About a year ago I took a trip to the ‘burbs to check out Mitsuwa Market, a national chain of Japanese grocery stores. I have a local Japanese market that I was pretty faithful to, but I’d heard Mitsuwa had a dope bakery and… toys! Yes, I am almost 30, but Japanese toys get me every time. I was definitely not disappointed in the bakery, I picked up panda-shaped buns, turtle-shaped rolls and fruit sandwiches galore, but the toys…oh, the toys are what keeps me coming back.

It was then, my friends, that I first laid eyes on Re-Ment miniatures. Evil things, packed neatly in their pink blind boxes, taunting me with their tiny, mysterious contents. I bought two boxes, not knowing what was inside and not able to even read what the labels said. When I got home I unpacked a miniature strawberry-shaped dresser with a tiny needle and thread which my niece has since destroyed, but what really caught my interest was the micro crepes, complete with fillings and even a mixing bowl with plastic batter splashing out. I can’t even tell you how many sets of Re-Ment and Mega House miniature food I own today, but I can tell you that I have two mini bakery cases and a little kitchen absolutely stuffed with tiny cakes and cupcakes the size of pencil erasers, which is what inspired this post.

Often times I get doubles, because unless you buy your sets on eBay, you don’t know what you’re getting. I’m not crafty enough to do anything with my surplus, so I trade with other crazy people- I mean, collectors. But there are lots of seller on Etsy taking these sweet minis and making awesome stuff out of them.

Check out this necklace from Sparklebean. It’s a Re-Ment cupcake, with a bite taken out no less, and a tiny pastry bag. I love it! And for under $12 it’s a great deal, these sets run between $4-$10 depending on where you buy them. She also makes a really cute magnet out of my favorite piece in my collection- a tiny hand mixer and bowl of cake batter. That one’s $8.50 and I’m pretty sure that message on the fridge was meant for us.

Etsy seller DancingDin0saur took another of my favorites, the coffee and donut set, and made it into this cute bracelet. The sugar packets kill me. This one’s $13, she has a few others that are equally cute.

They say cookies are the new cupcake, a statement I find both confusing and stupid. But I swear I read it in my local paper’s news magazine. Anyway, I might prefer cupcakes for their cuteness, but I can’t think of a time when I ever said no to a cookie. So this baking cookies necklace from RESPLENDENTREDHEAD cracks me up. At $20 it’s the priciest of the bunch, but these things are so tiny I can’t imagine how frustrating they are to work with. And anyway, $20 to tell the world you’re the best cookie baker on the block isn’t all that bad.

So I realize that was a slight departure from “just cupcakes,” but most of my favorite cupcake lovers (what up to Melisser and Leigh!) are also Re-Ment addicts so I think there’s a connection there. If you’d like to read more about the sickness you can check out this blurb I wrote about Re-Ment for Echo Magazine. Find them at Mitsuwa Market, eBay, doll shops, Amazon and in the best Japanese toy stores. I’m going to go rearrange my mini taco set now. Don’t make fun of me, I can still totally beat you at arm wrestling.