– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young – - Some things are just better when they’re small

– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young –

For some reason, I’ve always loved tiny objects, known as “miniatures.” When I was little, I had a dollhouse with tiny cups, plates and bowls, furniture and my favorite piece, a butter churn!

It could be where my love of miniatures began, because ever since, I’ve been hooked.

Any small thing has always caught my attention, from books, to figurines and dolls. I don’t know if anyone remembers, but there used to be these tiny (porcelain?) animals that were attached to a little square of white cardboard. They could be found in antique and gift shops, and we collected them like crazy.

Miniature animals, need I say more?

I also love hide-a-box scenes, with little rooms inside. My favorites are two Halloween ones I got for a quarter apiece at a garage sale. Inside, are little ghosts, living happily in their furnished home.

And then, there are Christmas ornaments. I don’t mean the round glass ball ornaments or even the Hallmark collectible ones, like from Star Wars and Disney movies. I mean the miniature ornaments available, some from Hallmark, some just on the shelves at retail stores.

I have (I think) the entire Wizard of Oz collection, Sam I Am, a Santa on a unicorn, which I really love, a teddy bear in an ice skate and thanks to the kindness of a friend, four tiny Ewoks ( Star Wars) to hang on the tree. I far prefer the mini ornaments, as opposed to the big, honking ones.

It once was kind of hard to find things like that, but now, miniatures have taken on this large fanbase – no pun intended.

In my curio cabinet are more than a few Halloween miniatures, creating this little village, filled with fairy houses, witchy things like cauldrons and brooms, and skeleton vultures. I could sit and look at all those for hours.

Even though I really don’t need anything else brought into the house, I still keep my eyes open for miniatures that might need a good home. Thankfully, I’m part of a miniatures Facebook group, where members post their finds or creations.

If I didn’t have that, the house really would be filled to overflowing with miniatures. A life-sized house, full of miniatures. That, I believe, is what they call ironic.