Lucienne’s “Baby”

In 2002 I was in a car accident and out of work for 6 months. Physically I wasn’t able to shop for supplies and push the sales of my crafts because I was tied to home, but the creative imagination and inner vision was still at full speed. I decided I would enjoy decorating a little miniature house. Something I could work on while sitting at a table. Couldn’t afford one when I was growing up, but to this day I remember the Glass Dollhouse with lighting that my brother built for a science fair project many, many years ago and won 1st place! Anyway, I started surfing the net trying to find prices for a dollhouse. Well, I don’t know if you have seen the prices of dollhouses lately, but a nice size one is expensive. I actually saw a dollhouse for $25,000. (That’s a down payment on a real house) So, I decided to build my own. I already had a scroll saw used for some of my other crafts, all I needed was some wood. (So I thought)

First step was to get a set of plans. I found a site called www.dollhouseprojects.com, where I ordered the plans for the “Mary Kay”. Only cost me $8.00 and I was able to download and print from my computer. I got all the little supplies needed, but did I mention I didn’t have a clue what I was doing? I immediately advised my son of my new project and stated I would be doing this by myself since I was stuck in the house. He did a lot of laughing and still doing a lot of laughing (you’ll see why) because he didn’t believe I was serious, nor did he think I was physically up to it, but he was so supportive and decided to humor me, so he took me to buy wood and I had it measured and cut to my specifications. He then understood how serious I was and offered to help if I needed him. We had a deal. Well, my first mistake was the wood. The plans didn’t quite specify to my understanding which size wood was for which part of the house. So let’s just say, I had enough wood left over to build a life size canoe and entertainment center! Another thing the beginner needs to know is what type of tools to use. I only had a scroll saw and I made it work, but I think a jig saw may have been easier. Because of the pain in my back I could only work short periods of time, couldn’t lift anything heavy, couldn’t bend so I really needed my son’s assistance in the beginning cutting some of the larger pieces of wood and drilling.

Well, it became apparent that I couldn’t follow the plans so I threw them away and decided to do my own thing. I made the house much, much bigger than anticipated and added on another building. It went from a 2 Story, 2 building, 7 room Mary Kay model to a 3 Story, 3 Building, 11 Room model called “Lucienne’s Bed and Breakfast” and eventually “Lucienne’s Getaway Weekend Resort”. That’s right, a quaint little getaway for couples to spend the weekend. So for the next few months (Maybe years) I will post to this site the progress of “My Baby”. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I am enjoying making it!

Special Thanks
Steve Billings – Support and Patience and assisting with getting this project started
(He’s mean with an Electric Drill)

Tom Stone – Without him, there would be no lights!
(And he thought I was finished with him until I said I wanted to make the dolls to go in it)

Norman White – For Brotherly Support
(He’ll be careful next time he tells me I can build whatever I set my mind too)

LaSaundra Dickson – For being the Daughter I never had
(She’ll think twice about offering to help get these pictures ready for the site)

And to all my Friends and Co-Workers for their Precious Praises about this project.

Click House to Enter