Ruth Johnson is surrounded by all kinds of little people, which in turn attract bigger people, which is just how she likes it - the more people the better.
"Dolls are my hobby," said Johnson, known in Utah County and dollmaking circles as "the doll lady.""But people are what's important to me," she said.
Johnson said dollmaking over the past 18 years has brought her into contact with "so many interesting people.
"They love people, and I love people," Johnson said.
Her "hobby" has also put four of the Johnson children through college and kept insurance on their cars.
It's made her somewhat of a legend, too.
Johnson's dolls have won too many awards and ribbons to count at fairs, doll shows and state competitions. She has dolls that fit in your hand - Snowbabies and Kewpies - and life-size dolls that can shake your hand, such as Lady Grace, a Bru mannequin that stands 4 feet tall.
She does reproductions of antique dolls - some of which have namesakes like the A. Marque dolls that have sold at auctions for as much as $43,000 - and the popular modern dolls like "Sugarbritches" that can be shaded and dressed to duplicate real people.
Most of her work is in porcelain although she's used wax and other media, too.
Dolls are everywhere in her home, dolls with ringlets and braids, dolls with pigtails, dolls with spectacles and dolls with flirty eyes.
There are fairy dolls, elves, bears, baby dolls, little boy dolls and grandma/grandpa dolls. They smile, sleep, pout and cry.
Some of the dolls look like relatives. "Justin" wears the clothes handed down from her grandson as he rides a rocking horse in the living room.
A baby-boy doll with blond hair is the replica of another grandson who died from Sudden Infant Death syndrome.
"Dolls develop a personality. They talk to you," said Johnson. "That's why the ones we sell, we keep boxed up or I get so attached to them, it's hard to let them go."
Nevertheless, she keeps people ahead of the dolls, giving away three each year for Christmas, including at least one to the Festival of Trees and occasionally one to a neighbor child if she knows someone needs one.
She'll even sell a favorite if somebody really wants it.
"These aren't money to me, they're friends," said Johnson.
Her dolls provide an access to service and to people, she said.
She also likes the fact that she can save precious fabrics and pieces of history in her dolls, in the lace edging she uses on a dress, by cutting down an antique pillowcase or drape or keeping a ribbon that used to be on a grandmother's hat.
She can reuse dried flowers for fairy dresses and replicate a daughter's wedding dress down to the finest detail.
"Brides are probably my favorite, my first love, and children. I've made close to 100 bride dolls. They're so exciting. You get to participate in the romance and the wedding by doing a bride doll.
"If you like to sew and create, try dollmaking," said Johnson. "It's so fun.
"To me, I feel it's a talent that I want to share."
And she has shared. She's taught dollmakers in her home for almost as many years as she's fashioned her own dolls.
Students come for classes and leave with "one really good doll" if Johnson has her way. She shows them how to clean the greenware, "peel" the porcelain to a fine smooth finish, paint eyelashes, shade cheeks, lips and eyes and put personality into the expression.
She recommends firing the china multiple times to get just the right amount of shading and color.
"Dollmaking is a good way to get rid of stress and enjoy good associations," she said. "It has brought wonderful people to our home."
Her husband, Merlin, got her started in dollmaking when he bought her a kiln and gave her a pair of molds for Joyce and Billy dolls.
He pours all the porcelain greenware and helps keep Ruth going.
"If it weren't for my husband, I'd probably quit," said Johnson. "He is so encouraging."
Merlin Johnson said his wife just keeps learning and growing from her dollmaking. "She never goes to a seminar where she doesn't come away with something else new," he said.