The white table was converted into a table for our gypsy fortune teller by adding a coffee filter painted black, and Cindy found this great fabric in her stash. She made the curtains, couch and bed. Also take a look at the silhouette on the door, both cats in later photos and the clock. Can you tell she’s a cat person?

Mouse Winery’ Part 2 - There’s a mouse in the wine

Who is going to populate this little community? Well, The Little Grey Mouse would have grey mouse staff and customers, yes?

The inspiration for the little guy below came from this Pinterest image.

Maria Backstrom wine stomping dolls gave rise to this little lady mouse. 

Mouse Winery Part 3 - Winery, Vinery

What’s a winery without grape vines. Admittedly, our vines are ivy, but hey, it’s an ivy grape! LOL! Use your imagination!

Off to our NOTL library to use the Cricut machine, using the pattern from Heather at Thicketworks to
There are also instructions for making the vines themselves. Cindy and I agree that we would never have attempted this project on our own! Teamwork, that’s the answer!

As you can see, a couple has been overcome with wine fever!Lets hope they recover by the time we finish!
Here is a picture of the outside landscaping.

  And the completed project.....

More tea

 

Here is the revised roombox, the wallpaper replicated with paint techniques. The Tetley Tea clock was copied from the net, the clock mounted on foamcore and the picture framed.
The booking desk was purpose built to fit with the telephone and reservations book.

The teapots, creamers and sugar bowls, along with the bakery products were handmade. Bakery shelf was constructed to fit the display.  

 The display cabinets were made from foamcore, based on this original.

Here is the finished product.

Grocery Store Part 3 - Outside

Once again we went to the library and Devin made us a Coke machine!Like the gas pump it was printed in white. After the red paint and aluminum were applied, a printie from the net was sized and glued to the front. Cindy had the coke bottles and case in her stash. Add an old bike, upgrade it to match the Coke motif, thow some green at the wall, with advertising printies as filler, we have an outside wall.

The pièce de résistance is the sign made by a friend of Cindy"s. Just absolutely perfect.

Mouse Winery Part 1 - Find à barrel and some grapes, make wine

Mice like wine too! These little ones salvaged a discarded wine barrel and created their own winery, called The Grey Mouse.

The shell is foam-core, a wall was added to the back so furniture could be placed against it, as well as to lighten the space. Adding windows helped too.

Cindy made the wine barrels using instructions from an article in Dollhouse Miniatures by Jan Yinger.

Then comes the landscaping. After sculpting the pink foam insulation as desired, a layer of paper towel was glued to the surface. The foam is easily damaged on the edges and the inside pink shows through, so this layer of paper and glue strengthens the area. Then green paint is applied. After that comes some sawdust with green paint and glue, using various colourations and hues. Bits and pieces of moss and other greenery can be used as well.

Grocery Store Part 1 - Printie magic

Cindy got some display trays from Joanne’s shop in the States. She turned them on their sides and glued them to a base to form the start of our general store. She made the floor from foam core, scoring the wood planks and painting. The post office was placed on a platform. The cash register is a pencil sharpener, perfect in this location.

We soon found this project is almost as suited to depleting stash items as a garage sale, attic or antique store!
And how many printies does it take to fill shelves? Plenty!

School Daze

A Fifties schoolroom in Canada brings lots of memories back. Doesn’t the Queen look young? The hours we spent staring at the clock, wishing it forward.....the temptation of the schoolyard in s spring and summer?
We decided on an elementary schoolroom for this project. After the war, we still had those old desks, attached in rows.

Remember those dip pens and Quink ink in the inkwells, ink stains and names carved n the desk? Learning how to use a pencil if you were left handed, so that the whole side of your hand was not black with lead and your work smudged?
That keener who always had her hand up?

 The roller blinds that never quite were even and tended to snap out of little hands and retract with a bang?
Our mothers spent hours ironing those pretty cotton dresses for the girls and shirts for the boys.

The picture frame was custom fit to the size of the room box., since it was not a normal picture frame size. EWe were very fortunate to have the assistance of our local hardware store. The wood was mitred for us and the glass cut to fit.
The room box itself is foamcore, textured to resemble wood flooring and wainscotting. The desk and bookcase are also foam core.
The back wall is made from 2 layers of foamcore, windows cut out of the top layer and print sandwiched between.
The tutorial for the desks is shown on the Littleroomers blog.

Grocery Store Part 2 - You’re full of Gas!

As part of the grocery store scene, we needed a gas pump. So off we went to our local NOTL library makery, where there is a 3D printer. Devin Bateman created a pump for us using Tinkercad.
This is the picture we started out with.

The Tinkercad prototype 

The printed gas pump.

The Shell logos and the gauge were cropped and transferred to MSWord for resizing. Cindy found the perfect cord to use for the hose, and ta-dah!

MET Show this weekend

The Miniature Enthusiasts of Toronto held their annual show at the Japanese Cultural Centre in Don Mills, Toronto. Quite a handsome turnout.

Pink Bull in a china shop

Unique plastic canvas project

Pirates!

Workshop

Fairy Garden

Cindy turned the lantern kit she purchased into a Fairy Garden.

Tea Room 2

So back to the drawing board. Grabbing a sheet of foamcore, and an 8x12"frame, this is the resulting roombox. More space for bakery products and a better visual. Walls painted to resemble that lovely paper from the original plan.

The telephone is a cheapie from stash, and the reservation desk was constructed from foamcore and a scrap of fabric.

The corner armoires, are also from foamcore, based on this one from stash.

Teapots and cakes are made from air-dry clay and painted.

Cake stand on the right made from a silver plate and a clear push pin. The one on the right is a clear bead and a small suction cup.

Now to apply the frame and finish the outside....

Crazy Cat Lady

Cindy has been busy!
What a wonderful scene.

Can you tell she loves her kitties?

Isn't the little mommy cat with her baby just too adorable?