My new old Victorian

I bet you thought I bought a new old Victorian house, well not exactly,

although I wish I owned a real Victorian home; but that is another story. When I was a child, my Vavo started me collecting paper dolls and porcelain dolls. I actually still collect both, just not as rapidly as I did as a child. That is probably because as a child I always got them at holidays and birthdays as gifts. I still love both but, because it started out as gifts I would receive from my grandmother, it has always seemed a little weird to me to go out and add to the collection. Although, every now and a gain, I do.

I remember one Christmas as a teenager my Vavo was given a paper doll pop up house as a gift. I was heart broken; I know, silly for a teenager to be sad about a paper doll. It was a really awesome paper doll pop up house. She knew I liked it and wanted to give it to me, we actually both love paper dolls and doll houses, but she couldn't because it was a gift to her and we didn't want to make the other family member sad or mad. My grandmother didn't play with paper dolls and neither did I anymore; they were just things we liked looking at, with all that amazing detail that go into things such as these.

This last Christmas, 2006, my Vavo surprised me. She had saved that doll house for 17 years and gave it to me. I was so excited, now my kids are the ones wondering why is mom getting paper dolls and not us. The previous year, 2005, I had searched all over the country to find the Mary Engelbreit magnet paper dolls, they had been discontinued for years already at that time. I found enough for each of my daughters to have one and each of my first cousins little girls to have one, and I also found 2 more for 3rd cousins plus a few for friends of my Vavo. I was sad because I could not find enough for me to keep one. She paid me for them and said thank you as she thought the little girls would have fun playing with them. She had a little surprise up her sleeve; my Vavo actually saved one and gave it to me this last Christmas, 2006. I have not received so many paper dolls at Christmas since I was a little girl. It was just great!

I thought the doll house was so great that I just had to show it for all those doll house and paper doll lovers out there. This has been in storage since 1989 when my Vavo received it. Everything is still there. You have to look closely to see the details -- the doors open on cupboards and pantries and things like that.