MINI BONZAI MODELS - TREE-MENDOUS

These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create. Japanese illustrator Takanori Aiba, 58, has built the intriguing scale models of windmills, lighthouses and even the Michelin Man.He delicately uses craft paper, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and plastic to create the host of sprawling miniature communities that wrap around the tiny trees.Following his work as an illustrator for Japanese fashion magazine POPYE he has spent the last nine years producing the detailed mini worlds.The creations take at least three months to construct with his Ice Cream Package Tower taking an astonishing 18 months work. Since 2003, he has made eight models, with 10 more planned over the next few years.

Other great stories
BIKINI SWIM WITH JELLYFISH

A BIKINI swim with jellyfish sounds like the most painful past-time on the planet .

BEING BRITNEY'S LOOKALIKE HAS EARNED ME £300K

A former waitress who quit serving tables to become a professional Britney lookalike has told how her incredible likeness has earned her £300,000 as a full time doppelganger .

HYPNOTIST JAILED FOR SEX ABUSE

A hypnotherapist filmed himself sexually abusing a 19-year-old patient while she was in a trance-like state .

ADORABLE CHIMP SHOWS OFF GYMNASTIC SKILLS

WITHOUT a care in the world, this little chimpanzee shows off her gymnastic skills as she swings around her enclosure .

Desperate dog set off alarm before police smashed car window in Exmouth

The dog having been pulled from the car - A police officer smashed a window in the blue Chrysler car to free the dog which was in visible distress .

MAN AND NATURE

LEAF-ing much to the imagination, this camera trickery is blooming marvellous .

THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE BABY COT

A LUXURY baby cot has hit the shelves with a price tag just shy of 10 MILLION POUNDS .

WOMAN LOSES 10ST AND DITCHES HUSBAND AFTER 'FAT COW' JIBE

A former size 30 comfort-eater ditched her husband and lost over 10st after he called her a 'fat cow' .

VICTIM SAVES HER RAPIST'S LIFE AFTER HE OVERDOSES FOLLOWING ATTACK

A woman has told how she saved the life of her own rapist after he overdosed on pills shortly after attacking her .

WELL–HEELED: WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE SHOES WORTH £276,000

Here’s a pair of shoes that really are fit for a princess, and with a price tag of more than £276,000, they are the most expensive shoes in the world .

PELICANS CLASH OVER FOOD

LIFTING their heads high and bumping beaks, these aggressive pelicans clash over fish .

SURREAL WILDLIFE

AN EXERCISING turtle and an ice-skating chick are hardly everyday exploits in the animal community .