Safari Ltd Giveaway Winner Revealed


Thanks to the thirty-eight followers who participated in my Safari Ltd giveaway for two TOOBs--Around the World and Trains!


The Random Integer Generator has produced one number at random and the winner is...

34 -- Drora of Drora's Minimundo!

Congrats to you, Drora! Please email your full name and mailing address to call-small(at)call-small(dot)com and Safari Ltd will send out your two TOOBs! Have fun with them and please share some photos of your creations.

Thanks to all for participating! Please keep Safari Ltd products in mind when you are shopping for minis. We want to keep their high-quality replicas going strong! Happy 30th anniversary, Safari, and THANKS for partnering with me on such a fun giveaway!

Hanging Around

Well, here's a lounge scene in my Kaleidoscope House, which I have not used in quite some time. I do so love this house. It's great fun to decorate, and I like the effect of the color panels on scenes, especially when I use the fluorescent lighting in my basement room.

My recent cleanup meant that I could have easy access to the house, including a clear perimeter, which is necessary when turning it around to get to your desired room. Before digging into my scene, though, I tried out the new replacement roof that I bought some time ago on eBay for $20. My original roof does not sit completely flush, as is the case with many of the houses. This one worked quite well, I am pleased to say!



Now on to the scene...I decided to travel upstairs to one of the bedrooms, and got started with the wallpaper. I chose a piece of scrapbook paper from my DCWV "Serenity" stack (JoAnn has them on sale for $9.99). I chose a bold lined paper, and meant to have the lines running vertically, but I cut it the wrong way while distracted doing something else (duh). Yup, I used it anyway!


The flooring is a cherry wood paper from the Paper Source. I love these specialty papers; they really add warmth and realism to a scene, and helped to offset the colors of the desk (makeshift combination of a brinca dada kitchen island and a vintage Brio office shelving).



Now for the lounging...I got the Reac cowhide chair from Toy Tokyo for $17, which is a great store in Manhattan chock full of "designer" toys, mini figures, and action figures. And, they have a small selection of Re-ment and usually some Reac chairs, all blind boxes. I got lucky on this one, and also got a black ball chair! By the way, it looks like Reac has come out with a new "Assorted" line, which includes a selection of existing chairs.
Photo courtesy of Reac Japan

I'd love it if they came out with new ones too. Although, I am still pining for a La Chaise...
Photo courtesy of Reac Japan

Dreamy...but I digress!

The lighting in this scene is the result of a little repurposing. I was in Lowes last week an saw these pull chains by Harbor Breeze in the lighting department. POW!


It was almost *too* easy to come across these, given they are sized so nicely for mini use, and are about $4 each. I looked forward to using them here, but quickly came to realize that I had no way to suspend them into the scene. I scrambled around and rigged them sloppily!

Yup, that's a piece of balsa wood and a binder clip!
Worked, though!






Speaking of hanging around, look what I found guarding the last of our garden tomatoes!


I'd not mess with her!

Miss spider is actually a nice segue to the end of this post: I wanted to remind you all that I have a great giveaway going on RIGHT NOW with Safari Ltd, which makes incredibly realistic replicas. While they are known for their animal replicas, I am offering two of their TOOBs that may appeal to you miniaturists out there: trains and buildings! To enter the giveaway, go to this post on my blog and leave a comment. The giveaway closes on September 15, so head on over there! GOOD LUCK!

Credits: Lounge chair is Reac; office chair, planter, and Asian shelf are Re-ment; desk is a brinca dada kitchen island and vintage Brio office shelving; lighting are pull chains by Harbor Breeze; ball clock is handmade by Pubdoll; wall art is a charm from Michaels; wallpaper is DCVW; flooring is the Paper Source. Accessories are Re-ment, AG Minis, doll house store finds, Gigi N Studio, handmade by the Shopping Sherpa, Playmobil, and made by my son (the origami crane on the top shelf)!

