March 2026 - Shoppe 'Til You Drop
Our challenge for March was to send in a picture of your favorite miniature shop.
The challenge example comes from Carolyn Eiche who writes:
My Toy Cottage was a recent workshop by Debbie Young held on Create. The toys inside are a combination of purchased items, kits I made and toys from my stash. The toys were from Barbara Meyer, Dean Jensen, Sue Holtge, Debbie Young, Karen Benson, Robin Betterley and True2Scale to name a few. I'm really proud of it since it came out so well.
From Suzanne Mooney:
Dolls in bed, from Beirut. Wooden Raggedy Ann, from thrift shop. Doll w/straw had, from Swaziland. Doll w/blond hair, from Casablanca. *Doll in crib with crocheted dress, was tied onto a gift from my piano teacher when I was 7 years old. I'm now 70.
From Vicki Scidmore:
These two stores are "memory" stores! The first was a kit that I turned into a Morro Bay Art Gallery. We always stopped there on the way to the San Jose show (they had a miniature shop too). The pictures inside are paintings of "the Rock" in Morro Bay, The inside figure is a mini me admiring the paintings. The second one is a souvenir shop with things from The Seattle convention in 2010, "England then and now". All filled with memories of past trips.
From Sue Scutti:
I built a mini kitchen shop, which I call Le Petit Gourmet. I used foam core for the walls. I made many items, such as the coffee and tea canisters (from plastic desiccants found in pill bottles); the shopping bags, clock, and other wall decor. The work table is from the 2011 NAME Day kit. I built the blue shelves and the checkout counter, with display shelves for the mini cookbooks and magazines which I put together.
The cherry pie borders and tile flooring are from the free printable website, www.printmini.com. I received the wooden tray on the wall shelf when I attended the 2013 NAME National Convention in Tucson.
The ceramic jug on the floor is a souvenir which I found in Burgos, a town in Northern Spain. I love finding miniatures when I travel.
From Kathy Novak:
Here are 3 photos of Charley’s New-to-You Resale Shop, a 1/12th scale tribute to my dad. He was a kid at heart throughout his life – my grandmother used to say, “Charley, Charley, Aren’t you ever going to grow up,” and he always responded, “I hope not, Ma.” This shop has many small treasures that I collected, purchased at shows, or re-created myself over the years that remind me of him as I was growing up and of his adventures with my sons when they were young. Memorable for me are the gas mask (by Nantasy Fantasy) on a back shelf, bagpipes on the left wall from a Scottish maker like the full-size ones my grandmother brought when she emigrated from Scotland, coin collection like Dad’s on a shelf, MAD magazines that he & I shared when I was growing up, and so so much more. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep records of what I purchased from whom or where. Others are kits, 3-D items, or my scratch-built. Out back, I included the squirrels and birds my folks kept well fed. I entered Charley’s in our County Fair in 2025, at which Charley’s won a 1st place blue ribbon along with an Outstanding Exhibit ribbon.
From Jan Mickelson:
This is my miniature dollhouse shop. I really enjoy looking at it and wish I could visit a brick and mortar dollhouse shop.
From Gail Stuart:
This is my flower shop. Made all the flowers.
From Susan Buffaloe:
This is my little bookstore. It started out as Sam’s Study by Rolife. I created most of the book and magazine covers from downloaded pictures and added a lot of personal touches. A lot of the book covers are from books I’ve read, miniature magazines I own and a box of books of an author I know personally. The dog clock is a Hallmark ornament. I purchased the doughnut box, DD coffee cups and the cat. The other things in the shop were from my own collection. I used a cutout from a calendar to show that my project was created during the 2020 pandemic. It was the first mini project I had created in a long time!
From Tammy Witthaus:
This is a lingerie shop that I created in a clear case. All of the lingerie and display tables were from True to Scale kits.
From Barb Antol:
The Cool Cat Music Shop is a quarter-scale project I just completed. I will be donating it for this year’s auction to support the cat shelter where I volunteer. I had fun building many of the little musical instruments from kits. The shop walls are decorated with photos of famous musicians and their cats. The proprietor Freddie shares his shop with four rescue kitties named Queen, Beethoven, Lennon & McCartney and there’s a new kitty peeking in the front window, hoping to find a home.
From Ruth Goodger:
This shop was a Quarter Connection project. The shop owner was won at a Karen Benson workshop.
From Amy White:
I created this doll shop to display all my favorite Angel Children dolls by Ethel Hicks and a few others.
From Lori Johnson:
This is the front window of a new age mystic style gift shop that I made a couple years back. I was inspired by the store in “The Good Witch” Hallmark series. The window was a 5x7 picture frame.
From Marilyn Ferkinhoff:
Here is a picture of my favorite shop, the Sewing Studio. The miniture of me is in the studio today holding up a small quilt.
From Lucy Van Dyke:
From Catherine Hawkins:
Here are pictures of my clock shop. It won an honorable mention in the 2012 Gadsden Museum of Art Juried Show in the 3D Mixed Media category. (This is a regular art show, not a miniature show.)
I made all the clocks and the furniture and signs. Some of the clocks are metal miniatures that I painted, but most are made of basswood, cardboard, plastic, jewelry findings. It is displayed in a cigar box that I wallpapered and made shelves and floor for.
From Trudy Cooke:
I purchased this Queen Anne dollhouse and decided to completely revamp it and turn it into a miniature shopping mall. Every store is dedicated to a family member. For instance, my mum used to sew and loves accessories, my mother in law paints (so I miniaturized and printed to scale her actual paintings for her gallery, plus I added the observatory (and made the spiral staircase going into it, from the art studio). It took 2 years, I made most of the accessories and some furniture and had SO much fun. It won Best in Show at the CMS annual show and first place at the Ohio State Fair, last year.
From Judy Doe:
These two shops are ones from Cynthia Howe kits that I did quite a few years ago - a bakery, and a jewelry shop. All the cakes, and jewelry were made as parts of the kits, as well as the structures and furnishings which made it
all fun.
From Margaret Gordus:
Red Hat shop was a fun project in 1/12" scale.
Lady's shop -State Day in Sacramento CA. Has my wedding Veil displayed. I made almost everything in the shop.
From Sally Lonn:
This special Gringerbread Bakery in half scale was a class taught by Sue Ann Ketchum for Create. I took the theme to heart and invited: Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf, Mrs Bear, Papa Pig and Snow White along with my Mrs Gingerbread to come shop in this packed bakery with lots of tiny cakes, cookies, and cinnamon rolls. The smells must be wonderful…
