We asked you to tell us a story and send in a picture of your first miniature project. Here are the wonderful submissions. Enjoy!
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From Diane Fisher:
This was my first mini. It is in 1 inch scale. It took me 22 years to complete, as I was working and raising a family. It is my prize possession. I have our wedding photo hidden in the tower and the year that I strived to replicate was 1882, my grandfather’s birth year.
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From Jackie Browder:
Like many others, I drifted into doing dollhouses after finding a few badly finished 1:12 houses on the resale market. I would dab some paint, finish the trim, furnish them, keep them for awhile, then sell them or give them away. I found photos of one of the early dollhouses that I no longer own, and am astonished by how much I have progressed!
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From Jean Lierman:
RABBIT WORKS - MY VERY FIRST CLASS: I remember how excited Georgia (my business partner and friend) and I were when we got our letter saying we had both been accepted to the class we applied for. Then later we received a letter from Pam telling us the supplies we would need and a darling picture of an apple tree (3 1/2 X 3 inches) that we could paint or leave as is. We decided to paint ours and spent hours painting this picture that would hang on a wall in our new project. The day of our very first miniature class arrived. We were almost the first ones there. We went all the way to the back table because we did not know ANYTHING and didn't want to embarrass ourselves; we’d never taken a miniatures class before. So, we sat down, set up our workspace with all our NEW tools, our NEW mats, our NEW glues, and we are ready. I said “Georgia, have you seen a prototype anywhere?” “No,” she said. So, we get up and go to the front and cannot find anything that looks like the class project. We asked Pam - do you have a prototype? And she says, "Sure it is right here."
REMEMBER WE’RE NEW!!!!!
We are looking at this TEENY, TINY, ITSY BITTY, ADORABLE RABBIT HOUSE.
We did not know that Pam Junk only did 1/4-inch scale.
We didn’t even know there was 1/ 4-inch scale.
Our painted apple tree picture?? IT WAS ONE COMPLETE WALL!
Pam was totally sympathetic, even offered to give us our money back for the class. We told her no, we would just forge ahead SLOWLY. LUCKY for us our table mate was Sally Doerman, a GREAT 1/4-inch miniature artisan. Rabbit Works is one of my favorite projects.
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From Paula Francis:
This is my first attempt at constructing a miniature scene. It was a gift for my sister and her newborn son in 1988. I remember stressing out over how to put the window in as I had not accumulated all the hand tools I now have. I bought all the accessories because making them from a kit was beyond me -- or so I thought! It took me forever, second guessing myself at every step but I am thrilled that even after all these years, it is still displayed in my sister’s home.
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From Susana Eaton:
My first project after joining NAME.
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From Cat Wingler:
I made my first miniatures when I was still in Elementary school, but here is one of my first ever serious attempts to do “real” miniatures. It is my first doll. I made it for my Mom in the late 1970’s. She was made of two-part epoxy putty, the stuff you use for plumbing repairs. From bubble gum to rock in about 45 minutes. (That only partly explains how ugly she is.) She is painted with model car paints. Her hair is embroidery thread glued stiff. The fabric and lace are too heavy and way out of scale. She really is awful but I thought she was wonderful. I’m not sure Mom agreed, I don’t remember seeing her displayed anywhere but she kept it and I got her back after she passed away in 1983.
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From Brandi Bacon:
My first mini project came from an UP HOUSE kit. I did it because my son was going in for a small dental surgery and was scared. I told him an elaborate story about the tooth fairy and he ended up wanting to make a place for him/her to visit and stay. So I bought the up house kit and made it for him before the surgery.
Well … his twin sister and his older sister wanted a place for their fairies. Then it morphed into a fairy village. Then I made fairy houses for nieces and nephews and the local children’s dentist. Then I found the Seattle Miniature show and took the kids and started making more and more minis for the fairies. They actually ended up holding the very first ever International Fairy Convention at our house because there was accommodations, restaurants, stores, and entertainment for ALL fairies! They left the kids a letter signed on languages from around the globe and money from their home countries.
The kids still love minis even though there will be no more baby teeth. And now I teach miniatures to kids all over -- mini shows, schools, clubs, Scouts, etc.
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From Carol Pitman:
This is the first roombox I made. I took a class at Little Habitats in Port Orchard, WA, which was the shop Stan Ohman owned and operated. I'm not sure of the date but I think it was around 1998.
Class participants were given a basic 1:12 wooden roombox to be electrified and finished however we wanted. I decided to make mine into a Christmas roombox. The lighting was a challenge and is the only project I have done with non-LED lighting, which wasn't available back then. I found the lighting challenging and I'm sure that's why I didn't do any more electrification with the old school components!
