HOLLY HILL -- It all started when her husband gave her a band saw for Christmas.

The next thing Juanita Rhame knew, she was creating miniature furniture for Barbie dolls.

Husband Billy's gift led to Rhame in the 1980s creating dozens and dozens of furniture sets, all customized to proportionally fit Barbie dolls. The Holly Hill woman made bedroom furniture, living room suites -- even butler tables and chairs complete with ottomans.

She could easily fetch $15 for a Barbie-sized couch, which she sold countless numbers of at annual craft sales she held on her back porch over a five- to 10-year span.

"I sold about 15 sets of furniture at each sale," said Rhame, a self-taught crafter who designed each of the patterns herself.

The popular American Girl doll furniture served as her inspiration to create similar pieces that were just the right size for Barbie, her beau Ken and her friend Midge.

"None of the furniture I've made contains any nails," Rhame said. "They're all held together with Elmer's glue."

Not only did Rhame create furniture to accommodate Barbie and her friends. She also created Barbie-sized doll houses, with each room and accessories made to scale. Each room of the house measured 12-by-12-by-24 inches, Rhame said.

She built completely furnished doll houses for her three granddaughters -- Camden Janney, Savannah Rhame and Madison Rhame -- as birthday or Christmas gifts over the years.

Now 81, Rhame says arthritis has slowly caused her to limit much of her craft making, but she admits, "I still get a hankering to do things, though."

T&D Correspondent Martha Rose Brown can be reached by e-mail at marfawose@aol.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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