Tiny Accessories

As an almost final touch (because a miniature room can never really be finished) I bought a tiny but realistic ashtray. People smoked indoors in the 50s, so I thought it added a special touch of realism. Such "adult" things are not always easy to find in miniature.

Little Touches

Today some little throw pillows I ordered arrived. I ordered them from Annina at Miniatures by Annina on Etsy.

They look lovely. Because she has filled them with a type of sand rather than stuffing, they have a more realistic look. 

It is now summer in Melbourne, and today the temperature reached 36 degrees (97 degrees F). Because of this when I came home my little shelf had fallen off the wall because the blu-tack had melted! Such hot weather always makes me feel like Christmas will soon be here (Yay!). 

Some Accessories for the Mid Century Room

This week I have been working on filling the Mid Century room with accessories. 

I made some art works that would be appropriate for the time period. I printed some abstract paintings, including a Chegall and Picasso. I then mounted and framed them. 

I also needed some magazines for the coffee table to give the room a homey feel. I printed some vintage Vogue and New Yorker covers from the internet and made the magazines up with layers of paper.

I also made a few books in the same way as the magazines. It was a challenge to find the cover art to print. I specifically looked for classic titles from the 1940s and 50s, including Catcher in the Rye, the Grapes of Wrath, and In Cold Blood.

I created a small liquor cabinet, with some whisky and a martini being prepared. 

There are also some 1950 stye christmas cards on the sideboard, in time for the holidays.

I made duplicates of my accessories, you can find them for sale at my Etsy store.

Now all I need is a lamp!

Tiny Patisserie in a Big Hurry

Usually I try to make all my miniatures from scratch, so that I can truly say "yes I made that". I like to avoid simply putting a lot of pre-bought items together (though a lot can be said for how fun that is). However, sometimes you have to compromise, like this weekend.

My sister and her partner are opening a Patisserie in Maitland, near Newcastle (outside Sydney) in November, and my mother was travelling there this weekend to help out with the opening. So on Friday mum and I got the bright idea of making my sister a shop opening gift in the form of a miniature patisserie for her shop window.

We had to make it in a great hurry so my mum could take it with her, and so it probably wasn't made the standard I would normally like! We bought all the components and whacked them together in a quickly. Nonetheless it was good fun.

I got a pre-bought shop front, and made a room box around it.

We made a frame for the room box so that a perspex cover can be put in front (to keep little fingers out). 

We put in the wallpaper using real wallpaper paste. Hopefully this time it doesn't bubble! Instead of using real flooring, I just used some printed paper. 

We fixed some shelves in under the windows so that we could put in some window displays. 

Then it was time for the fun part - filling the shop with pastries and cakes!

Im yet to think of a name to paint in, but was thinking of "La Petit Patisserie". 

It should look nice in the patisserie window. Hopefully kids will pester their mums to take them back to see it and get a treat!

Trip to a Country Miniature Show

This weekend I went to the Ballarat Miniatures Show. Although this is a small country show there was a suprising range of stalls and miniatures, including a lot of hand made pieces.

There were bargains to be had (which I was tempted by, but stayed strong).

There were interesting and creative room boxes and house displays. It was nice to see some contemporary miniatures, as well as some with a distinctly Australian feel. 

 There was a great range of accessories for sale, all at really cheap prices.

And there was some wonderful miniature artists. This is Ray Hill. He makes beautiful hand made art deco, Tudor, Elizabethan and Georgian dollhouses and furniture. Everything is made from scratch and by hand.

This was one of the tudor houses he has made. He made it entirely of scrap wood he salvaged from old bits of furniture bought at clearing sales and auctions.

These are some of his fine pieces of furniture. Unfortunately he does not have an email address or website, but he does take commissions and was contactable (if you're in Australia) on 0401 881 210.

As always, seeing hundreds of miniature things all in the one place is a novelty.

I came home with some miniature wine bottles and glass decanter.

The wine bottles were hand blown with real liquid inside. 

I also purchased some metal Beswick-type ducks (which require painting) as well as some more liquor bottles and a soda fountain for a nice 1950s drinks display.

Some Beautiful New Flowers

This week I received a special gift in the mail of beautiful hand made flowers for my Georgian parlor! The gift was kindly sent by Patrick from the blog Travel to Siam (Patrick and I are buddies since we love to comment on each other's blogs all the time!). They look absolutely lovely in the room! Here are a few pics of them in the early morning sun. 

The blues and whites of the flowers match the colour scheme of the room perfectly. 

Thanks Patrick! Check out Patrick's Etsy store Seribatu if you would like some beautifully hand made flowers for your dollhouse too!

The First Daffodils of (Early) Spring

It is daffodil time in south eastern Australia right now. This is the lovely time in late of winter where the daffodil and jonquil bulbs think it is warm enough to flower. In light of this, and the fact that daffodils are my boyfriend's most favourite flower, I decided to purchase some hand made miniature daffodils from Etsy. I found some very realistic flowers from MostlyArt.

The flowers look lovely in the Biedermeier parlour of the Georgian house. 

They also look nice next to the John Glover painting. I think they will stay there.

Also, the outside of the Bungalow is coming along nicely. 

It is fun to see a little house at the end of the corridor when I get to the top of the stairs. 

2013 Sydney Miniatures Fair!

This past weekend, as a special treat, my Mum and I travelled to Sydney from Melbourne for the 2013 Sydney Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair. It was a great weekend and I was lucky enough to meet some fellow bloggers! I met Magaret from My Petit Parterre, and Fiona from A Passion for Miniatures. It was great to put some faces to names! 

I am very glad I went too because I was able to find some interesting things. I found some wonderful arts and crafts style wall paper for my bungalow dollhouse:

I picked up a cheap Chrysnbon bathroom and some nice tiles for the bungalow bathroom.

I also found some wonderful hand made colonial dining chairs.

Also, a nice little chaise lounge.

A little lyre sewing table and wash stand. 

A wonderful little hand made replica of an Australian meat safe. 

It is beautifully made. 

I also collected some sweet little lazer cut plant stand kits. 

And finally, the most exciting, some beautiful scandinavian style mirrored wall scones. These I bought for my Swedish house. The style is very hard to find, and finding them made the trip all the way to Sydney very worth while! They are made by Kim's Minis (from New Zealand), and I will be shopping there again!