Miniatures make me happy

This has been the most productive week in terms of mini DIY in a very long time. In fact, I've neglected a few jobs around the actual house as working on mini projects was a much more fun way to spend the Christmas holidays. One of the tasks I wanted to tackle was the flooring in the Malibu Beach House - something I've been terrified of starting (and getting wrong) for years. I bought strip flooring sheets from Minimum World when they were on sale a while ago but I hadn't done anything with them. My dad, who has built and decorated the vast majority of my 1:12th scale projects, kindly offered to come over to give me a few pointers so I could crack on with doing it myself. He spent quite a while showing me how to create a template but it wasn't too long before we both realised I had no hope whatsoever of DIY-ing – there are very few square rooms and plenty of nooks and crannies.  It was a very time consuming process, probably not helped by the fact that he didn't ha...

I've been looking for a statement light fitting for the lounge of the Malibu Beach House for years - it's a double height room in places and it needs something dramatic. While I've gone with modern furniture for the majority of the house, I want the lounge to lean into the art deco style. I'd found a lovely chandelier on Etsy but the seller is based in The Netherlands, making the postage pretty expensive. So despite my lack of skill, knowledge and experience, I decided to have a go myself. My first stop was Hobbycraft, where I discovered a sort of 'pick and mix' scenario in the bead section. You could fill a small tub for £5 and I was surprised just how much I could fit in.  I already had a battery and bulb fitting from Minimum World and although I would prefer it to be a warm white, it's the closest thing I've been able to find to create my own lampshade.  I also had some gold paint leftover from a work project so thought I could put that to good use. ...

Over the Christmas holidays I was determined to progress my Malibu Beach House - my most recent purchase but a very long-term project.  I think there are two reasons why it's taken me so long to get to work on it. Firstly, I didn't want to mess it up. I'm not exactly talented when it comes to crafting and DIY, despite my best efforts. I love the idea of having a go, but things never turn out as I picture them. I was also really struggling to decide on the colour for the outside of the house and didn't want to rush into a decision I would regret.  Secondly, this might be my final miniature project and I want it to last as long as possible. My room for miniatures is tiny, and I can't fit anything else in. I have been eyeing up other places around the house where I might be able to fit a room box, but this is definitely the final house. Anyway, I eventually decided on black for the accent colour after seeing some beautiful art deco houses online. I had to buy some ver...

  I finally got my hands on one of Bushbaby Miniatures ' beautiful Christmas trees this year (after seeing a post on Instagram and setting myself a reminder - they always sell out quickly).  Eventually it will be for my modern dollshouse, but for now I set up a little scene using some decorations I already had and used the photo above for our Christmas card. I think you have to look twice before realising it's 1:12 scale. Pictured below is the tree before decoration. It's so detailed you can almost see each pine needle. I can't wait to have it in my house next year.

  Last weekend my mum and I took a trip to Miniatura - my favourite exhibition of the year. This one was particularly special as it was the 100th show and lots of the stallholders had made a real effort to recognise that - as you can see from the photos above. Miniatura began in 1983 but if I'm honest, I've lost track of how many shows we've been to. We started going when it was at the NEC but Stoneleigh - the exhibition's home for the last few years - is definitely a more relaxed experience. There's so much room to move around so even if your favourite stall is a few people deep, it never feels uncomfortable or over-crowded. This year there were even more places to sit and the catering had been brought inside the main hall which worked really well.  After a long drive hampered by heavy traffic on the Saturday, we arrived with just under two hours to explore and were relieved we had bought weekend tickets, which are great value. My mum had a shopping list whereas I...