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From Rhonda Williamson:
I've had a dollhouse for as long as I can remember. The dollhouse that I had as a child was built by my father. It was a "floor plan" model of our own ranch house and was accessed from the top. It had no roof and fit perfectly under my bed for storage. As an adult my love of miniatures continued and every payday I would visit a local department store to purchase miniatures. My collection eventually grew to 14 dollhouses and various stand alone scenes and room boxes. The photo below is of a Christmas decoration found at a flea market that I repurposed into a dollhouse. It's approximately three quarter scale and hand made. It originally was a plain white box single room house with a 1940's light bulb secured to the center. I added floors and room dividers and redesigned it as a Pennsylvania Stone house with a copper roof. Recently I constructed and decorated a dollhouse for each of my three granddaughters and painted the outside of each house with the same paint as their bedroom so that when they are adults they will have a memory of their childhood bedrooms. I made my three grandsons a miniature firehouse, police station and hunting camp. Happy mini-making.
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From Debbie Colombo:
I have attached a picture of one of my first miniature projects. A little bit made by me,
a little bit purchased. Just a fun project.
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From Joanne Hong:
Below is my first 1/12th scale project of a hutch, done as a workshop at my miniatures club WIMMS, Willowdale Mini Makers, probably around 1998 or so.
The other two photos are of my first 1/48th scale project, a kit by Liz West. That was probably ~2005. I only do quarter scale these days, although I still have my 1/12th dollhouse to finish.
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From Barbara Hopkins:
These are two pictures of my "first" miniatures. Well, among the first. I've been into miniatures since I was almost 3, so it's been a while. These were probably made when I was about 8 or 9 years old and they were made to fit into Block City houses which I would build myself out of plastic blocks. The yellow and green room is furniture I made from wood blocks; I'm guessing I also painted a piece of cardboard for the floor. And it sure looks like I drew the fireplace. What I really enjoy is the ping pong table in the bottom of the picture. I made it of balsa wood and the net is a piece of lacy seam binding from my mother's sewing supplies painted green. I'm proud of this because it reminds me that I once had a great deal of patience, and probably if I dig deep enough, I could still find it.
The beds with the blue or yellow blankets were made by using the brown plastic bunk beds in the picture as a mold for paper mache. When the paper was dry, I removed it from the molds and painted the beds. The plastic bunk beds were from a Roy Rogers Cabin set I still have.
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From Pam Doran:
This is the first miniature workshop that I had ever attended. I think it was in the late 1980’s, early 1990’s. I had been buying a few completed miniatures, but had never attempted to make anything. The Denver Museum of Miniatures, Doll & Toys were having their annual show and my husband and I drove down to enjoy the weekend. The workshop was by Shenandoah Food, Etc. from Hempstead NC, it was in 1:24th scale and it was wonderful. I didn’t complete the diner that weekend and brought it home unfinished. At that time, 1:12th scale was the most common and so the diner was put aside while I worked in that larger scale. This year, I cleaned out, organized and unpacked the miniatures, kits, and projects that I’ve collected over the years and rediscovered this diner and the joy that came when I first dipped my toe into miniatures.
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From Dee Cirilli:
I did this kit in half and quarter scale. It was so much fun seeing them as “Twins”.
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From Laura Reich:
My first quarter scale (anything) -- Yule Log kit from Ruth Stewart.
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From Elaine Levine:
I don't have access to photos of my very earliest projects because I didn't have a digital camera and any prints that exist are back home in St. Louis. But one of the earliest classes I took was with Debby Young at [I think] the San Diego National sometime in the '90s. It was Plum Tree Cottage from the storybook of the same name. It was one of those houses that fits into a case so that all 4 sides are enclosed when the 2 parts are together. Here is a picture.
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From Barbara Bower:
My first miniature project mid 1980’s
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From Mary E. Johnson:
Before I knew about NAME, I collected any and all antique dolls (including vintage dollhouse dolls & furniture) and served as UFDC Regional Director (doll organization) for 3 years. I loved miniature accessories and small dolls, but most were priced out of my affordability, so I borrowed Doll Auction catalogues and copied the antique accessories in photographs. (My reproductions were in proportion for dolls from 4" tall to 20" tall.) The first two photos show my "French Dresser" with two "suitcases" that are reduced copies I made of antique Candy Containers which, when empty, became play things or doll accessories!) Also shown is my small reproduction of a photo album that I own, complete with removable "antique photos" and cloth-hinged pages.
One day I invited a doll friend to view my collection, pointing out the many miniature accessories I had made. Jean turned to me and said "Mary, you're not a doll collector! You're a miniaturist!"
