When most people think of dollhouse miniatures, forensics or crime scene investigations are usually the last thing to come to mind.

An interesting and fascinating use of dollhouse miniatures is the creation of dioramas or mini-vignettes representing the details found at a real scene of a crime. The crafter of these tiny crime scenes uses a dollhouse or room box and includes all of the lifelike detail of the life-size scene including furniture, body, weapon and even footprints. No detail is too small and each scene must include important components such as working lights and doors and windows that actually open. The seemingly most inconsequential details must be captured if the dollhouse crime scene is to be effective. These 3-D dollhouse crime scenes aid detectives in studying real clues that should be sought when investigating a real crime scene. They are also used as an important tool in training students and investigators who are interested in entering the fascinating field of forensics.

Thomas Mauriello, Professor of Criminology at the University of Maryland believes that in a world of computer-aided crime scene analysis, there is no substitute for hands-on experience – even if the hands are on a tiny doll representing the corpse of a victim. Mauriello has created 6 tiny crime-scene room boxes or dioramas which include important clues to the cause of death – be it accident, suicide or homicide. Conjuring images up from the scene of a horror flick, Mauriello’s miniature crime scenes include blood-stained walls and tiny death bed figures, many of which can be found lying face down in the garage or face up on the kitchen linoleum floor.

Mauriello reminds his students that the ability to examine the details of a crime scene in miniature form is essential – they cannot do that at a real crime scene as it’s impossible. It’s closed off so they cannot violate the integrity of the crime scene. Mauriello used to re-create his crime scenes by taking over a university house and turning it into a life-size crime scene. A huge undertaking, this would often take him days to prepare. Mauriello prefers the dollhouse miniature dioramas as they take much less time to prepare and are easily portable.

The originator of the dollhouse crime scene investigations was Frances Glessner Lee, an eccentric millionaires in the 1940’s and 1950’s who founded Harvard’s department of legal medicine. Lee spent as much as $3000 per miniature dollhouse crime scene diorama – close to the cost of a real house at that time. Lee was a perfectionist when it came to her dollhouse scenes. Bullets and shotgun shells were perfectly miniaturized and her miniature victims wore clothing carefully knitted by Lee herself. Lee became the honorary captain of the New Hampshire state police force and used her dollhouse crime scene dioramas mimicking real crime scenes to challenge the boys in her unit.

For more great information on this topic, we recommend reading The Dollhouse Murders by Thomas Mauriello.

When deciding which dollhouse miniatures to stock our virtual shelves with at Zoolabees Dollhouse Miniatures, first and foremost is quality. Our favorite manufacturer of miniature dollhouse furniture is Hansson Miniatures located in Santa Clara, CA.

Hansson manufacturers a line of exquisite, top quality 1:12 and 1:24 scale dollhouse furniture pieces for every room in your dollhouse! Each piece of miniature furniture is hand-carved and hand-painted. Hansson uses quality materials including solid mahogany and solid walnut to craft each piece. Their dollhouse furniture pieces feature quality craftsmanship including upholstered seats, working drawers and many other magnificent details! Hansson’s pieces were designed for the discerning collector who only wishes to furnish their dollhouse with the very finest heirloom quality pieces.

Hansson’s miniatures are available in a variety of finishes, although walnut and mahogany are the two main wood finishes. However, be warned that there is not just one shade of mahogany or walnut. Hansson offers subtle variations of each color with minor differences in wood color, warmth and tone. The color differences are done in such a subtle way that all of the walnut pieces can be paired together to create a classic “collected over time” look.

In addition to the popular choices of mahogany and walnut, Hansson offers solid wood pieces in a hand-painted cream finish or hand-painted black finish. Beautifully-detailed, hand-painted chinoise designs are featured on both the black or cream finish. A few other finish choices exist as well as a line of unfinished miniature furniture pieces that act as a blank canvas for the would-be-miniature-furniture-artist.

Hansson also features a wonderful collection of miniature dollhouse upholstered pieces. The selection of fabrics and styles is almost endless! Their arm chairs range in style from a completely upholstered country floral skirted arm chair to the refined mahogany-framed tufted silk arm chair to the distinguished authentic cognac leather wingback chair. These beautiful chairs have coordinating sofas and/or loveseats available as well!

If that wasn’t enough, we’re proud to announce that Hansson makes more than just dollhouse furniture! One of the most unique dollhouse miniature accessories offered by Hansson if their line of Eggshell Porcelain miniatures which includes vases, jars, pitchers, bowls, tea sets and full dish sets. These exquisite dollhouse miniature vases are crafted of porcelain and hand-painted with the most vivid details. These eggshell porcelain pieces make for a magnificent accessory to your dollhouse fireplace mantel, curio cabinet, dining room table or display case.

Hansson also carries a line of miniature dollhouse pictures framed in either mahogany or an ornate, hand-painted gold finish. Each picture features a plexi-glass cover and soft felt backing. We encourage you to visit our site at www.zoolabees.com to see this selection of gorgeous dollhouse miniatures! Please keep in mind that we are also able to special order most any piece available through Hansson’s website. Please contact us at customerservice@zoolabees.com for more details.

A recent article published in Dollhouse Miniatures Magazine asks its readers to provide their most indispensable tools when building dollhouses and other dollhouse miniature projects. Here’s a list of the most important tools to top their list:

One-Inch-Scale Ruler: A standard architect’s ruler is a must-have when working with dollhouse miniatures. This handy ruler will allow you to easily transfer full-sized measurements into scale measurements, instantly! Look for the left end of the 1″ scale which is divided by 1/12″. It’s available at most office supply stores.

Miniature Bench Lighting: When working with tiny items, good lighting is essential. Use an incandescent light at a sharp angle to avoid shadows. Use color-corrected fluorescent lighting for painting when color matters because the incandescent light can drastically affect how colors appear under this type of lighting. A combination of both types of light work well when clear coat finishing furniture.

Plastic Picks for Teeth: These picks are similar to wooden toothpicks, but are made for teeth. Unlike wood, plastic doesn’t encourage things to stick or absorb. These picks are usually shaped somewhat like a hockey stick and can usually be located where toothpaste and floss are sold.

Storage with PVC Pipe: Cut various lengths (6″ to 15″) white PVC pipe, wire or tape them together and attach to a box bottom. These pipes can stand vertically or lay horizontally for storage of wood dowels, molding, metal rods, etc. A larger diameter PVC can attach to your garage wall for larger pieces.

Teflon Pressing Sheet: Teflon pressing sheets can be used while painting, sanding, gluing or even ironing. The dried paint and glue can be washed off or scraped off using an old credit card. These sheets are practically indestructible, but be careful not to cut on them. These are usually found in fabric stores and are available in different sizes.

We hope you will find these tips provided by readers of DH Miniatures magazine useful. Please visit our other blog postings for more helpful tips and suggestions.