Naughton’s interest in dollhouses and miniatures began in the 1970s, when she accompanied an older woman to pick up a dollhouse hand-made at a shop.
“I always loved dollhouses when I was little, so I bought one. Then, I started building my own,” she said
In 1978, Naughton started a replica of her grandparents’ house, built by her grandfather in 1925. At 67, “I’m still working on it,” she said.
She’s also been building other rooms, dollhouses and items to fit into miniature rooms.
“I like to build the boxes and put on the wallpaper or paint, then my daughter does details in rooms. I hope she and my granddaughter carry on the hobby,” she said.
Sally Miller, 64, owner of the Small World Dollhouse Shop at 1023 Patterson Road in Dayton, became interested in dollhouses and miniatures in 1971, when she and her sister built a miniature sewing room box for their mother.
“I made the bolts of fabric and measuring table, but couldn’t make a sewing machine, so I went to a miniature shop. I didn’t know about shops or shows before, but that visit got me interested and it just kept growing,” Miller said
She got so involved that she and her sister decided to open their own shop 15 years ago. “We thought it would make a good retirement business,” said Miller, who’s 64. Her sister is deceased, but Sally is still making miniatures, room boxes and meeting customers’ needs.
In 2007, she started a group called The Daytimers, which “grew from customers who wanted to get together to talk to others about their hobby and get ideas. We meet once a month in the afternoons and do some kind of project each time we meet.”
Miller said her customers range from children to mothers and fathers making dollhouses for daughters, and to grandmothers.
“One of my new customer’s husband is serving in Iraq. She has three granddaughters and is making them each a dollhouse; it keeps her mind occupied, so she’s not always worrying about her husband.”
Miller will have a dealer’s table set up at this weekend’s show.
Classes will be held at Hara on Friday; check out times at www.3blind miceshow.com. Hours of the show will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Naughton warns that classes fill up quickly. Demonstrations will go on throughout the weekend. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children ages 5-15, and free for children younger than 5.
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