Growing Your Collection: How to Choose the Right Doll House Kit

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/xbsHT)

It's such a great shame if something that is just beautiful, and obviously took much care and effort, just ends up gathering dust in the basement.

Good thing for all miniature enthusiasts, their collections have a place to go in case they need a home. Enter the Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis in Missouri. This haven for intricate and well-crafted miniatures has provided the avenue for a good number of private collections to be appreciated by many. In here, exhibits are akin to legacies, and they communicate a part of the original owners' passion and artistry to the museum's patrons everyday.

Established in 1989, this non-profit museum is the brainchild of a group of ladies who reflected on the future fate of their treasures. Concerned that their children were not as enthusiastic as they were about their miniature collection, or that they did not have the space to store and exhibit their collection, these ladies envisioned a museum that would house their work.

You can tell that it's passion and love for the craft that sustains this museum, as it is manned by a volunteer board. Originally, the group's collection can be found at the Miniature World Museum in St. Charles. But in 2000, this passionate group was able to purchase a building for their own. Today, the Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis is not just home to the original founders' collection, but displays donated collections from other enthusiasts and museums that closed as well.

The highlights that this museum offers include the sponsorship of two miniature shows annually: the Gateway Miniature Fair and the Garage Sale. In these much-anticipated events, dealers from all over the country exhibit and sell their miniature crafts. It is a perfect opportunity to network with other enthusiasts, get a market for your miniatures, and browse through offerings of dollhouses, dolls, furniture, and dollhouse accessories of different varieties.

If the fairs are not enough to infect your friends with the miniature collecting bug, you can also take them to classes and workshops on miniatures that the museum sponsors. These are usually held within the building where the exhibits are located. Make sure you stop in their library too, and browse through their resources; the museum has assembled together a variety of books and articles about this wonderful and engaging craft.

Then there's the exhibits themselves. The Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis stands by its slogan: that 'miniatures act as a window to history'. You can find exhibits there that vividly capture certain points of our history; from detailed historical houses, to dolls dressed according to the norms of the times they represent. They also have exhibits that follow a particular theme, such as fall scenes and winter holidays.

Among the collections that are guranteed to entertain and inspire you are fully-furnished Georgian Houses, a Long Branch Saloon with a doctor's office, Santa's Summer Home (imagine that!) and a Victorian House Party. There are also unusual miniatures, like miniature needlework and exquisite silver dinnerware from the Netherlands and India.