"WHAT?," I asked.
Jean then told me all about NAME and soon took me to a club meeting. Within a year I dropped completely out of UFDC and joined NAME where I have had the most joy creating miniatures and learning much about how to create and furnish miniature structures, make furniture, and tiny dolls!
My acceptance into the Yaki-Minis (NAME) Club, came just as club members had chosen to make centerpieces from a recent Seattle Convention. (Photo attached of my finished 1" scale "Store Window", my very first NAME project!.)
Within a few years I became Club president, serving for 18 years in the position, and still can't convince anyone else to take over as club President!
Along the way I've worked in one inch & quarter inch scales, have gained many wonderful friends, countless treasured miniatures, and an eternity of fabulous convention & club memories! I love NAME -- it's my joy and my lifeline. Thank you for allowing me to share my story. "And I am living happily, ever after ... miniatures!"
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From Dolores Kelley:
Not my first, but a long time ago, probably in the 1980’s.
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From Susan Skinner:
I attribute my love of miniatures to my grandparents who started me off very young. Taking me to Mr. Peeper's and other local miniature shops as a child. They also paid for me to take various classes.
The cat castle was one of the first classes I ever took. It was taught by Marilyn Slade and Ruth Bentz and I still have the directions which say 1989 so I was about 13. I don't remember who taught the porcelain doll in a trunk class around the same time but that has always been one of my most treasured items.
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From Gail Stuart:
In 1998, my hubby asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said "Dollhouse!" -- I don't know why. Since then, he jokingly said that was a mistake asking me. I found a club, Salt City Miniatures, in 2000, in Hutchinson, KS and the project they were doing, was this roombox. Everything was a lesson: box, outside walls and inside, floor, electric, which I wasn't there yet, bookcase and books. The chair was Take A Seat. I called it my Man Cave. That a writer lived there. I joined NAME in 2008. I've been to one convention, St Louis, but I've done all the Online conventions.
I ran out of room in my hobby room, so now I am in 1:48.
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From Tammy Witthaus:
This was a Karen Marsh class that I was able to take with an awesome group of ladies in Kentucky in the very early 2000s. The project was called Pick a Posey. I had purchased many of the contents but made a couple of items for the exterior such as the vegetable garden, scarecrow, stepping stones, and gourd birdhouse.
I believe this was the first class I ever took and learned a lot as well as had lots of fun.
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From Anita Myers:
I’m attaching a couple of photos of my first real miniature project. I made it as a gift for my mother. It is a music box that plays “Memories” and it depicts her sewing machine in a room with some of her favorite things … a portrait of my Mom & Dad, framed and hung on the wall and pictures of “Pinky” by Thomas Lawrence and "Blue Boy” by Thomas Gainsborough on the opposite wall. It is as if my mother and I left the room, perhaps to get a snack. I left my doll behind, propped up against the treadle sewing machine. It truly is a memory, because I remember playing beside my mother as she very deftly ran that old cast-ion treadle of her trusty “Singer.”
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From Alice Barber:
I’ve always loved miniatures and was very involved in collecting and making them 20 years ago. One of my first miniature displays was using Hallmark ornaments and decorative buttons. I used a lot of Christmas decorations and slices of the fimo design sticks that were found in Ben Franklin years ago.
My introduction to workshops was in 1993 at the Handcrafters of Miniatures Show in Andover, Mass. My first classes were a 1” Roadside Snack Stand by Bill Haskell and Foods for the Roadside Stand by Mary Eccher. They were above my ability but I was hooked.
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From Susan Richter:
I absolutely love dollhouse miniatures. I didn't start collecting until high school, when I got my first job in a library, which was two doors down from a dollhouse shop. I spent most of my paychecks there! I saved up for a set of nursery furniture, white with yellow fabric. Once I got it home, I found the crib to be boring. It needed something. I've always loved Thumper from Bambi, and added him to the end of the crib. I was 15. (I'm 60 now). I hope you like him, I think that he has held up well over the years.
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From Elizabeth Truex:
This was a House of Miniatures William and Mary grandfather clock kit I got for 99 cents in 1979 … I was hooked from then on! I owned a shop in Vermont for 5 years (1998-2003) but then took a long break to raise a son and now back at it!!!
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From Barb Antol:
This is the first 1:12 scale dollhouse I built in 1992 using the Tiffani kit from Greenleaf. I wanted a small house to hold some vintage dollhouse furniture from my Mom. It was such fun to build and I learned a lot in the process. The plush sofa and chair, along with the kitchen stove and table and most of the bedroom furniture upstairs were from Mom’s childhood. I added a few more pieces and accessories and some of my small teddy bears moved in. I even made the little tri fold screen in the bedroom using punch out scraps from the windows. I was hooked and went on to build several more 1:12 structures, before venturing into 1:48 scale. It’s been 30 years and I still love this hobby!
