It is the archetypal Christmas scene – the tree decorated, the fire ablaze and stockings hung by a chimney. But this is one chimney that Father Christmas would certainly struggle to fit down.

The wintery scene is one of almost 20 created by members of the North Norfolk Minnihouse Club for their festive competition.

The group normally specialise in creating and decorating period dolls' houses, but for Christmas, the 30 plus members have been challenged to create a Christmas decoration in a tea cup, to the scale of 1:48 – four times smaller than the scale they usually work in.

Given the basic materials, they then had several weeks to improvise and create their own design.

The competition was the brainchild of Caz Hemmings.

Janet Amiss, another member, said: 'It's amazing, the entire club was given the same three objects, but they have all gone off piste and created wonderful displays.'

The club, which meets once a month, saw 17 entries to the competition, with some members unable to complete the challenge because of the intricacies of the scale. After much deliberation the winner was drawn from a hat due to the high quality of the entries.

The victor was Kathy Ladd of Connaught Road in Norwich.

The 65-year-old said: 'It's brilliant to see all the individual cups and saucers. I've been racing around local charity shops trying to find the right tea cup, it been really fun and it's a shock to win.'

She said she had thought long and hard about the final teacup to use, discarding another five cups along the way.

'I have been making dolls' houses for about five years, ever since I retired, and this is the most minuscule scale I have worked on,' she added. 'I am currently making a church to the same scale but am having trouble ageing the gravestones to the right colour.'

The club, which is based at Bodham Village Hall near Holt, started in 1995, and is still going strong with 35 current members who travel from as far afield as Norwich and Overstrand to share tips and hints.

Its members include three men – who all attend with their wives.

Mrs Amiss, of Swafield Rise, North Walsham, said: 'My passion for all things miniature started when my father made me a dolls' house for my 40th birthday.

'He made the interiors and I made the furniture.

'Here at the club we all love making miniature dolls' houses and every so often we branch out into other things, like this year's Christmas challenge.'

If anyone is interested in taking up the hobby Mrs Amiss recommended joining a club.

She added: 'There are no top tips, you learn as you go along and learn by your mistakes. You learn an awful lot by joining a group and learning by other people's mistakes too.'

Do you have an unusual hobby? Email newsdesk@archant.co.uk