In an attempt to ignore the fact it's the wrong season for Xmas here (apologies to native Antipodeans but it's true) I have recreated a scaled-down version in air dry clay. My first attempt can be seen here, this is my second.
It's not perfect - the clay still bowed a bit despite my best efforts* so there are lots of gaps and the eaves overhang the sides too much to see the windows well but it's cute! I like the back window best
I have to use an LED tealight in it as it gets too hot with a real flame. The flickering of the LEDs isn't quite right though, a steady light would be nicer. I'm now wondering about trying the Sculpey clay that you bake, maybe that would be better... The mental image still hasn't quite gone so I might need to play around a bit more and if I can get closer to it then it might go away.
I came across a great quote from Neil Gaiman on GoodReads yesterday that really described this process well
Normally, in anything I do, I'm fairly miserable. I do it, and I get grumpy because there is a huge, vast gulf, this aching disparity, between the platonic ideal of the project that was living in my head, and the small, sad, wizened, shaking, squeaking thing that I actually produce.I can't say I agree with him about what he produces, although it makes me wonder what even more amazing books live in his head :)
*Best efforts included keeping it in a cool spot, out of a breeze, turning the pieces often and pressing them down and putting a heavy cutting board on top of them overnight.
