerned.

Upstairs, the gnomes took up residence in one of the bedrooms. Theirs was a wilder setting, closer to nature, as they liked it. There was even a small stream running though that was likely a leak from the adjacent bathroom.

The yellow cootie was not a pest, it was a pet.

The gnomes' favorite food was acorns. While none actually grew in the house, they would magically appear in the fairies' living room. The gnomes would take turns venturing to the first floor to collect them. 

Just stay out of the fairies' way and you'll be fine.

The mermaids lived in the bathroom, as should be expected. They are the only residents with actual faces. Markers don't do precision work on felt, so I decided to keep the rest of my little creations expressionless.

The water bill was huge at this house.

The second bedroom was an arid place filled with sand and warm stones. A serpent moved in with its hoard of priceless (plastic) jewels. It never troubled anyone else in the house as long as they didn't get too curious about its treasure.

Careful little fairy! Look but don't touch.

There was a slight infestation of tiny red bears. They may have come from under the stairs but no one knew for sure. They only lurked and watched so all the residents decided it was easiest to just let them be.

Like an endless game of hide and seek.

I remember having such fun poring over the walls, shelves, and bins in craft stores searching for the perfect thing that would make my fantasy hacienda more complete. I intended to collect old bark from my dad's sawmill to cover the roof. I don't remember what my plan was for the siding. As usual, I lost interest. This time, the dollhouse sat for 30-ish years gathering dust. It's still at my parents' house. I was there this week. I don't think I'll revisit the old hacienda but it did make me wonder when I stopped creating things. I do some knitting and sewing now and then, but nothing like when I was a teen. Maybe the practicality of adulthood took over. I need to see about changing that.