Open books in Miniature Rooms

 

Remember these open books that I shared several months ago? I just got an exciting email the other day, from Robert Off of Miniature Rooms Company. We met last November at the Philadelphia Show, when our tables were situated across the aisle from each other.

(photo courtesy Miniature Rooms Company)

Bob builds and decorates gorgeous miniature room boxes, so I was very flattered when he purchased a few little things from my table. The other day, he emailed me some photos of his latest room boxes, and pointed out that my open books were in both!

(photo courtesy Miniature Rooms Company)

Here's a close up of the built-in cabinet in "The Captain's Table" where my book is displayed. I'm dying to get a closer peek at that dining room set as well! This is actually the second incarnation of this room box. The first room box, which had a similar layout but was decorated differently, had to be rebuilt after some significant water damage!

(photo courtesy Miniature Rooms Company)

This "Lighthouse Keeper's Office" is the second room where Bob used one of my books, on the desk. I love the tranquility  of this room, and the playfulness of the dogs!

The rest of Bob's work can be seen on the Miniature Rooms website.

Where I've Been: a 1930s Dorm Room

I spent the last two days hanging out at my old college, helping my little brother begin packing up his dorm room.  I visited a lot of my old haunts, saw a few people I knew, and just had a great time. As we were packing, I snapped a few photos, which I thought I'd share.

One of my favorite things about living at Sarah Lawrence was the dorms. The college has a few traditional dormitories, but most of those were built in the late 1920/ early 1930s and have hardwood floors, Jack-and-Jill bathrooms, and other great details. Even better are the dorms in converted houses.  In the 1970s the college bought up houses in the surrounding area to house more students. The house/dorm above is one of my favorites!

I lived in this dorm during my sophomore year. That big second floor window to the left of the door was my room!

The college didn't do much more to the houses other than put up a few walls to make more bedrooms, so they have a lot of character. This section of the old kitchen was left untouched in Peter's house.

Peter's room is a tiny single in one of the converted houses. He's a bit obsessed with the 1930s, so walking into his room is a bit like walking into a time machine.

Don't believe me? His toiletries are above. His toothbrush is made of bone and boar's hair, he shaves with a straight razor (in the black case below the red harmonica box) and restores vintage lighters (next to the harmonica box) for fun. 

This Eastlake mirror is Peter's baby. We never know what he will bring back from the flea market. Sometimes it's an antique like the mirror...

...other times it's something like these antlers, affectionately known as "Bambi." The photographs and NRA (National Recovery Administration) poster are just computer printouts in thrift store frames.

 

I can't show the rest of the room, since we'd already started packing and created a huge mess throughout the dorm before I thought to take photos. I hope you enjoyed this little tangent. I'll be back in the miniature world for the next post!

Tutorial: Quick and Easy Miniature Shopping Bags

 

 

I made this jewelry and perfume counter a while ago, but (true to form) didn't quite finish it. I knew I wanted to add a bunch of glossy black shopping bags to this display, but that idea seemed like more work than I wanted to tackle at the time, so I put it aside. That time away turned out to be a good thing, since this process is much more streamlined than my initial ideas!

 

I love this method of making shopping bags, because it doesn't require any paper patterns or measuring, but it's very easy to make identical bags. The secret is to fold them around a block of wood.

You will need:
paper for your shopping bag
scissors
balsa wood
a ruler/straight edge
pencil
white, cloth covered wire
glue (I used tacky)

The thickness and width of your wood will determine the size of your bag. I glued two pieces together to get the right width for the my bag. Decide the height that you want the bag to be, and mark that on the wood, all the way around.

Cut a strip of paper for your bag. I used a very thin, glossy black paper. The exact measurements of the paper strip don't matter, so long as it is long enough to go around the block of wood, and taller than height you marked on your wooden block.

Wrap the strip of paper around the wood, using your fingers to crease the paper at the corners.

Take the paper off the wood. Crease the paper again so that the folds are sharp.

Wrap the paper around the wood again. Use a little glue to glue the paper into a tube.

Slide the paper down the wood until one edge of the paper tube is lined up with the pencil line, and the other edge hangs off.

Wrap and glue the paper around the end of the wood, like you are wrapping a package.

Slide the paper bag off the wood.

 

Pinch the sides of the bag inwards, starting at the top of the bag and going as far down as you can. It is easier to do both sides at once, but I had to take the photograph!
The basic bag is finished.

 To make the handles, simply cut two pieces of cloth covered wire, and wrap them around the handle of a paintbrush to shape them.

Glue the handles in place.

