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!

Mid Century in Miniature and a Disposable Roombox

This month I took delivery of some wonderful mid century modern Danish style furniture. I ordered it all from Minisx2 and it was lovingly hand made by the very talented Patie. I wanted to make a modern 1950s style room box for the bookshelf, which I thought was looking too bare.

I decided to make a room box which would be quick and easy to assemble. Instead of wood I used poster board.

I bought some textured olive green paper (to imitate painted stucco walls) and brown felt for carpet. I cut strips of which 1mm thick card for the skirting board. All up it cost about $25 for the whole room box. 

It was quick and easy to assemble. 

Then I placed it in the bookshelf and arranged the furniture. The whole exercise took about an hour and a half. Now I am shopping for some lights and some nice accessories to fill it out with.

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.

Furniture Arrangement - Sometimes Miniature Skills Come in Handy

Finally after more than a month I am back online!

My boyfriend and I have just moved into a new (tiny) apartment.  The spaces in the apartment are awkward, and it was hard to know how best to place the furniture. My boyfriend had the idea of using my little furniture and making a mock up of the strangely shaped room (using some of the copious amounts of cardboard from the moving boxes). I was more than happy to oblige.

Finally my miniature furniture and construction skills had came in handy for an actual practical purpose!

I have a lot of mid century danish furniture, and so my little 1960s Lundby furniture was the perfect miniature substitute. 

We both had fun moving the furniture around and arguing over the best placement.

I was pleased with the result.