I did have another dollhouse when I was a kid. That too had belonged to my Mom. One summer, my Nana brought it down from the attic and my Aunt refinished it for me. I still have such fond memories of that summer and helping her on the “renovation”. We painted it and she made tiny curtains for all the windows, crocheted a blanket for the bed and some rugs for the floor and made other wonderful little accessories. I loved that house and played with it for several years. Eventually, it started to fall apart and got carted off to the dump. Alas, I have no pictures of it, except in my memory.
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From Carol Gill:
I have attached a photo of my second miniature project. My first project was a 1" scale General Store. Looking back it was a disaster but my youngest brother loved it and asked if he could have it. With no hesitation on my part, it was his and I never saw it again. This was the early 70s and supplies were not yet readily available (at least not where we lived) so I bought very rough 1/4" plywood, used fabric for wallpaper, mat board for shelving and counter units, bread dough for the fruits and vegetables, and large wooden tongue depressors for flooring. My brother lived in West Virginia at the time in a log cabin and thought the general store would be a perfect addition to his "decor".
Now for my second miniature project. I was a night school fanatic at the time and always registered for a least one class each semester. Imagine my delight when I read the school was offering something unique - a class on making miniatures. With no idea what would be involved, I registered and anxiously waited. The class was taught by Yahna Shoenberger who I had never met but later learned was a member of NAME. From the first week to the final week, the class was magical. Everything we were learning was new to me and I wanted the classes to go on forever. Sadly the classes ended but I had a much stronger foundation to continue on my own.
The roombox is 1" scale and everything in it was taught by Yahna but made by me. The Santa doll was a later addition I dressed at a Joann Roberts workshop. Not every piece is perfect but I absolutely love it and smile every time I remember the excitement of learning to make tree ornaments, scribing the fireplace brick wall, wrapping gifts and making bows, and so much more.
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From Jean Smith (Rusty):
Running out of room for 12th scale dolls houses, I was delighted to hear that 24th scale was coming into England and bought a kit to build one. I went to the next Dolls House fair to look for some furniture for it but there was none. Everything was 12th scale until just as I was leaving I spotted cards of BPF room settings. I bought one of each and went home delighted. They were cheap enough to alter, paint and if I went wrong it didn’t cost much. At home, of course, I discovered they were far too small to fit my kit house. So I built a house to fit the furniture based on a Provençal house, which I’d admired, on the cover of a Dolls House magazine. This is still a work in progress.
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From Janet Roller:
I made these four houses for my nieces about 40 years ago. I lovingly call it the neighborhood. It is the same house finished in four different ways. Two of the houses did not survive a fire, but the other two, I recently updated and repaired for my great nieces to enjoy.
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From Bev Fleming:
I've been a member of NAME since going to the San Francisco Houseparty in 1976 I also went to San Diego in 1977. I couldn't find the first kits I made -- the old House of Miniature furniture kits --so here's a fairy scene from a looooong time ago!
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From Grace Mlynowski:
In the beginning I found an ad in our local valley newspaper for a miniature club. So I dragged an artist friend along with me to check it out. That was in ~1988. Five years later they told me about NAME. (Competition for places at houseparties was fierce at the time.)
In the beginning I had a scroll saw and made all the trim for this gazebo, my first large project. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, I had to re-make most of it. However, I was able to retrieve most of the accessories from the glass and rubble.
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From Jean Ellsworth:
This is my 1st miniature project, made 46 years ago in fall of 1975. Amazingly the lights still work except for behind one window. Even has a cheap Shackman table and chair set. This room has held up well for all these years.
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From Preble McDaniel:
My first miniature scale project (other than toys) was a 1:12 scale Greenleaf house. I learned so much from that house that 20 plus years later, when I wrote a paper in college to get 2 credit hours I used it talk about quality. My husband bought this kit and it was finally finished. It was however never furnished because I joined a club and I moved on to smaller projects both in size and scale.
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From Estella Pekarske:
My neighbor Linda Backelant got me started on my first project. We had gone antique shopping and found this dollhouse kit for $50. She said that would be a great project, I told her she was crazy ... lol ... but I bought it anyway. I will say it took me awhile, I learned as I went. Not everything is squared I'm sure. I decorated the inside with the thought of my sister's farm in Minnesota that we stay when we visit home. Each room having a little of home. My Mom's sewing room, our Mexican meals in the kitchen, the satin sheets in the master (a private joke with my sister), my gardening hobbies, and the animals on the farm. The pictures on the walls ... our girls' weekend with my Mom going up the stairs, the pictures of my son in the Marines, the photo in the bathroom, and a thank you card from my sister when she came to visit Georgia. The little girl's room ... I wanted to be a ballerina when I was a little girl, and having two boys, just had to do a girl's room. I could go on, so this house has been my treasure of fun memories and the beginning of my adventures in Miniatures.
