If you’ve ever owned a dollhouse, you know how fascinating tiny little recreations can be. However, the world is more than a family home! There are artists and craftspeople all over who take a slice of a different kind of life and recreate it in miniature.

1. Folsom Prison Cell

Justin Jorgensen bought this miniature recreation of a prison cell built by George Bubier, the inmate who lives there. It was made with popsicle sticks, felt, glue, and various collected materials. Inmates sell artworks through the site Prisonart.org.

2. House of Prostitution

Toronto artist Leanne Eisen creates miniature scenes you don’t see in toy stores. The project called Play recreates the interior of a brothel. Pictured is the bar area, complete with stripper pole. Along the same lines, Grace Shaw received a gift of a miniature row house and made it into a seedy city block, complete with a brothel, crack house, bar, and adult book store.

3. TV Studios

Charles Brogdon (Flickr user On The Set) has created some of the most popular classic sitcoms and game show sets in miniature scale model form. The fun is going through the pictures to see if you can identify the shows without looking at the name!

4. World War II

Mark Hogancamp is the master behind an elaborate fantasy we can follow in pictures and video. After he was badly injured, he created the world he calls Marwencol in his backyard as therapy, both physical and psychological. His pictures tell a story, which, along with Mark’s story, has been made into a documentary film and a book.

5. View-Master Scenes

Anyone who grew up during the heyday of the View-Master probably wondered how they made those 3D scenes. Florence Thomas was one of the artists responsible for the stereoscopic images. She would sculpt Disney characters from clay and set them in dioramas, then take photographs from two angles to get the stereo effect.

6. San Francisco

The 2nd Annual Golden Gate Express Garden Railway was recently featured at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers. The garden featured miniature versions of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, buildings, and of course, a train! Plus, they are all made of recycled materials. The exhibition has closed, but the photographs give us a virtual tour. Image by Todd Lappin.

7. Miniature Apple Store

Can you believe an exact replica of an Apple store, made in a shoebox? It’s from the folks who brought you the miniature personal movie theater. They used iPhones for the display screen at the Genius Bar and for the glowing Apple logo.

8. Godzilla

Just for fun, here’s a Japanese photographer’s home. As he is setting up a shot, along comes Godzilla! See the story told in pictures in this post.

See also: miniatures from the world of fiction and fantasy in the post Dungeons and Dollhouses.