Walk into ‘wonderland’ at this year’s biggest little show

THE biggest little show is back in Durban and 23 stallholders will showcase their creative miniatures at the Westville Country Club on Saturday, May 27 from 09:00 to 16:00.

The World of Miniatures Fair, hosted by The Durban Association of Miniature Enthusiasts (DAME), will offer scale models, fairy gardens, fairy houses, model trains, bonsai and dollhouses.

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Once a year, the association hosts a miniature fair, and they have an exciting theme this year: ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

DAME was started on August 28, 1992.

One of the organisers of the fair and DAME member, Priscilla Kleyntjens, said they work in a scale of 1:12 when they make their miniatures.

“A lot of supplies are made by our members as we don’t have many suppliers of the things we need available in South Africa. Importing miniatures is very costly, so we have to make everything ourselves.”

From building their own dollhouses, room boxes/dioramas, furniture, curtains, lighting, carpets and everything they need to fill their dollhouse, making miniatures is a lot of work but fulfilling and exciting.

“We also make use of certain things that would end up in the dustbin. For instance, the top of the Sunlight liquid bottle would be made into a teapot, a plastic bottle could be cut out to make a hip bath, and the list goes on.”

Kleyntjens said she started making miniatures in 1997 after going to a train convention at the Westville Civic Centre.

“It is a very addictive hobby, and once you get hooked on it, you won’t stop. It takes a lot of patience and imagination and makes you look at things in a different light. It certainly gets your creative juices going. Our members have a roster of workshops, and every month, we have a new project to work on. The member doing the workshop will supply a ready-made kit and will instruct us on how to create it,” said Kleyntjens.

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She said they are excited to host the fair again this year. “We will have Alice and the Mad Hatter amongst our visitors. We have a very wide variety of stallholders at the fair this year.”

Kleyntjens appeal to people to come out in their numbers to support the fair.

“The show is for the whole family – there is something for everyone – children and adults. To honour the theme, visitors will walk into ‘wonderland’ with its huge assortment of mushrooms, beautiful posters and a very grand entrance,” she said.

“Every year, our financial proceeds, which we obtain through fees and collections, go towards a worthy cause.”

She added that they welcome suggestions from the public as to what they would like to see at the fair.

“We also host mini fairs during the year, and people can follow us on our Facebook page – DBN Association of Miniatures.”

Entrance is R10 for adults and R5 for children, and children under the age of five enter for free. One lucky person will walk away with a beautiful miniature fairy village.

Contact Priscilla Kleyntjens on 084 357 2988.

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