r/dollhouseminiatures

hi! gonna try to make this short and not low-quality. i recently got a table with cubbies i decided to make into dollhouse rooms. (this is not about that!)

right before mothers day, that made my mom suddenly get re-interested in dollhouses big time. and i've had a rough several career years, so it was the first time i found and could afford what i thought was the almost perfect gift (the retailer is one i avoid), a whole beautiful kit for under $100

this got back to my mom, and it turns out she wants to thrift a dollhouse and do it from scratch (which i understand!) and then it was thursday and i didn't know what to get. and i want to get her a useful gift card, and i was looking at sites for this, but worried just minis might be too restrictive

what i'm looking for here is the best place my mom can get paints, brushes, notions, and supplies for her house — like on one craft store site, i saw a turntable for working on it. things like that (she has had a shoebox full of furniture since forever but she needs the stuff that goes INTO the house she has yet to find)

so, r/dollhouses, can you help me figure out what GC is most valuable to someone who has not found their house and wants their house to find them? i want her to be excited by buying 20 small-ish things to make her house the way she wants it. also sidenote, my mom has been a mary engelbreit fan since i was little (i'm late gen x) and she LOVES mary's houses. is something like michael's good, or something specialized? what would have been ideal for your first dollhouse project in a while? tysm. it has been SO long since i could get my mom a gift and i want it to make her really happy and excited ❤️