There are some things that really make my heart skip a beat. Things that really hit a spot in my heart and soul. The stomach flutters and the heart skips… Yep, that is all that I could feel when I opened my package from House of Worry Dolls. I literally busted into tears. I first saw Amaryah’s work on Instagram and I was automatically hooked! She HAND makes beautiful custom figures and displays them in the most amazing way.
Amaryah made me the most beautiful shadow box that displays every dog I have ever had. I am sure when I told her how many there were… I am certain that she thought I was beyond a #crazydoglady. She hand made all 14 (yes, fourteen!) of my dogs and I could not love it more! I had the chance to ask her some questions on how she got started and where she is headed next.

How did you get started?

I actually first learned how to make “worry dolls” when I was about 9 or 10 years old in Girl Scouts. We made them as a craft one day and we all loved them so much that me and a few friends continued to make and sell them at craft fairs here and there for a couple years after.

Fifteen or so years later, I started my Etsy shop after my mom found and sent me a few of my original dolls made all those years ago. They were so cute and I had the idea to try making and selling them online. At first I only made character dolls, but my business soon expanded into custom family and wedding dolls, and then customers wanted to include their pets too so I had to figure out how to make dogs! Now my pet portraits and ornaments are some of my most popular items.

Tell us about your dog!

We don’t own any pets right now but hope to get a dog once we move into a house with a bigger yard in the near future. However, we always had pets (dogs, cats, and chickens) growing up. One of our dogs was a yellow lab named Bo. He belonged to the neighbor of a family friend, but would often run away because he was being mistreated by his owner. Finally our friend had had enough of that and started keeping Bo at her house to keep him safe. She knew we wanted a dog and asked if we would take him, so we drove over, opened our van door and he hopped right in and we never looked back. His previous owner never went looking for him. He was the sweetest, happiest dog and gentle with everyone. He would even do a little happy dance every single day when we fed him. I have so many other happy memories of all of our pets growing up and look forward to those experiences with my own kids one day with our first family pet.

What and who influence your work?

All kinds of things. As a maker and small business owner, I feel like I think about my work literally all the time and am always looking for new ideas. Sometimes I even have dreams about making dolls! I love to read and have a lot of dolls in my shop based off of my favorite book characters. The work of other makers who I follow online often inspires me to create or try something new. My customers also give me great ideas and many of my now top-selling listings were first a customer’s idea brought to life. My mom is also a really big influence on me. She is an artist and I’ve watched her create and work in many different mediums over the years. She encourages me all the time and is great to bounce ideas off of and support me when I try something new.

What is new for your company in 2019?

I’m really excited to launch a new line of dolls that are made just for kids. My own children always want to play with the dolls I am making, but they are too fragile for little hands, so I’ve been designing a larger, sturdier worry doll meant especially to be played with. I’ve been working on this idea for over a year so I can’t wait to release the new collection in April!

All that I have to say is if you want to win over someone’s heart then House of Worry Dolls is THE way to go! This is the best gift in the whole entire world. ENTIRE!!! It will even touch a place in one’s heart who has never had dogs. This Mother’s Day is the perfect time to show someone how much you love them buy gifting them one of the amazing shadow boxes. Do yourself the world’s biggest favor by checking out House of Worry Dolls and ordering a custom shadow box right NOW!

Follow them on Instagram, as well, for an extra dose of happiness every day!

Megan Rose

Megan is the Co-Founder of Gal's Best Friend and the East Coast Editor. She lives in New York City with her 3 dogs. Megan works in the pet industry on the marketing side, Megan is also the Pet Contributing Editor at Bestprodcuts.com is an author of Rescuing Rumba (coming Fall 2021), and a border member of Global Strays.