From the Front Porch
My name is Mary Kaye Chambers. I’m a retired elementary teacher who lives on land my daddy and grandpa cleared decades ago. My children and grandchildren have homes here too, and I’m Grandma Honey to five little honeybees. I’m also a photographer, coffee-lover, and a lifelong paper hoarder who has never thrown away a good handwritten note.
Lovely Little Worlds™ is where all of me comes together: the teaching, the paper, and the stories worth keeping.
What’s A Little World?
A Little World is a place you can visit through paper. It might be a honeybee garden, a pumpkin patch, a tiny bakery, a 1950s diner, or Paris in the spring. Each world has its own artwork, its own story, and its own characters.
Then I make that one world in different ways for different people. Children get paper dolls, pretend play, games, projects, and mini books. Grown-ups get journal papers, ephemera, tags, folios, stationery, and keepsake projects. A grandmother and her grandchild can visit the same world and each do something completely different in it.
That’s the part I care about most. The artwork and the story are shared, so there’s something to do together.
Why A Teacher Makes Paper Dolls
I started teaching in 1989 as a third-grade teacher. After a few years in the classroom I became a literacy specialist, and later I ran the technology lab and coordinated the virtual learning program. I took early retirement in 2021 after 32 years.
The biggest thing I learned through the years of teaching and raising my own children is that the best learning often doesn’t look like a lesson. A pretend shop can have kids reading signs, writing lists, and counting change. A paper doll becomes the start of a story. A tiny book made by little hands becomes a child’s favorite read.
The child thinks they’re playing. The grown-up knows they’re learning. The reading, counting, and writing happen inside the play, not on a worksheet with cute clipart.
For The Pile You’ve Been Saving
Childhood leaves things behind: drawings, school photos, a sticky handprint on a card, a note your daughter wrote when she was eight. Most of us have a pile of cherished memories saved somewhere.
My junk journaling and memory keeping collections are for that pile. No crafting experience necessary to start. Print the papers, cut along the lines, glue things together, add the photos, write in the margins, and let it be a little messy. A finished page doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be yours.
What You’ll Find Here
New worlds and collections as I finish them. Printables you can use the same day. Letters from the homestead in my newsletter, along with a surprise freebie now and then.
Everything here gets used in my own house first. I use the ephemera and folios in my own journals or planners, and my five honeybees put the pretend play sets through their paces. I print and test everything before I sell it, because I want it to work at your own kitchen table and not just look nice on a screen.
This Is A Place For
- Grandmas who want something to do with the grandchildren that doesn’t involve a screen.
- Parents looking for playtime activities that don’t need batteries or a trip to the store.
- Anyone with a shoebox of photographs and no idea where to start.
- People who love paper, handwriting, and things tucked away on purpose.
- Teachers and homeschool families who want learning that feels like play.
Come On In!
Whether you’re here to make something with a child or to keep a little piece of your own life, I’m glad you found your way here. The coffee’s always on!
Sometimes the smallest worlds hold the biggest memories.
Lovely Little Worlds™
🎶 Our Lovely Little Theme Song 🎶
(The lyrics to our Lovely Little Worlds jingle.)
Paper, scissors, a little bee,
Open a world of make-believe.
Make it, share it, tuck it away,
A little wonder in every day.
Everyone is welcome,
So come on in,
A brand new story
Is about to begin…
Lovely Little Worlds!
Lyrics © 2026 Mary Kaye Chambers. All rights reserved.
