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.

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!

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....

Tea Room 1

Projects don't necessarily need to be carbon copies, they can take on a life of their own. 
Continuing on, using the Miniature Worlds book as inspiration.

 

The tea room started out with a Tetley Tea box. 

 

However, once the wallpaper was installed, and the opening framed, it was obvious the scale was all wrong for the contents. Rats! A great idea, and the wallpaper was perfect, too! And of course, there wasn't any more.

This is how the box looked once framed.

Very cramped and difficult to see interior.

Smaller Scale roomboxes

Both Cindy and I had this little bedroom set.

If I hadn't seen Cindy's bureau, I wouldn't have noticed the lamp was missing.

So here is mine. Lamp restored.

Wizard's Room, The Finale

All the bits and pieces have been made. Arthur's sword added the the back.

The book title and marvellous cover illustration by Arthur Rackham, printed and applied.

And Tadaaaa! The finished project! Pretty pleased with ourselves.

Wizards Room, Curtains and Balcony

Continuing on....
The balcony can be seen in this picture. Cindy had some leftover railing in her stash and it was just enough. Paper card formed the floor and wood strips were glued to the parts of the balcony which would touch the wall.

The balcony was too bare, so to the stash we go again, and this paper collar for coffee was retrieved. 

Doesn"t look much, does it? Dry brush with crimson and tan....add an owl.....

Cindy found the perfect fabric for the curtain, which was gathered and glued the wood strip supporting the card floor. 

 



The tapestry was downloaded from the internet and dampened slightly to shape it to resemble a curtain.

January - Wizards Room Bits and bobs

Now the fun begins. Cindy made some of the interior items, like the wizard's chair.

The little owl is a perfect addition to the book and lectern, Can you see it is a button? 

Arthur's sword was embellished with a bit of greenery and painted. 

 Cindy had this wee mouse, Pandora's box, and the stone table in her stash. The base was a gold cap from some perfume, and was painted to mimic the stone top.

The crystal ball was from Linda's stash, the plinth made from corrugated cardboard and paper strips with bits of Playdough added to support the ball. The whole thing was painted black with gold accents.

See the tutorial for these wall sconces in the Littleroomers blog

September, the Wizard's Room, Back of the Book

Paper torn and applied to the inside of the book. Window, tunnel and door placed for size and location.

Walls painted. Stairs glued in place. Window made from picture out from a travel brochure, glued to a sheet of clear plastic. The glazing is masking tape, painted black and cut into thin strips and applied to the clear plastic. The stone surround is from egg carton cut to shape, same with the door and tunnel. Cindy had some wonderful fabric which looks like leather. Here it is being glued. First cut  a strip of card the width of the book's lip. 

Glue the strip beside the lip. Trim the fabric over and glue to the card. Mitre the corners.

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Fold over again and glue to the lip.