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From Julie Jones:
I just started miniatures this last year and one of my first projects is making a z-scale (1:220) replica of my family’s home front. My dad has built a few model train sets over his lifetime and a couple of them were z-scale, which I always thought were so neat. One of the things he had done was 3D printed most of the neat buildings and homes from his hometown and he also printed a model of our family home and barn on the property. I wanted to put this models in a diorama so I started my home front project. The 3D print of the house was perfect but I really wanted a little more detail in the barn, not to mention I have wanted a porch on the back (of the real barn) for a while. So I decided to try and build one of my own. It is made entirely of cardstock except the screen on the back porch, which is tulle that I painted black.
Since starting this project, I have found two dollhouses that my Momma started but didn’t finish. So in her memory, I have completed the dollhouse builds and am now turning one of them into a family theme, hand making all the things that remind me of the members of my family. Late last year, I reached out to a local miniature group and have met a beautiful group of ladies! They encouraged me to join NAME and also to attend the E3 conference in January, where I was able to meet even more wonderful people who share my love of littles!
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From Lesia Lennex:
I'd been a member of NAME for a few years when a national convention came to my state. The project I'm sharing is my first house build in 1:48 scale. It was Debbie Young's "Erin's Cabin," a workshop at the 2001 Louisville convention. Loved that convention! So many people and so much to see and do! Needless to say, I was hooked on quarter scale and all things Debbie Young!
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From Trish Billard:
The first kit I ever made was at the Good Samaritan Showcase of Miniatures in either 1988 or 1989 -- I can't quite remember which year. It was what we know today as a round table, and I made a Halloween trick or treat bag with treats sticking out of it. The first kit I bought and made at home was a miniature Christmas tree, bought at that same show. It went into my first room box, which my Dad made with me. That Christmas box was based on a project in Venus and Martin Dodge's Making Miniatures in 1/12th Scale. By bringing that box to work on every year, and adding to it over the years, I introduced many folks to miniatures. I was delighted and surprised at how well they'd remember the box and notice what was new. If I have to grab only one miniature before escaping a wildfire, that box would be it. It was made by my Dad and contains that first Christmas tree, a side table given to me by my grandmother for my first dollhouse when I was a child, needlepoint stockings made by my Mom, among other things I made or bought that are sentimental to me. Here are a couple of pictures. It's hard to show a picture that both shows the lights working and lights the details properly. Looking for the picture shows tells me I need to do a better job of documenting and filing them!
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From Shannon Moore:
For many of my early pieces there weren’t such things as digital cameras and besides that I didn’t bother to take pictures of them. This piece is one of my early serious pieces of furniture. One photo shows the actual carved back. The other photo shows my hand holding the back with the book that I used for reference in the background. I think the timing was in the early 80s.
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From Ann-Cary McLain:
Santa brought me my first dollhouse in the 60's - a fully furnished Petite Princess house. That house, along with encouragement from a family friend who was an avid doll collector, got me hooked on miniatures. My first room boxes were made in Girl Scout cookie delivery cartons. At a local miniature show I attended as a young teen I met Joe & Jackie Andrews and signed up for a VA Miniature Enthusiasts Back to College weekend (and returned for 6 more years!) While I still love 1" scale, I now do more 1/4" scale projects because of space issues. I am definitely grateful to have been part of NAME for 42 years and counting!
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From Mae Karoli:
This picture shows the first kit I ever made back in 1977, the sewing machine, and the first project I made when joining my local club in March, 1983, the suitcases. These look pretty sparse compared to most of the pictures already posted but the sewing machine and suitcases were my first miniature projects as an adult. I had made a decorative modern sculpture to go with my Petite Princess furniture in the 1960s.
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From Debby Albert:
My friend Lucy invited me to a club of mini friends. This is a picture of a picture of my first project because I gave my gazebo to my mother in law for Christmas. I always make sure I photograph any minis I make. Where it is today I don’t know. At least I have a picture to remember.
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From Shanley Pease:
I am new to NAME, and pretty new to miniaturing in general, and I am loving it so far. I've attached a photo of a fairy garden I made last summer. It was my gateway into miniaturing. I loved creating this tiny world so much that I started delving into kits and other projects after this.
