Clubwise: The Miniature Club

Every week, we bring you the latest on the UAE's clubs, associations and groups. We choose one each time and profile it, highlighting its purpose and activities. We also bring you bits of news from other such groups. So that you know what is happening when, where and why. This week: The Miniature Club

It was the tiniest shirt you ever saw. And I made one myself. A piece of cardboard, a small patch of cloth, a well-behaved glue-gun, a sharp pair of scissors, tiny plastic buttons punched out of an empty yoghurt cup and voila. I had actually made a miniature shirt that can be placed in a miniature dresser or a downsized wardrobe.

Eight women meeting twice a month to make miniatures of almost everything under the sun is what this club is all about. Just over a year old, the club is headed by Karen Hill.

Open to suggestions from all the members and using her experience from back home in Australia, Hill plays co-ordinator to this small but enthusiastic group of women who take immense pleasure in scaling everything from life-size to miniature.

Anyone who is interested can join and there no fees whatsoever. Occasionally, the members are charged a small amount for the cost of materials at actuals. The members pick a theme and work on it together. Usually the theme reflects the season, festive occasions or anything that may take their fancy.

Themes worked on so far include an Arabic majlis, local grocery shop, baby box, Christmas breakaway box and gift box, doll houses and more.

The best part of the craft, however, is the effective way in which all the members recycle things. Plastic yoghurt cups, cardboards from packaging, jute from onion bags, clothes pegs and empty thread spools - almost anything is used to make something tiny.

Hill adds, "I have always been interested in craft and miniatures is something I have always done. This is one craft where you develop a multitude of skills, like woodwork, painting, knitting, electrical work, wall papering and even tiling.

You even learn to judge size and scaling as you calculate everything from life-size to miniature. It is what I do to keep the creative juices flowing. And the end result is always satisfying."

Another member, Ann, feels, "I have always been interested in doll houses and miniatures. This is the only place here where I can meet like-minded people and work together. I picked up this hobby from my mother."

Swati Kumar says, "I did a miniature zoo when I was younger and I have always been interested in craft, so when I heard about this club I decided to join. I have helped my children do their science projects for school and love doing miniatures here at the club."

Collete Vijfhuizen says, "My husband made a doll house for my daughter and I decided to decorate it for her. I realised then that my tastes were different from my daughter's, so then I set about to make my own doll house. Being of Dutch origin, this is not an unusual hobby for me. It is a popular hobby in Holland."

If recycling comes naturally to you and tiny is what gets you excited, this club is for you.