Fiesta Table

This is the project I was able to finish today. It is one inch scale. Another wonderful kit from Jane Jacobs bought at the Gateway Miniature Show in Spring 2010. The kit took a little longer to make, but still fairly easy. I had reservations about making the donkey pinata, but sometimes just plunging in is what's required. That and having a good picture to work off of.

There were a lot more stuff to make for this table setting---4 margaritas, hot sauce bottle, a bowl of guacamole & salsa, 2 place settings, 10 tacos, a donkey pinata, a sombrero with two maracas, a bowl of tortilla chips, a cactus plant, and napkins.

I don't think I would have been able to finish this if I had taken the workshop. Anytime you have to chop up food (mini food at that) you can forget about finishing up early. Plus I always get distracted by what other people are doing and get insecure about my own set-up. Working on my own, I can proceed at my own pace and let my imagination loose.

This is a side view of the table. I'm ready for some margaritas, how about you?

Fall Table

Hello everyone, I completed two one-inch scale UFOs in two days---I'm on a roll LOL. This Fall Table is a kit I bought from Jane Jacobs back in April 2010 at the Gateway Miniature Spring Show (St. Louis). Boy, talk about an easy kit, I was able to complete it in one evening. I used virtually all the materials that came with the kit, referred to the one picture I had of the completed kit, and voila! It went really fast because a lot of the items were pre-painted and we only had to glue the items in place.

This is the overall view of the table. Even though the tablecloth is black, there are punches of bright colors throughout which livens the overall look. I loved being able to use orange, which isn't seen often.

The table is all set for a festive evening (I have never hosted a Halloween party in real life, but in minis anything is possible LOL). There is a tree sprouting bat "leaves", an acorn bowl with potato chips, a pumpkin with flowers & greenery, orange paper plates, napkins matching the tablecloth, a punch bowl, and candles in a pumkin holder.

I forgot to mention there's a Bundt cake with chocolate frosting, a bowl of popcorn, and utensils in an apple-like holder.

If you liked this, your comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Quarter Scale Retro Kitchen Roombox

I was able to complete this retro kitchen roombox Thanksgiving 2010. The kit is from Luci Hanson of Cascade Miniatures. She taught thisworkshop in Indiana, and I was able to get one of the kits even though I did not actually attend the workshop with the help of Cindy McDaniel. I was stuck with how to decorate the interior until Laura Miller shared a link (American Vintage Home.org on Flickr) which had lots of pictures of American kitchens from the 1920s to 1960s. After a few browsing sessions on that website, it took no time at all to complete the kit.

This is the front view of the roombox, which has a kitchen on the left and dining area on the right. I used just about everything included with the kit, but made a few changes to personalize it. I changed the wallpaper to one with fruits to go with the theme of kitchen. For the ceiling, I painted a warm white and added Roll-a-tex to give it a textured popcorn ceiling effect.

All the cabinets were included with the kit and came already painted! You wouldn't believe what a time saver that was. We had a choice of colors for the fridge and stove and hood, and I chose avocado. The cabinets came white, but I painted them all Ceramcoat Eucalyptus (what I had on hand) to add color to the room. In my RL, I am all neutral (tan, beige etc), but for my dollhouse projects, I use color whenever I can. I really liked the look of the fridge and stove/hood---they were just too pretty to have one appliance in a corner, so I had them both front and center to show them off. However, this doesn't follow the triangle principle of efficiency for modern kitchens. I also added the dining table in the kitchen area, which is a departure from true kitchens from this era, which in general did not have an island; but I did this in order to anchor and balance the room so it didn't have a big empty space on the left side of the roombox. Besides, you can think of this as an updated vintage kitchen.

This is a view of the kitchen from the top. The dining table came pre-fabricated (Luci always goes the extra mile to make her kits easy to assemble). Instead of the styrene tile, which was white, for the countertops, I used scrapbook paper I bought eons ago from Michaels. It added color and a subtle pattern while complementing the whole color scheme of the kitchen (I got lucky I had it). On the left cabinet I put cookies, pie, and chocolate roll I made from Janet Smith's chocolate shop workshop (see previous post). I made the clock from a printie and the canisters from wooden dowels and printies. I loved the coffeemaker which was included with the kit---so clever, but simple, and effective.

This is the dining area. The kit came with a mirrored hutch, but I didn't have enough room for both the hutch and the dining table that came with the kit because I had made the kitchen area larger by having both fridge & stove on one wall, so I left out the hutch and made a small dining table from pre-cut wood shapes you can get from Michaels or Hobby Lobby and paper clips for the legs---simple in theory, but tricky in execution. It took me several tries before I got the look I was after. The chairs came with the kit and were already beautifully painted.

The kit also came with a shelf and printies for the plates---half I used for display on the shelf display and half I used for the desserts on the opposite wall. The steps leading to the sliders were made using the spacers that came with the kit. The sliders go on a false wall that helps hide the wiring if you decide to light the box.

The table is all set for supper. Thanks for being my guest!