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