My little girl was only 2 and already showing signs of Barbie obsession. What did that mean for me? This momma was on a quest to find a vintage Barbie House to makeover! I rummaged through thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets for months to no avail. I was beginning to lose hope and started paging through the over priced choices on ebay.

About 5 months passed.

It is almost impossible for me to see an estate sale sign and not stop. Just another day running errands with my funny bunny while big brother was at school and I saw the sign. Yup… we have to check it out. (random stops throughout the day are now totally normal to my kids) As we pulled up, I saw it. I SAW IT! EXACTLY what I had been looking for. Ok, not exactly. But the story that unfolded as I discovered it, made it perfect.

My daughter immediately ran up to the old, wooden, outdated house. “Doll house, mommy!” I was carefully inspecting the oddly electrically wired contraption of a house when an older woman approached me. “My husband made that barbie house for our daughter.” She looked at it with her heart full of love and her eyes full of tears. We chatted while my little one explored the little door and switches. Her husband had built this house over 30 years ago. She watched him put his heart into that house day after day. She was sad to be letting it go, but said they really had no use for it anymore. She pointed out that the numbers on the front door was the address of the home they had lived in. I love it.

$25. That was it. Twenty five dollars for a little house full of endless play and imagination.

How could I not buy it. Not only was it vintage and handmade, but it already had a season of love and many more years of love to come.

The now elderly father helped me carry it to my car as my daughter followed behind us skipping in joy. In his little bright eyes were tears. Happy tears. He seemed proud that not only could he still carry the damn heavy thing but that his hard work would live on. And my eyes were full of tears too. We hugged. A good long hug as if we were somehow no longer strangers. It was perfect.

And so, our Barbie home makeover journey begins!