Where did you find that?

I know that every time I post a picture like this...

The jack o'lanterns and candy corn were made with polymer clay. The candy corn packages, treat bags and halter trim were made from paper. The 3D printed feed pan was purchased from Enterprise Props. The table is a customized Breyer picnic table. The halter is made from grosgrain ribbon and Rio Rondo hardware. Snickers is a Breyer Giselle customized by Tiffany Purdy

or this... 

The sleeping corgis are magnets that I purchased on Amazon. I made the Sherpa blanket.

or this...

The gourds were found on the seasonal aisle at Joann Fabrics. The leaves are made out of paper. The table is of unknown origin and was given to me by a friend. The halter is made from grosgrain ribbon, paper and Rio Rondo hardware. Tucker is a Brigitte Eberl Cisco resin painted by Pat Hefty. I bought him from another collector after seeing his sales ad on Facebook.

or this... 

Raccoon is a Safari animal that was purchased at Michaels. The harness and leash are made from kangaroo lace, embroidery floss and Rio Rondo hardware. The beer came from an eBay seller. Jose was a gift from Tiffany Purdy.

someone is going to ask, "Where did you find that dog/pumpkin/candy corn/bottle of beer/raccoon?" I get it. In fact, I've asked that question more than once myself, and I really appreciate it when people are willing to share their sources.

1:9 is a somewhat unusual scale, falling halfway between the more common dollhouse (1:12) and play (1:6) scales. It can be difficult finding realistic props this size, so I have a policy of buying affordably priced, properly scaled items whenever and wherever I can find them. It almost doesn't matter what they are. I figure if I have them, I will find a use for them.

Happily, the most readily available things are the horsey things. Breyer is heavily invested in the 1:9 scale market and has sold a lot of nice props over the years. I am particularly fond of their grooming kit, which makes up a large part of my grooming kit. Non-Breyer items in this picture include spray bottles and curries by other toy companies, 3D printed bottles with added labels and a whole bunch of handmade hoof picks.  

So many hoof picks, and still, there's a need for Thrush Buster!

There's a lot of Breyer in my first aid box, as well, but also a lot of Re-ment. Re-ments are high quality, collectible toys made in Japan that are easily found on eBay. Their scale is variable, but most things fit nicely within the traditional range. 

eBay is a really good source for miniatures. That's where I found the scale, measuring cup and jar of honey pictured here. The molasses and pink feed scoop (actually a bead scoop) came from the craft store. Craft stores are also a good source for miniatures! Nichelle Jones made the peppermints, The Red Cell was made from a dollhouse wine bottle with a paper label. The salt blocks are really old. They may have been part of a Dakins set, but I'm not sure. I've had them at least twenty years.

These feed bags are almost as old. I bought them from another hobbyist in the early days of eBay. The 3D printed feed pan was created by Enterprise Props, and I made the hay bag using a tutorial from Nichelle Jones' Desktop Stables blog. Hobby artists are perhaps the best source for 1:9 scale offerings.

Most of the coffee came from eBay, but the coffee bag was a gift from Bobbie Allen. 

The Schleich rattlesnake was a gift from Carol. She brought him to me from Germany. I'm not a big fan of rattlesnakes, but I do love gifts, especially those of the 1:9 scale variety. I look forward using him in a Natural Trail set-up. The other reptiles came from toy stores. I made the sign using my laptop computer, printer and photo paper.

So many things can be made out of paper! Almost all of the candy shown below was created that way. The only exceptions are the candy corn (polymer clay) and the box of Cracker Jack. I got that at a dollhouse shop when I was a little girl. Hard to believe, but it's at least forty years old.

The backgammon game and toy chest came from the same dollhouse shop as the Cracker Jack. The cards, rubber ducky and rubber chicken were purchased within the last year.

That's something I can't really stress enough. I didn't buy all this stuff in one place and I certainly didn't buy it in one day. I have been working on my 1:9 scale world for decades. 

So when people ask me, "Where did you find all this stuff?" the answer isn't simply Breyer, eBay, Amazon, MH$P, the craft store, the dollhouse store, the toy store, the tack store, it was a gift or I made it myself. The answer is also time.