Philly Class

I just signed up for this mold making class
(http://www.philadelphiaminiaturia.com/workshops/17.htm ) at the Philadelphia Miniature Show this year. I had planned on taking it last year; but storm Sandy came and my plans got cancelled. So I am trying it again this year. I make plaster molds for my dolls and I really wanted to try making rubber molds and casting resin with a professional. I am so much better when I have someone show me than just following directions on my on. :)
         I wanna make some decorative trim for the outside of my house and maybe the windows; having a mold would definitely help me make duplicates. Now I just need to make up my original pieces. Got to get started, even though I have a month it will take me awhile between all of my other projects.

Dining Table

The table cloth was soaked in a glue and water mixture so that the fabric would drape over the table and hold its shape. After it dried I had to paint over the table cloth like the buffet table; the white lost its color after gluing it down.











    The charger plates were originally silver I painted them gold. The center piece is an AKA symbol which I reduced and printed.  Everything on the table is attached with wax. I thought about gluing them down but just incase I wanted to change them in the future, the wax was better.
    The tiny silverware kept sticking to my hands. It took me a long minute to attach those; but they are so cute!!! They have a lot of detail.

The table setting is all done!  The table napkins were made from gold tissue paper I had lying around. They're not as cute as I wanted them. I had some green beads which I was going to use as napkin rings but I couldn't get the paper rolled tight enough to go thru. I also had a time trying to glue some of those tiny glasses together that kept coming apart.

                                The chairs were recovered to match the pink and green theme.

    Now that I have the main pieces together I need to finish the room. I still have to put the trim around the bottom and top of the room box; do something about the exposed ceiling wire and practice my soldering. Oh and frame my photos and mirror.

Buffet Table

    When I cut the cabinet off the buffet I damaged the top so my plan was to cover it with a piece of wood. Instead I used a piece of card stock, glued it on then painted it to match.

     The table runner was made from a piece of white fabric which I pulled the threads to make the edges fringe. After gluing the fabric down the color didn't look so good so I decided to paint it with a coat of watered down white paint to see if that would help.

I think it looks much better!

     My food making skills are not that great, but I was determined to make the cake after I took Betsy Niederer's class  at a Philly show. She is a good teacher and her class was a lot of fun! The cake however went through many changes as I couldn't get the decorations to come out like I wanted them too. (Think I need more practice)

Ok this is what I finally came up with. I tried to camouflage the mistakes. I made everything from polymer clay except the roses; those I cut off of a polymer clay bouquet.

I purchased the ham, potatoes bread and peas at the Guild show last year. Not sure where I found the salad. The pink candle holders and cake plate I had in my stash. I also made the knobs to match the ones on the china cabinet. Arranging everything on the table was the fun part.

This cute glass pitcher of tea with lemons which I have had for at least 6 years finally was getting a home and I dropped it. :( Needless to say I was so disappointed. I couldn't even find all the pieces to glue it back together. My replacement was a couple bottles of wine.

The buffet table is now complete!

China Cabinet

So I started on my china cabinet. I had already spray painted the cabinet, table and the buffet a medium brown. I highlighted them all with a little bronze metallic paint. The original cabinet was wooden inside with wooden shelves. I wanted a mirrored look inside so I used a foiled paper. I tried a few papers and can't remember where I got this one from.

For my glass shelves I cut the clear plastic that's used for picture framing. It took a little finagling to get the shelves glued in, trying not to get the glue all over the foil paper.  The glue/shelves kept sliding down. 

The knobs on the doors are made from toothpicks.

I painted the ends the Metallic Bronze color then

cut them the length I needed and glued 

them on.

                                                    

                                                        

These are all the pieces I had to use to
  fill up the cabinet. After the shelves
     were dry I started to place everything,
       Mini wax is fast becoming
             my new best tool.

The Pink punch bowl is from Chrysbon, the wine glasses are real glass I got from a Philly show and the bowl and pitcher are part of a tea set (a great buy) I got from Hobby Lobby. The Hot Green decorative piece is a plastic bead.

Here is the cabinet all finished, just waiting for its place in the room!

Fireplace and Floor

     I took a black resin fireplace that I had and painted it White. The surround I painted Black and Silver crackle. Well I painted it Silver and didn't like it so I painted it Black. I accidentally scratched some of the Black off and decided I liked that look better.
I added a piece of wood to the top to make it wider. For the inside back  and base I used a sheet of  plastic red brick.  I glued the brick to a piece of wood  for the base to make it a little more substantial. And for the grate I used a scrapbook finding I got from Michaels.

Drilled holes in the wall for the ceiling light and the fireplace wires.

The fireplace is a blazing!

For the floor I used the premade hardwood floor sheets. I amassed quite a few with my 50% off coupon from AC Moore when they carried minis. I didn't stain it just used clear semi gloss varnish.

Walls and Ceiling

      I knew the walls were going to be pink so I checked through my stash of scrapbook paper and found one. Pink is one of my favorite colors so I have a lot of Pink minis on hand! I decided to make the upper part white( I only had 2 sheets of paper, not enough for the high walls). Plus I wasn't sure about the ceiling. Originally I wanted a drop down ceiling but it wasn't working with the removable top. It took me a minute to figure out how I was going  to attach the ceiling light and still be able to remove the top.
     I painted the outside a dark brown and the ceiling white and added the medallion.

I'm not liking the Dk Brown so I'm going for a Taupe.

Side Project

 One of my many side projects/gifts is a roombox of a dining room for a cousin. I wanted it to have her AKA sorority theme in Pink and Green and filled with Pink Depression glass. (she collects this).I got the box from one of my favorite miniature stores  when I travel south, http://www.miniaturedesigns.com a couple of years ago. It was from an estate sale. The box was unfinished on the inside but the outside was stained a med brown. What drew me in was the cornered plexy glass front and it was the perfect size! It also has a removable top.

              


   I had gotten this dining room set from Ernie's in plan for the room. I was hoping to find everything else from my mini stash. The buffet table came from a china cabinet which I had broken the top part off to use someplace else. Once I got the layout straight I was ready to start. I have been doing bits and pieces over the last year then put it aside for a long while, now I'm in full swing and ready to finish it!