Dreamy dollhouse miniatures

The photo above doesn't depict a real castle, amazingly, but rather the world's most famous dollhouse, that of the late Queen Mary, the wife of King George V. Finished in 1924, it has running water and electricity, not to mention a child's fantasy of miniature furnishings, many of them Windsor Castle items scaled to 1/12 their original size. 

Perhaps you can't welcome visitors to a dollhouse complete with tiny oil paintings of royal ancestors, but modern miniatures still offer more than a teensy bit of glamor. Take, for example, this amazing Ladurée bakery crafted by the owner of Mitzi's Minitatures (www.etsy.com/shop/mitzisminiatures). Macaroons, tea cups, tiny Ladurée boxes; it looks like the original in Paris! 

Craving one of Ladurée's St. Honoré cakes topped with red currants? You'll consume no calories with a 1/12th scale miniature version from the Paris Miniatures shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ParisMiniatures. 

The shop also makes teeny tiny Ladurée macaroons. 

Decadent food is so visually arresting in miniatures. Take, for example, the mini oysters, shrimp and ice by Diana Paone. Her work is sold at www.dianepaone.com.

Of course, a stylish dollhouse needs some stylish furniture. How about a mini mid-century modern mirror from Dollhouse Cafe? It is made of gilt wood, as were the original, life-size mirrors. At www.the-doll-house-cafe.com.

And what chic dollhouse would be without a miniature Syroco convex bullseye Federal style mirror? J'adore! Also at www.the-doll-house-cafe.com.