Wiltshire woman makes miniature desk for colleague's leaving gift

A woman was amazed when her colleague presented her with a miniature version of her desk as a parting gift.

Dawn Fielder-Davis, based in Mere, Wiltshire, made the tiny masterpiece for former colleague Hanna, who she had worked with for five years.

She created the scene in just one week, mostly from things found "around the house".

Elements of the design include items made from a shrimp plate, supermarket leaflet and sauce pots.

The 53-year-old put the mini desk on top of Hanna's real workstation on her final day - 31 January - and the latter said: "Oh my god, that's amazing, I can't believe you've done that."

Mrs Fielder-Davis, who works as a buyer for gift company The Letteroom in Hampshire, said she has loved arts and crafts from a young age as her parents had a keen interest in making dolls' houses, among other things.

She said she recycled materials wherever possible for her creation, including using cardboard to make the desk and McDonald's sauce pots to fashion containers which hold mini documents.

"I put a bottle of water on the desk which I found in one of my kids' doll houses, as she was one of these fitness people that always drank a lot of water.

"I made a tiny little can of soup out of a bit of a glue stick and a label from an Aldi leaflet, because there were always cans of soup on her desk," Mrs Fielder-Davis added.

The intricate diorama is complete with a signature fake cake jewellery box and the two monitors which Hanna used, complete with an inbox flooded with emails.

"(Hanna) made these jewellery boxes that were made to look like cakes and the most popular one has three cherries on the top.

"I actually made it using a shrimp plate and turned it upside down and turned it into a little cake.

"I was sitting there with tweezers trying to get little beads into position without shaking too much," she said.

Other parts of the design include a 3D-printed chair which Mrs Fielder-Davis's husband helped to make, and a tiny tub laying upside down under the desk which Hanna would always rest her feet on.

When she shared images of her creation online, Mrs Fielder-Davis said she was initially " a bit embarrassed".

But she was "gobsmacked" when the post received more than 5,000 likes, with one fan labelling the handiwork "the most treasured leaving pressie ever".

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