Longing for...

I have been longing for a beautiful display like the ones I'm about to show you. These amazing works of art were made in Victorian Germany and each one brings together so many of my very favorite things...antique, German, Christmas, animals, handmade, and miniature.

The first two I have posted here I actually just saw over on Ullabenulla's blog. She found them on rubylane.com. I gasped when I saw them and they reminded me of the one that got away. And when I say got away...I mean ran at a fast sprint.

This amazing work of art features soooo many amazing antique miniatures. Those tiny houses on the stairs! The stairs themselves! That beaded chandelier. All that snow and the fabulous icicles hanging. Sigh....if only I had a couple grand to spare.

It would look so great in any room of my house.

This one is almost as fabulous as the first. It features tons of red, which I've been loving more and more recently and has Santa heads galore!

I think it might have mini drawers in the bottom that hold tony glass balls and Santas and children peeking out. So wonderful!

And this beauty is the one that got away. I saw it on ebay years ago with minutes to spare. It was over a thousand dollars anyway...hence the sprinting away part. I saved the photos so I could stare at them from time to time. The colors are amazing and each miniature item is more wonderful than the last! It's a toy store! The most wonderful toy store ever!

Sigh...the mini glass bead garland, the wooden animals, the bottle brush tree, the beaded curtain...

It even has a work bench! Maybe this is Santa's work shop and not a toy store...yes...I think that's right!

That clock and the tiny boots under it! The wooden trees with birds on top! The magic wand on the floor!!

And there Santa is...on his way to deliver toys to boys and girls all over the world in an....airplane? Well...the reindeer have to take a break sometime!

Well...to solve my longingness over these amazing items...I decided to make one myself. I haven't done it yet...but some day. Since seeing this toy store/workshop on ebay, I've been saving tiny antique German items as I come across them to put in my own toy store one day. I've still got a small pile...but eventually it will be big enough to inspire me to actually build the store itself, then slowly over time I can add to it! Longingness solved! :)