One of the things my gotta-stay-awake YouTube watching has led to is a renewal in my interest in miniatures. First, I discovered this amazing model of Howl’s Moving Castle made from discarded plastic, cardboard, wire, and lots of re-purposed objects. It’s a long video, but Studson Studio’s delivery is educational and entertaining. He even chants his patron names list, matching it to the music from the movie and making it rhyme.

Then, Bentley House Minis’ Addams’ House Project popped up on my feed, and I was in awe all over again. Ara is an experienced and skilled miniaturist with lots of doll house projects going, some of which are built from scratch with used cardboard.

After hours of watching miniature tutorial and project videos, I wanted to make something myself. I’ve always admired the clever ways miniaturists can turn things I use everyday into something tiny, but seeing fantasy animation turned into a three-dimensional model was really exciting.

Result? I wanted to make a Ghibli build, and decided my best choice is Howl’s bedroom.

I know it’s an absolutely insane idea. Look at all that detail! And this is the only angle we see the room from. Still, all the color and clutter has me mesmerized. I so want to make this thing!

However, I have to take in to account that I am compromised at the moment. While my sleep is improving, I’m afraid I would be biting off more than I can chew.

Even before I started sleep therapy, my chronic health sapped my energy. When I do feel well, I have to spend time taking care of essentials like laundry and groceries, further limiting the amount of time I have to create.

My prediliction for gigantic, complicated, time-consuming projects just makes things more difficult. That I want to make Howl’s bedroom for my first diorama is typical. I rarely do fast or simple, because it’s the challenge of creating my intricate visions that excites me.

The best solution I’ve found so far has been to go small, so that’s what I’m doing here. While I hope someday to make the entire bedroom scene, I’m starting out with one detail that caught my eye and my fancy: the wizard books.

The room is full of them. If I really do the whole scene, I’ll have to mass produce tiny books to fill that wall of shelves and stack in piles everywhere. For now, I’m just making some. There are lots of different ways to make miniature books, so I’ve been collecting tutorials and experimenting with techniques.

I haven’t committed to this project. All I’m doing is figuring out which techniques I enjoy and what looks good to me. It’s proving to be a slow process — as Ara of Bentley House Minis says, “Good miniatures take time” — so I’m still testing methods and materials.

It’s only a tiny start, but it is a beginning, and I’m free to stop or do more as I see fit. The best part is that it’s scratching my itch to make things, within the boundaries of what I am able to do at the moment, and I’m having fun.

How do you find time for huge projects?