Mini Mart: fan21hk

The bag and books on the bed are from the Sailor Moon Daily Life set.

Supplier: fan21hk
Website: fan21hk.com.  eBay Store.

Products: Re-ment 1/6 sale miniatures.

I love Re-ment - highly detailed plastic 1/6 sale miniatures - but getting hold of them in the UK is generally either impossible or prohibitively expensive. Even buying from abroad can be a pain because of high shipping costs and then customs (I almost never buy from the USA for this reason). But. Fan21hk are the knights in shining armour of UK Re-ment collecting. Their website, selling full sets, is one of the cheapest around, and all prices include free international shipping. I've never had a set held up by customs, either.

You can buy individual splits and other miniatures from their eBay store too. This will work out more expensive, and you have to pay shipping, but you can sometimes find rarer sets this way.

Postage and Packing: Free international postage. My latest purchase was a pre-order for the Sailor Moon Daily Life set. Once they were in stock it was shipped within days, and took about a week to arrive. Really, if you're looking for new Re-ment releases, fan21hk is the way to go.

The parcel.

Mini Mart: BearKnitsAndMore

For scale - the little blue teddy is being held by a baby from the Re-ment Toddler Paradise set.

Supplier: BearKnitsAndMore (Angela Smith)
Website: Etsy Store.

Products: Miniature knitted teddy bears, ranging in size from 5cm high to 3cm high. I bought a tiny blue teddy, and a 'big' glittery pink teddy. They're so adorable, and priced at £3 each they were a total bargain!

Post and Packing: £1 for first class postage in a bubble wrap envelope. My order only took a couple of days to arrive.

Mini Mart: AuldReekieCrafts

Supplier: AuldReekieCrafts (Louise Pendreich)
Website: Etsy Store.

Products: 1/12 scale baskets.

Not just any old baskets either, but moulded from tapestry canvas to give a really good true to scale look. I bought three: this one, this one, and this tiny one because I knew it would look even more adorable in 1/6 scale. The wicker effect is impressive, especially on the rims of the baskets. I love my Re-ment baskets (plastic), but these look much more realistic (which is always the goal!).

This really sweet message was included too.

Post and Packing: £3.20 for multiple items via seconds class post. The basket were wrapped in tissue paper, in a little box, in a padded envelope. They took three days to arrive.

Mini Mart: KogaRyokoSHOP

Licca-chan with the colouring book. (2nd gen Licca head on an Azone body; Re-ment outfit, rabbit and van; Licca bedroom set bed; Bodo Hennig doll house wallpaper; handmade plushie and bedding - recycled from one of Marianna's 3-6 cardigans!)

Supplier: Koga Ryoko (Japanese illustrator)
Website: Etsy Store.

Products: Stationery and miniature books.

I can never resist miniature books, they're just so cute. I bought two 1/6 scale colouring books (£1.06 each) and a dressing up book (£1.59, and perfect for that toy shop...). They're so professionally done, with glossy covers and thread binding, and look fantastic.

Post and Packing: Postage to the UK from Japan for all three items was 53p. You can't send a letter within the UK for 53p. I ordered on August 1st and it arrived on August 5th. The items were sent bubble wrapped in an envelope, and the seller included a cute sticker as a bonus which was such a sweet gesture! Really, I can't recommend them highly enough.

Mini Mart: Melody Jane Dolls' Houses

I bought some new accessories for my 70s' living room - this is Sindy's Wall of Sound repapered with a page from Pepin pattern book #54; the plates, stands and fruit bowl are Re-ment, while the rest are from a mix of UK suppliers.

Supplier: Melody Jane Dolls' Houses
Website: www.melodyjane.com. Well laid out and easy to use, the only real problem is that the search function doesn't work, which is quite frustrating if you're looking for something in particular.

Products: 1/12 scale dolls' house and miniatures, plus a small selection of 1/24, 1/144 and 1/148.

Based in Conwy, Melody Jane stock all the usual brands (Streets Ahead, Town Square, Farrow Industries) as well as some of the more hard to find like Bodo Hennig and a range of handmade miniatures. The best bit is their clearance section where you can find some real bargains - I picked up a slight seconds 'Harry' hoover for under £2, 6 little dog ornaments for 25p, and 36 Licca-chan sized plastic helmets for £1.50.

Altogether I bought 35 items - my favourites were these two angel ornaments (20mm high and £2 each) and the little sailing ship (£7.20).

Post and Packing: £3.50 on all UK orders - unless you spend over £45 in which case postage is free. You can upgrade to next day delivery for £5.95. Their international postage is brilliant too, at £5. All orders paid for by 1pm will be dispatched the same day. I paid for my order on Thursday night and it arrived on Saturday morning.

My well packaged parcel.

Mini Mart: Furniture For Dolls

I have really been getting back into miniatures in the last few months, which means I've bought some new stuff for my doll house. I plan on doing a series of haul / review posts on the various suppliers I got them from - because you tend to see plenty of reviews for dolls but hardly any for miniatures.

In my Sindy house - the chest of drawers is vintage Tressy, cassette player and sport bag are Re-ment, the book (Scouting for Boys) is Dateman, and the bedding I made myself.

Supplier: Furniture For Dolls
Website: Etsy Store

Products: 1/6 scale wooden furniture.

This is surprisingly difficult to find, especially at prices which don't put you in mind of their 1/1 scale counterparts. I normally use Sindy furniture because that doll had just about everything, but I have been hankering after some 1/6 scale bunkbeds for years so I splashed out and spent £15.77 on this set. I might paint them in the future like the seller has done HERE (typically that one wasn't listed when I found them...), but for now I'm happy with white.

Post and Packing: The seller is based in the Ukraine, and they only offer tracked shipping so it cost a bit more than it might have done (£11.83), but nowhere near as atrocious as it would have been if they were US based. Estimated shipping time for the UK is 10 to 15 days - it actually took 9 days to reach me. It was packed securely in plastic wrap, polystyrene foam and a cardboard box.

Overall I'm really happy with the bunkbeds. I kept saying I would make my own but, really, I hate making things like furniture, and it wouldn't have turned out as nicely. I already have my eye on the shelving sets for the future toy shop diorama...

Review: Baby Concert

Marianna's new favourite thing is hitting stuff, just edging out her old favourite thing of kicking stuff. To capitalise on this my mum decided Marianna really needed a toy drum. Not one that you hit and it plays a little electronic tune (as is the norm with drums for babies), but just a little drum she could hit to her heart's content.

After much trawling of the internet, the Baby Concert set was chosen. These come as five or eight piece sets and, though the word 'concert' might be slightly ambitious, they are great value for money. We've got the five piece version which has a drum with drumsticks and a ribbon to hang it around the neck, two maracas, handle bells, and a whistling trumpet - the eight piece has an ordinary whistle, a tambourine and a tik-tak drum to go with them.

The drumsticks are too tempting a tonsillectomy tool, but Marianna has been having great fun shaking the maracas, slapping the drum and, best of all, hitting the maracas against the drum. If only the same effect could be achieved silently, it would be the perfect toy...