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From Mary Myers:
This is my project from the first state event I ever attended. It was in 2007, I believe; did not sign my piece. Romaine E was the president of MEOW in Maryland and introduced me to NAME and my continuing addiction. Since then I have served as Maryland state representative, regional coordinator and president of MEOW, hosted a state day and our annual Christmas party. I would never have imagined all the fun, friends and travel I have enjoyed since joining NAME.
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From Jane Holbrook:
My very first project was a dollhouse made by my wonderful husband that I unfortunately no longer have. I never took a photo of it either. So, the picture below is actually my second, but the first where I did much of the work myself. I made the nursery in a class taught by Lynn Fuller back around 1980 after my first son was born. I made some items and painted everything. Lynn made the baby. Then in 1983, she made another baby for my second son and placed him in the basket resting in the crib. During the lockdown, I revamped the nursery. I found matching wallpaper to replace some that was sun damaged, bought and painted the crib and added some new toys and other small items.
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From Rita Crawford:
One of my first miniature projects was this taco buffet class taught by Mary Eccher at an Andover, Massachusetts miniature show in the early 90’s.
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From Barbara Thornton-Hill:
Well, this is not my very first mini project as I do not have that any more. However, this is my first 1:48 scale project done in a workshop at the Village Miniatures Store in San Jose, CA sometime around 1989 or 1990. It was taught by Debbie Young who worked there in those days. As I look at this, I see all the details I never even thought of doing at the time and, of course, still haven’t done. In today’s world, I would have landscaped this but didn’t even know such a thing existed back then. Snow on the roof would have been good, more accessories inside and out, something on the balcony, and on and on but it is certainly good to keep it this way so I can see how much I’ve learned over my almost 40 years in minis.
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From Judy Doe:
Here are four photos of my very first mini that I probably built in the 1990’s. It was a 1” scale beach house project from the pages of NUTSHELL NEWS - I don’t remember the date of the issue. I think it was a project by Joanne Swanson, but I am not sure.
I was living in Las Vegas at the time, working for Nevada State Welfare, and remember taking the house in to work to show it to everyone. I belonged to the Las Vegas Miniature Club there, and that is where I got my start in Mini’s. My eldest granddaughter has always loved this house, and she is now 30, but has requested that it go to her when I start to give up my collection. I live on Cape Cod now, and am a member of the Cape Cod Miniature Society, although for the last two years I have not attended many gatherings because of COVID. I hope to get back to them this year. I am doing strictly quarter scale now, as I ran out of room for 1” scale structures!
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From Cindy Bottasso:
My first project was a little too ambitious for me -- the biggest dollhouse I could buy. I opened the kit and couldn’t believe how many pieces there were. My living room morphed into a construction site. My grandfather visited and complained that he didn’t get to keep his chop saw in the living room. Sadly I found quarter scale before I finished everything in the house.
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From Ruth Goodger:
Need to send these first minis in tribute to the Mott’s. These were assembled In 1976/78. I had ordered a book from them and accidentally got the book with all the color prints to add to minis. They said keep the book. Look what they started! In 1965 went to Knots Berry Farm but was with my brother's preschoolers so didn’t find the miniatures there!
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From Colleen Walker:
Whenever I had lunch with my husband at his office, I liked vising a craft shop in the neighborhood. They also carried dollhouses and that’s what I asked for that Christmas of 1988. My husband said “you know it comes in a flat box”. Of course, I knew that and I thought “I can do this”!!! That was the beginning.
I built my dollhouse and occasionally needed help with building it. There were questions for my husband and for the manufacturer of the dollhouse. I realize now how basic the questions were.
Like a lot of us, I quickly realized how much room a dollhouse occupies and I didn’t have that much room. I switched to room boxes. Oh how much easier they are to build and decorate. You have a finished product to show off to your family and friends. I started building room boxes in late summer of 1989. Since then, I have done tons of room boxes.
This is a photo of a very early Garden Room Box.
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From Janet Vivian:
The picture attached is of my first miniature project, made before I joined NAME in 1988. It is a General Store and is amazingly intact after 34 years and 3 household moves.
I started by adding architectural interest to a bland roombox approximately 15"W x 11"H x 11"D in size: a 2-level display floor, railing, and a corner closet, all stained to match.
I then used a general store accessory kit by Realife Miniatures which made realistic replicas of items such as a Wall Phone, Wall Clock, Coffee Grinder, Coffee Bin & Scoop, and Wooden Crates.
