Small Scale Stuff

Small Scale Stuff
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About

How My Interest in Miniatures Began

I’m approaching 60 years and my interest in miniatures and small-scale collectibles began over 50 years ago. I was around seven years old and we just moved to a rural area in Canada. Our house was a few miles from town and we only had one television station. The only shopping, restaurants, and movie theater were miles away.  When we were not in school, my four siblings and I had to find ways to entertain ourselves. I did not know it then, but boredom would lead me to my love of small things. My First Miniature Objects I recall it...

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Home Decor

Functional Little Home Décor: Aug/Sept

Happy End of Summer! I found a few cute but functional home décor items to enhance your space. Personal Humidifier – I live in very hot and very dry Las Vegas. The climate has played havoc with my skin. I have a large humidifier for my living room, but my bedroom lacks space and I needed a small humidifier that would fit on my bookcase headboard. Since Etsy seems to carry a plethora of unique items, I searched for a personal humidifier and found some cute but still functional possibilities. Interesting Planters – I like cute little objects to add...

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DIY

Twelve Great Sites on How to Make Your Own Minis

I am only a DIYer when the mood strikes me or if I am too cheap to buy something that I think I can make myself. So, I haven’t written any posts on “how to make” minis because, frankly, I lack the expertise. However, I am including links to some sites where you can go if you want to make your own miniatures. Why? If you want to save money on your miniature obsession, these free guides and videos may help. I will update this list as I find more sites. Library and Museum websites It is easy to make...

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Home Decor

Functional Little Home Décor – July

Happy July! Here are three cute but functional items that can spruce up your home décor. All of these products are under $20. 1. A Small Planter that Holds Eyeglasses I saw this Face Plant décor item on Amazon and thought it was a fun idea for a planter. Once I got it, I decided to use it as a storage container for my remote controls. I may put a plant in it down the road, but I think it’s fine to use as a décor storage place for stuff that always gets misplaced. Note, while it appears to be...

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Dollhouse / Dolls

Dollhouse Dolls

Three Dollhouse Dolls Compared: Dollhouse dolls range from high-quality artisan pieces to mass-produced. Questions to ask yourself before buying a doll are: Who do you want to occupy your dollhouse or other display? How much money do you want to spend? How quickly do you need the doll? Is the doll the focus of the display? Do you want to play with or pose the doll? Are you comfortable buying a doll sight unseen? Below, I compare the quality of the three dolls I bought and currently own. Maria and Baby I bought this mother and newborn doll set in...

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Home Decor / Lego

Lego Flower Bouquet

The Lego Flower Bouquet kit from the Botanical Collection is a unique building set. It features an interesting collection of six types of flowers and was designed by Anderson Grubb and Astrid Sundorf Christensen. The Flower Bouquet Build: The building kit is, in my opinion, extremely easy – so much so, I wonder why it is labeled 18+. The set only has 756 pieces. Perhaps the 18+ rating is because the Flower Bouquet is not a playable set. You build it and then display it. But, there are other non-playable Lego sets for the under-18 crowd that are more difficult...

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Dollhouse / Dolls

A Brief History of Dolls

History of Dolls Before discussing dollhouse dolls, I want to briefly discuss the history of dolls. Archaeologically, dolls are humankind’s earliest toys and usually represent humans or other living creatures. As well as toys for children, various cultures also use dolls in religious, spiritual, and magical ceremonies.  Today, dolls are toys for children, as well as collectibles for adults. Ancient Times The earliest documented dolls date to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In these ancient civilizations, dolls served as playthings and also had spiritual significance. Marriageable girls in ancient Greece and Roman dedicated their discarded dolls to goddesses.  It was...

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Lego

Why Some Adults Like Legos

After talking to my sisters (who are also adult Lego fans), I began to wonder why some adults still like Legos. For example, my interest in building Lego sets only began when I was an adult. In fact, I started building Legos when I was in my early 40’s.  As I discuss in another post, I saw the Lego Taj Mahal set in 2008 and wanted to build it.  It was challenging, frustrating, and required beaucoup concentration.  But, over the course of a month, I completed the build and fell in love with the result.  Thus, I became a Lego...

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Lego / Toys

Review of Lego Creator Expert Sets

Lego Creator Expert kits are generally for 16+.  They usually consist of several thousand pieces and require a level of skill and the ability to follow instructions. Creator Expert sets range from vehicles to modular buildings and houses to landmarks to seasonal sets. Recently, Lego retired the Creator Expert series. However, this appears to be more of a rebranding, with the more challenging sets carrying the “18+” label. For now, Lego does not seem to have a collective name for its new “18+” label. In this post, I will discuss the Creator Expert sets I made. They fall into two...

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Home Decor

Small Home Décor

Each month or two, I will post reviews and pictures of 3-10 small home décor items. My intention is to divide the home décor category into two parts. In Part 1, I plan to list and review some cute products you can use to decorate your shelves, nooks, and crannies. These small items are purely decorative but add visual interest. There may be some overlap with items discussed under my Lego posts. In Part 2, I will review small home décor items that are also functional. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, below are pictures of...

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Dollhouse

Dollhouse Miniatures: Furniture Kits

Why Furniture Craft Kits? While stationed in England from 1990-1993, I started building my first dollhouse kit, a Victoria-era model.  I lived on a military base in the middle of nowhere (aka East Anglia), so it was not easy to find miniature furniture and accessories for my dollhouse.  After picking up a craft catalog in London, I saw ads for The House of Miniatures (THoM) dollhouse furniture kits.  From 1991-1995,  I ordered many furniture kits from this company.  The furniture was in the Victorian and Federal style, so it worked for my first dollhouse. Later, after I gave my dollhouse...