Cue end of July, where Lars and I took Nina's three kids with us on a long-delayed trip to Hamburg, Germany (we were supposed to go in April 2020... we all know how THAT turned out...) to show them Miniature Wunderland. We'd taken Jordan there back in 2018'ish, and he really enjoyed it, so wanted to share the experience with his sisters as well. I never got around to writing about that trip here, but we had a terrific time and as always I absolutely LOVED spending time with the kids. Isabella even got me a sunflower lanyard of my very own!! So sweet.
*Ahrem*, but I digress. The giftshop at MiWuLa is filled with all sorts of gadgets, puzzles... and miniature kits of all sorts. One of those being the most adorable miniature library/book shop. I immediately called Isabella over, "Look, look, look, look!!!"
Isabella: "Auntie!! You've always wanted a book nook!!" (so sweet of her to remember! She takes after her mother in that regard!) "You have to get it!"
Me: "Oh, I'm gonna!!".
The kit was only €25 - a steal at that price. And since they had a bunch pre-assembled, I could see what they looked like all set up, and knew that it would look AMAZING in my library :-D
I was a good girl and didn't open the kit while we were away (didn't want to risk losing pieces, and it's not like I could get started on it anyway), but immediately after returning home, I ripped it open and spent pretty much every free minute at the dining table for the next 3-4 days cutting, glueing, painting, assembling and even fixing electronics! (SO proud of myself that I got the lamp to work by myself!!!) Those of you who follow me on Instagram will have seen the progress photos already, but I have to share here as well :-D
So excited!!
The kit all laid out... at this stage I did wonder if I was getting in over my head, but despite the instructions being a tad vague at times, they were clear enough when it mattered, and I managed okay.
Getting started...
My second attempt at this book case. I made two mistakes making it - the first one I fixed (adding the drawer front on the wrong side!), the second I kept and called a design feature! (the drawer was supposed to be at the very bottom, not one shelf up... who cares ;-) )
The frames had to be painted. I'd forgotten how much I love to paint! Ended up giving them three coats I think, as the wood kept absorbing the paint.
Progress....
So many books!!! The kit has a total of 107 in 4 different styles. I love that they aren't just all the same. In a perfect world I would have printed out my own book covers, but that would have taken WAY too long, and would perhaps be slightly overkill for something you can't even see! ... I may still do it for some of them though ;)
Getting there.... So cute!!!
Finally everything is all done, and ready to be put together.
I decided I did NOT like the original carpet (first photo - would be cute for a kitchen - not so much for a library), so played around with some other scraps, and decided on this.
Almost done! However, I decided I wanted personal photos for the walls, instead of the pictures provided by the kit, so had to wait until I had time to print them out (in the end, Henriette did so for me :-D )
And done!!! Working lamp and everything!
Holding a place of honour in my library.
I kinda want to make more kits now, because it was SO satisfying to get everything sorted, but there aren't any other kits that have as obvious a place to put the final object, so while they'd be heaps of fun to make, the finished object would end up being clutter... which would be a shame. I may still change my mind though.
