When most people think of miniatures, they think of doll houses.

Quit that!

Miniatures are simply smaller versions of things, and they don't have to be displayed in doll houses.

They can be displayed completely on their own, like any other collectible. Take miniature bowls and vases, for example.

The simplest way to display them is on one or more small stands. I usually use wooden stands made of either a light wood like Maple or a dark wood like Walnut, depending on the color of the turnings I have to display. A few of these blocks in different sizes are suitable for an amazing range of displays.

Whether you want to display only a few items . . .

. . . or organize a medium-size collection . . .

Or display a lot of items.

In the examples above, I started with 3/4" material, made the first piece a cube (3/4" x 3/4"), then the next piece twice as long, and the last one three times as long. You can make blocks like these with anything you have available (doesn't have to be wood).

If you want a more natural look, you can display your item(s) on the appropriate size of sea bark or any interesting bark chip.

If you want a little more elegant display, you can pick up a photo shadow box, remove the picture and backing from the cover, and use it as a shallow room box.

You can also pick up unpainted wooden boxes with glass fronts at various crafts stores. This one measures 6" x 9".
	Or, you can get a divided display box that you can hang on the wall or use free standing.
Of course, a specially-designed theme room box, like this Southwestern Adobe Box created by West Coast Dungeon Designer Shannon-Isabelle of Canada, makes a beautiful specialty display.
	If you want to display a lot of turnings, this spice rack (turned on its end, in this case) does a wonderful job; this one can display up to four dozen 1:12 turnings in a 12" x 12" space. It can also be used in its regular position, where the steps are lower and wider, and you can get two rows of turnings on each level - bowls in front and vases in the back.
While you're in the kitchenware department (looking at spice racks), you might also want to consider a silverware drawer that can be turned on its side, like this one I use for storing different categories of turnings.
While you're looking around at picture frames and such, you might run across a shadow box like this one. It's 7" x 20" overall with two 4" x 6" inside frames. It can be used as a free-standing piece or hung on the wall - vertically or horizontally. You can easily change the background in the 4" x 6" frames, or put something behind the entire frame. The possibilities are almost endless.

All it takes is a little imagination, and you can easily create a magnificent miniature display tailored specifically to your own collection.