Scratch-made additions are the Proprietor's Desk & Sign on the right, a Fabric/Notions wall shelf on the left and custom fit Shelf Unit on the back wall, painted green. Dresses hanging in the corner closet were made using 1" scale patterns. Fruits and veggies in the front were made in a Mary Eccher class, and precious knit/crocheted items on the railing were handmade by talented special friends.
This roombox holds a special place in my collection to this day, and I have fond memories of the fun I had both creating its structure and then adding items as I found them at the many miniature shows and shops which were available at the time.
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From Terry Unnold:
I remember the first minis I made - sugar cookies - using some sort of salt dough that I concocted on my own at age four or five to put in a clay grocery bag to ensure that the dolls in my dolls house wouldn’t starve. Not easy to remake grocery bags out of clay but that’s what I remember using - khaki colored clay that stayed sort of soft for life. Sadly my dolls’ sugar cookies are only a memory. All of my childhood toys and dollhouses were given away to children who needed them more that I did - my aunt worked in an orphanage and made sure of that.
At first I wasn’t sure what I had from my early adult days of making minis and then I remembered my first roombox had survived. I put it together as a class offered by an early online Bulletin Board group on the online service, Prodigy, in the 1990’s. The group was dedicated to miniaturists in the US and UK. I printed out the designs someone posted for the walls, floor and stained glass window; cut out foam core walls, and added clapboard. I was stumped by how to make a curved window frame until someone pointed out that balsa wood was easy to cut. I decided to use the roombox to exhibit all the minis I received in the mail from an online swap and had to expand beyond the room to include a working, folding lawn chair and a now missing barbeque. That lead to my first landscaping project. As you can see I was in my “dried plants from the craft store era.”
There was a miniature show the late Jane Haskell held in my hometown of Stamford, Connecticut that always had wonderful miniature exhibits. I contacted Jane and she allowed me to exhibit my Prodigy Swap Roombox along with flyers explaining about their online miniature group. I also contacted Prodigy and they sent along a batch of promotional items to give away that included pencils, buttons and luggage tags.
That early online group led me to the NAME clubs I have now belonged to for many years but I’m still enjoying miniatures online.
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From Carolyn Eiche:
This is my first completed quarter scale project. It’s actually the second quarter scale building I made, but I never finished the first one -- you know how that goes! I made it in a class with Sue Herber and Georgia Matuschak in the early 1990's at the Handcrafters of Miniatures show then run by Jane Haskell in Connecticut and Massachusetts. These shows were also the first time that I heard about NAME.
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From Cheryl Polito in NM:
When I first got into miniatures I was mainly interested in miniature porcelain dolls but I needed a place to put my dolls and after ordering several kits Hobby Builders had their yearly contest and I fell in love with the travel trailer. My doll is Fanny Flamingo and obviously she loves pink. I crocheted and made everything that did not come with the kit. I did not finish it in time to enter the contest but I love it so much. This trailer also inspired my brother to want to make his own but sadly a month after sending him a kit he was diagnosed with cancer and passed away 8 months later and at his funeral my sister in law gave me the kit I bought for him. My trailer was lost in our fire but since I wouldn't leave my doll out to get dusty I still have Fanny.
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From Julia Greenhalf:
Firstly thank you to the whole team for coming up with ideas, projects and challenges amongst so many other things to keep us inspired and motivated during the lockdown.
Whilst not my first project, this is an early project at a club I belonged to. We had to create a scene based on a book. I knew very little about miniaturing then but I had a rat figure and something that looked like a boat - looked more like a dried out banana skin!! I gingerly entered the challenge and came away with the award -- how embarrassing was that! -- but such a boost to my miniaturing nearly 35 years’ ago!
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From Jackie Williams:
This is a little kit in 1/144 scale. I bought this to build and I did do the landscaping and furnishing it. When I laid out the pieces of the kit I called my hubby, Gary and asked him to help me figure out what piece was a wall and what was a floor. He picked up the laid put pieces and took them away and the next time I saw it he had built the structure. He photographed it and took the pictures to work to show his fellow employees. I quickly bought him another kit to build. This is a very significant miniature treasure because its the first time he ever helped me with my hobby.
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From Julie French:
My first 1/4” scale project is this teacup scene. I was attending LSU and was directed towards a miniature group there in Baton Rouge. They did this as a club project and while I was terrified of the smaller scale, they helped me to learn some tricks of the trade. Now I’m obsessed with 1/4” and it’s my preferred scale to work in.
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From Julie Stuckmeyer:
Although this wasn't my first project (check out the other memory page to see my first ever dollhouse), this was my first project after about a 15 year long hiatus (somehow raising two autistic sons never seemed to give me much time to work on minis). This was originally "Lisa's Cottage" and was my entry to miniatures.com's Creatin' Contest in 2010. I loved this project and even though it didn't win anything, I was much prouder of it than the house I did the following year when I DID get an Honorable Mention. I especially loved the little earring display case I made.
