Itty Bitty Pretty City

Well, then.

Which of these is not like the others? Which of these just isn't the same?

A visit today to a local antiques mall turned up this fascinating little decidedly one of a kind, hand made creation sitting right there surrounded by a cluster of the usual little mass produced miniature houses. It was very, very light. Most likely made of balsa or basswood or even layers of paint over a core of cardboard.

We'd love to know the story of those holes on the bottom. Or of all that water damage. Or of what inspired the creation of this adorable little home.

We hope that it's had at least as long a life as it appears to have had. And that it will be around for decades more. A gift to imagination and a testament to the specialness of what is truly made by hand.

First brushing on the glue. SO MUCH glue. 😅
Then laying down the natural fiber twine netting.
Press it into the glue with the brush. Pull it at least a little bit closer to even and flat.
Then even more pouring and brushing on even more glue over the top and along the edges.
Move on to the other half of the cardboard.
And do it all again.

It's a good thing that at least the glue and netting aren't *that* expensive and this doesn't take *too* much time. Because at this rate we'll have to do this at least two or three more times before we can manage it without making any REALLY obvious poor choices. 😂🤣😆

WOW.

Not least let's please remember that projects like this are still getting done in thousands of studios all over the world. THIS to anybody who is falling for the intentionally demoralizing line of claptrap that "everybody is just doing their work in AI these days; nothing that you see anymore is actually any kind of personal, real world creation."

Oh, to live in a world where all miniatures have this much style and are this impressively well made!

We saw these sitting on a shelf in Nate's, a Portland cookie and ice cream shop, and of course just *had* to ask if we could get a closer look at them.