"We thought if we did this, we'd have all kinds of space because we were going smaller," said Sarah Klingbeil, owner of Treasure Hill Miniatures. "Well, that wasn't the answer."

The Klingbeils' hobby happened by accident.

"It was just a fluke," Sarah said. "I was invited to a miniature club, and I came home and I was so thrilled. It wasn't long my husband got the disease."

"You've got to have a hobby," Dick Klingbeil said.

Now, this fluke is their business. Treasure hill miniatures is a place where life is looked at on a smaller scale.

"I tell everyone I go to work to play," Sarah said. "You'd be amazed at what we make out of nothing."

Sarah and Dick don't make many sales.

"It's a hobby. It is a business, but you couldn't live on it," Sarah said.

But for them, staying in touch with people is more important.

"They come in for ten minutes, and leave two hours later," Sarah said, describing those that stop by Treasure Hill Miniatures.

You can truly get lost in this world of itty bitty. The ratio for these miniature items is about an inch to a foot. So, to give you an idea of how tiny these pint-sized items actually are, take for instance the size of a soda can. This is what you would find in your house, but this is what you would find in a doll's house.

When it comes to doll houses, the more realistic, the better.

"It's all imagination," Dick said.

The doll houses are filled with intricate details: even smaller dollhouses; nightgowns laid out for bedtime; phones, some even sitting off the hook. And customers can personalize the house they want the Klingbeils to build.

"Some want their houses lit, and some don't," Sarah said. "It's your house, you do what you want."

It's art imitating life, but sometimes life can imitate this art.

"In fact, the waterfall I'm building outside the front door here, I made up in miniature first," Dick said.

Dick is recovering from back surgery so working with ounces instead of pounds is beneficial. Right now, he's renovating the replica of someone's childhood home.

"She doesn't want handles on it to take the second floor off," Dick said, describing the custom order.

In the land of miniature, the Klingbeils' brains never get a rest.

"I've heard of many times where a person came out of an industry and, when he retires, he's gone in a couple of years because he has nothing to look forward to," Dick said.

Part of the reason Sarah and Dick don't make many sales is because they just won't sell. Sometimes they just can't put a price tag on a hobby, even a tiny one.

Treasure Hill Doll House Miniatures is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and by appointment. You can contact Dick and Sarah at (573) 642-8802.