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From Sally Lonn:
This was my very first project in a class with Joann Swanson. I took two classes from her in a miniature store in Pioneer Square, Seattle Washington. I learned so much about scale, finishing the scene with a window and view and look at those “brick walls”! Joann believed in using as many found items as possible. I used one of the early publications to make all of the plants!!!! I’m still pretty proud of this one.
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From Jessica Morris:
My grandmother bought me my first dollhouse 30+ years ago and I have tinkered with it ever since, but it wasn’t until recently that I took on a “project”. It took me the majority of 2021 to complete, and to be honest I could probably work on it another 6+ months; if not another year. I heard of the “Creatin’ Contest” sponsored by miniatures.com and thought I would give it a go and see what I can accomplish. Let me tell you ... I learned so much and fell in love with the hobby even more. I am very proud of what I was able to accomplish and what I learned about myself as well as what I learned about this craft! Much respect to all the miniaturists out there!
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From Bonnie Cross:
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From Michael C Starks:
I'm the ‘Engineering Support’ for New Mini Bunch ABQ (N1). This is my first mini, a Chippendale drop front desk from Shenandoah Designs. My mom, Christiane, has been doing miniatures for 30 years, and convinced me to build this. I’m mainly interested in 3D design and engineering, but I help out with miniature challenges in the New Mini Bunch group from time to time!
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From Natalie Maguire:
This is the first 1/48” scale that I made. I’m not sure of the date but definitely over 25 years ago. It is an old planter that hung in my grandmother’s kitchen. When we moved her to live at my parents I took it. At the time I just thought I would put new plants in it but years later I realized that if I turned the bottom to become the back it would be great for a miniature scene.
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From Suzie Aguilar:
My first mini project was a 1/12 scale bathroom in a shadow box. My mom and I discovered our love for dollhouse miniatures together when I was about 15 years old. We found the ‘prototype’ project in an office for offshore drilling equipment. They directed us in finding all the items needed to make one for ourselves. This lead to all new places to explore and learn about miniatures.
The photo is a newer version of the first shadow box. I had ‘remodeled’ it about 20 years after the original one was made. The first one was in a much smaller shadow box.
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From Christiane Starks:
My first miniature was a 1:12 hutch. I was recovering from a hospital stay in 1991 when my father-in-law (an experienced craftsman and builder of many dollhouses) decided working on a miniature kit (under his watchful eye, of course) would be better for me than just moping about.
This hutch has as many imperfections as it does memories for me and I cherish it! The first miniature I did on my own was the braided rug. Oh my, after trying to iron it to make it look respectable - and I miserably failing at that - I almost ditched it, but I decided to keep
the rug, and even display it in a room box that sits in our great room, as a reminder that most of us don't start with a perfect creation on their first try.
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From Ruth Goodger:
This scene was made in 1981 before power tools etc. were available to me. It is a half gallon milk carton cut in half. The red carrying handle is still in the roof top! I made two of these with bead head dolls and pipe cleaners. Most of my projects were from Woman’s Day or McCalls projects in 1 Inch scale. I always had to check out Woman’s Days Christmas issue as a teen. I still have these plans and many used felt decorations. My first mini show was in late 70’s in Denver.
The bead head doll was Molly -- a roundtable that I adapted from a 15 in doll I’d made. It was (our) Grand Junction first and last mini show in the 90’s. Coleen M came from Utah with her wicker.
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From Vicki Scidmore:
My first house bought in 1980 when a mini shop opened nearby. The kit was by Arrow Mfg. (It had the most rooms). Decorated in Regency style as little Tudor was available then. It is gone now as I only kept front openers and do mostly rooms or smaller scale to save space.
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From Jene Bondi:
My first mini project is something that I called Twilight Years. An old women who lives in a broken down shack is waiting for her son to come home. He never does. I made this about 15 years ago. I had $25.00 to spend and that was it. Through the years I added the cat, windmill, and acorn house. Everything else was either made or given to me. My local dollhouse store (Lynlott Miniatures Dollhouse Junction) donated the wood door and railing and pieces of scrap wood. She is the reason I continued to make minis. She gave me encouragement, and helped me with my love of minis.
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From Patty Johnson:
Here’s a picture of my first mini project. It was in the Nutshell News magazine. Hubby Russ cut the project out of wood for me. My cutting skills were not good but luckily his were!
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From Carol Shea:
My very first quarter scale was a scene in an unusual container. It was a fabric softener bottle.
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