I've always been fascinated by dollshouses, train sets and models. Basically if it's in miniature, it makes me smile.
Modern miniatures make me happy
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I love modern miniatures - and that’s not something I ever thought I’d say. When I first started collecting more than 30 years ago, all the modern miniatures you could buy looked very unrealistic. They were plastic, tacky and made me think it was an era I’d never collect.
Fast forward around 25 years and things started to change. Even mass-produced pieces have improved but the advent of 3D printing has meant miniatures have become far more realistic.
Once I realised how beautifully made a lot of the pieces are and the huge range of things you can now buy, I knew I was going to need to somewhere to put them. I had my eye on Dolls House Emporium’s Lake View or the Malibu Beach House but neither is cheap. I set up searches on Facebook Marketplace and eventually a brand new, unopened Malibu Beach House kit popped up just 45 minutes away.
I’m not sure my dad shared my excitement, but he did very kindly agree to build it for me. I’m still deciding on the internal decoration (and in truth, I’m very scared of ruining it) and I need to finish off the outside (to add colour, or not to add colour?) but in the meantime, it was safe to start collecting modern miniatures that would eventually have a home in this gorgeous art deco house.
My Malibu Beach House - a long-term project (spot Tim's castle - an even longer-term project!)
My collection so far is many bits and pieces rather than actual furniture, but this project is going to take many years. As my miniatures room is basically full, I'm in no hurry to finish it.
My modern miniatures - so far...
I’ve bought a couple of dresses from Gill Bayes at Jilly’s Little Gifts which I love. Finding realistic-looking clothes is so difficult (there’s no weight in the material to make it hang as you would expect a life-size piece to) so Gill’s pieces are very popular. They go incredibly quickly when she opens her shop (which is usually announced on Instagram so I was very excited to finally get a couple of pieces. In fact, I was so excited I accidentally ordered 1:24 scale instead of 1:12. Fortunately Gill was very understanding and amended the order.
The detail in these dresses is incredible - they have labels!
I couldn’t think of a better place to display them than in one of Bush Baby Miniatures’ lovely wardrobes. Their 3D printed furniture and other pieces are not only incredibly realistic, they’re also very reasonably priced.
Looks like the perfect place to store some tiny shoes...
Definitely room for a couple more dresses in there.
As I've mentioned before, I love tiny food and 3D printing means that these days it's so much more realistic. Look at this incredible jar of Marmite - so incredible in fact, that when I got my whole collection out I realised I'd bought two.
So tiny!
Incredible detail - another beautiful make from Shepherd Miniatures.
Another product of 3D printing is this beautiful wooden-style train set from PiCTOSO. I had a Brio set when I was small and this brings back many happy memories. I love that you can actually build the track yourself. Apologies for the little green houses that have crept in from tiny Monopoly.
The detail in this train set is incredible.
Finally, for now, enjoy a tiny hamster in his little cage (yes, I'm probably too old for TikTok but you'd be surprised how many miniaturists you can find there).
Today we took our annual trip to Tonbridge Model Railway Club's exhibition. As it's held less than half a mile from our house, we normally make it every year - and it's worth going as the layouts do change from one year to the next. I must admit this wasn't a vintage show in my book. The actual trains will always be secondary for me but I love the scenery, my favourite setting being the English countryside from times gone by. This year there seemed to be more industrial and urban settings, or (heaven forbid!) those that concentrated purely on the trains and hadn't bothered much with the rest of the layout. That said I did take a lot of photos so will share a few of my favourites. This is close to my favourite type of scene, although it's in a larger scale than I usually prefer. I have an N gauge layout myself, so I tend to lean towards trains in a smaller scale but the one above was done really well. I like to be able to look at a photo and not be qui
A month ago my lovely friend Sian, who happens to be the deputy news editor at Metro.co.uk, asked if I'd like to be put forward for a series on collections that would be featured in their lifestyle section. Ten years ago my pub (the Rachel's Return) was featured in our local paper but I'd never had any national coverage. I have to admit, I didn't for one minute think it would mean a photographer would be sent round but that's what happened - and the result was lots of pictures of me looking awkward next to my house and room boxes… One of the best things about the whole situation was that I suddenly had a very definite deadline. My beach hut had been half finished for a while but I spent a very happy evening finishing it off, and then adding all the bits and pieces I’ve been collecting over the last couple of years. I also found some miniatures that had been missing since we moved house four years ago, which was a huge relief. The journalist I spoke to was absol
After our successful trip to the Christmas Kensington Dollshouse Festival recently, I was determined to clear out our spare room so I could decorate my house for the festive season. After a few days of very hard work, the room is looking an awful lot better and tonight I was able to deck the halls, as they say. Much like in real life, I'd forgotten quite how many decorations I have... The first job is to get the tree in position although to be honest, it doesn't matter where it goes these days as I don't use the lights. When my dad first built my dollshouse I, for some unknown reason, felt the Christmas tree should have coloured flashing lights - so that's exactly what it has. The socket that connects to the plug on the tree Next year I am hoping to swap the bright lights (although you can actually adjust the brilliance on them as well) for more delicate white bulbs, though I'm not sure quite how easy this will be. I got over excited and put the fair
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