Finally, fill the bag with tissue paper. The black and white bag I made for this tutorial is about as basic as you can get, but it's easy to change up the look of these bags by using patterned paper, adding labels, or using different sizes of wood to create a variety of sizes. The sky is the limit!

Details From My Mother's Georgian Cottage Kitchen, Part 2

We spent yesterday playing with my young cousin, so it's just going to be a post full of leftover photos today.

 This cabinet along the back wall of Mom's kitchen is a vintage commercial piece made by Reminiscence. While most of Mom's furniture is handmade, she does have four or five Reminiscence pieces scattered about the house. For some reason, they just seem to fit in her cottage! Can you spot the mouse in the photo above?

 The blue and white porcelain piece in the fireplace was made by Henny Staring-Egberts.  I can't remember the proper name for this fire cover, but Mom loves it. There's another mouse barely visable in the upper left corner of the photo. That one was made by Rosie Duck. With all the mice running around this kitchen, it's a good thing the bread is safetly stored overhead in a hanging crib.

One last little detail I'd completely forgotten about until I was taking photos. These Stokesay Ware plates are difficult to see until you really bend down to look in the house. Hope you've enjoyed this peek into my mother's miniature kitchen!

Details From Mom's Georgian Cottage Kitchen



I haven't shown much of Mom's dollhouse recently because she's been busy with other things. But it occurred to me that I've only ever showed a quick overview of the kitchen, which didn't begin to do this detailed room justice!

 Mom built her sink from balsa wood and real miniature bricks which she chipped and sanded to look old.  I was in charge of finishing the sink to look like stone. I used a combination of glue and wood putty to get rid of the wood grain and mimic the texture of slate. I also made the "lead" cistern above the sink out of cardboard. Mom used a few of my paper tiles as a backsplash. Can you spot the Amanda Skinner mouse? There are eight of them hidden throughout the house.

 

 Mom found this same doll twice on our trip to England! The first time, the doll was in the personal collection of the shop owner, and wasn't for sale. The second time, fortunately, Mom was able to purchase her.

This cupboard is nearly hidden behind the stairs, but it holds several more treasures, including a few favorite pieces by David Edwards.

Over by the fireplace, the high chair is by Brian Long and the jelly cabinet by Johanna Scarborough. The David Edwards egg rack is one of Mom's favorite items. Just above the highchair you can see one of my salt boxes.

For more posts about Mom's cottage, click here.

Antique Enameled Button Sets, Part 2

Yesterday afternoon I made yet another little case of "enamel" buttons, and was able to fix most of the problems that I struggled with while making the first two cases.

 It was much easier than I expected to give the top of the case a "lip." The case was so small that a second thickness of velvet paper around the edge was all that was needed. I also used coffee again to stain the white velvet paper a soft cream. I also made more realistic "keepers" by bending a bit of silver wire around a pin. They are much more realistic now, and are even removable. On the right you can see one of the full scale (but still tiny!) enamel buttons that got me interested in these sets.

For the first two cases I made, the case hinge was just a piece of leather. For this last case, I added a strip of gold thread to the back. Though I thought this case was going to be my last attempt, I may have one more trick up my sleeve. After finishing the case, I started thinking that the buttons should be removable like the keepers. It won't make a difference to the finished appearance of the case, but I'm enjoying the challenge of this project, and want to take it as far as I can.

P.S. Sorry for the blurry photos! There was only about three seconds of sunlight left when I took this photo, and I was in such a hurry I didn't check my camera!

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

 I've been having a love affair with antique enamel buttons. It all started when I found a few (full size) in a grab bag of junk jewelry. After looking around online, I found tons of gorgeous examples. I particularly love the little cases containing matching sets off enameled buttons, brooches, cufflinks, or belt buckles. Though the prices for the full size antique sets put them firmly out of my budget, there's no reason I can't have them in miniature! I punched the buttons out of patterned paper, then added a dome of gloss over the top of each. While I'm happy with the buttons, the cases I made for them still need a bit more thought.

 This box has six "enamel" buttons and a matching brooch on white velvet. I'm not fond of how stark the white is, so I may try shading it with some chalky pastels. I covered the outside with paper-thin imitation leather, and still need to add a  latch to the box. The brooch is only 1/16" by the way, so these boxes are tiny!

For this box, which is less than 1/2" long, I tried to include the metal "keepers" which were used instead of sewing these beautiful buttons on to garments. I used individual links from a silver chain, but I don't like how tall  they are. I will probably make them over using thin silver wire. I also dislike the way I made the box lid. The boxes were so tiny I didn't think it would be worth the extra effort to make the box top hollow, but now the flat lid is really bothering me. I guess it's back to the drawing board. Wish me luck!