Re-ment: The green painter's palette is from Black Cat Italian Restaurant, #4, and is a bit large for 1:12, but works. See my Mini-Sizer wiki for more on Re-ment!

The time it took me: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Let's Go Wild: A Safari Giveaway!


When I was first getting (back) into miniatures as an adult, my childhood memories of playing with minis came flooding back. I suddenly saw the potential in everyday items, ordinary household objects, and especially children's toys. Trips to the toy store were not only welcomed by my three kids, but encouraged by me!

I gravitated especially toward mini animal figurines and similar toys, which can work so well as adorable accents in nurseries and other scenes, like this one from 2009, right after I started blogging:

Check out the full post, too!

See that little dino on the wardrobe, at the upper right of the photo? That was one of my first purchases of Safari Ltd. toys, and I have bought many since. And now...

I am so thrilled to offer a wonderful giveaway of TWO Safari Ltd. products to one of my readers!

Safari's TOOBS sets are among my favorites of their products. Like other Safari products, they are well-made and lively replicas--the Around the World and Trains sets present so many great opportunities for mini scenes, in 1:12 and larger scales. Have a look at these realistic painted rubber pieces!













GIVEAWAY DETAILS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED -- Winner revealed here!

  • I will be giving away one Around the World set and one Trains set to one lucky reader! 

  • To enter, simply comment on this post anytime between today and Saturday, September 15, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time. You may only comment once. Please share how you might use the sets for your mini endeavors, or even just to play. You don't have to own a dollhouse to win them!!


  • You must be a follower of my blog to enter. You can live anywhere in the world -- Safari Ltd. will get it to you.


  • To choose the winner, I will pick one number based on the total number of comments using the Random Integer Generator on or about September 16, 2012. So you have a whole month to log in your comment! Feel free to spread the word, too!

I am so glad I am able to thank my loyal readers a cool giveaway! Thanks for following and GOOD LUCK


And be sure to check out the latest with Safari Ltd. on their website, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The company is celebrating 30 years in the business -- congrats and thanks, Safari!

No House is an Island


Well, here's an interpretation of the well-known John Donne quote "no man is an island." I know I cannot thrive without my houses and they likely would miss me too, so...I arranged some of my vintage mini homes in my Citadel and enjoyed playing with them again. I showed some of them in this post back in 2010 and was reminded how fun they can be to photograph. I got most of these from US and German sellers on eBay and always keep my eyes open for them. They were mostly made for railroad scenes, and are HO scale (1:87).



See me in the reflection??








The coffee table is vintage LISA!

This is from a Paper Source 2012 mini calendar -- it's the month of July :)

Incredible detail in the long windows





The fantastic lemon yellow midcentury couch was purchased from Patricia, who is now selling her wonderful German room box; see the photos linked here on the Call of the Small Facebook page. The room box folds and is really lovely.



Pat is the original owner and hates to see it go, but she'd love to find a nice collector's home for it. If you are interested in the house and the remaining furnishings, email me at call-small(at)call-small(dot)com.

In addition to the awesome vintage LISA coffee table (love the pattern!), another new piece making its debut is the round table in the middle:



The table is from an eBay seller based in Israel, Avi of abm.models. His pieces are quite nice and affordable. I will be watching his work!

Alert: Keep your eyes peeled on this space for an awesome giveaway from Safari Ltd! 



I know I have some blogging pals out there who have grooved on TOOBS and other mini replicas by Safari. Their products are high quality and super fun and the nice folks at Safari will be giving away a few goodies to my readers! Stay tuned!!!!

Credits: Couch is vintage German; coffee table is vintage LISA; arc lamp is an eBay find; Barcelona chair and Eames elephant are Reac; plant is AG Minis; all mini homes are vintage eBay finds; bike is Maisto; round table is by abm.models on eBay; carpeting is scrapbook paper from Michaels. Accessories are handmade by The Shopping Sherpa, Miniatures by Annina, and eBay finds.

The time it took me: 52 minutes