The coffee grinder is done! What caused the most trouble, at the end, was not the teeny scale of the things, but finding a way to fix the crank handle and the coffee receptacle in place on the wood. And I still need to find my tiny silver stickers, to make a label for it. Yes, the drawer does open....
I ended up using a piece of thickish card for the crank handle, with a tiny bit of decorative toothpick for the knob. Those were then threaded on to a small piece of brass tubing, and a pin run through the lot and glued in with tacky glue and super glue. I hope it holds!
The toaster looks good! But it still wants a label. The cord is buttonhole thread, though I may eventually change that to cordonnee embroidery cotton - it looks a little delicate right now. The feet are seed beads, the groove was filed into the side of the wooden toaster block, and the handles are half circles of manila file folder glued onto cut-off pins that are glued into the body of the toaster.
The toaster was based on a tutorial on-line, but I changed quite a bit of it. The body was a sandwich of a slab of wood, with thin pieces on the edges, another slab, and another slab with thin pieces on the edges. I painted the inside black before assembling, except for the top edges. Once the pieces were glued together and thoroughly dry, I sanded the corners and added a base with rounded corners.There are at least 3 coats of pink paint, with sanding in between coats, and then a coat of gloss varnish.
I'm happy! The coffee grinder with the movable drawer is by far the smallest piece I've ever done. And I discovered that there are grinders with domed tops; those tops, however, have a little sliding door into which the beans are put - far too complex for miniatures!
Excellent job Marijke! I love them both!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jodi!
DeleteHeavens, I have missed several of your posts! I am sorry for that.
ReplyDeleteI love the green vintage kitchen items! The decoration is subtle which gives these honest items an elegant touch.
The coffeegrinder is outstanding. That little drawer is miniscule indeed! my compliments on that feat! And on the grinder as a whole. It looks exactly as the old grinder wich my grandmother still used up to the 1950's and now stands in my mothers kitchen as a decorative item.
And last but not least the toaster is a fine miniature too. Do I smell fresh toast? :-)
Huibrecht
I love them both so much, Marijke. Yup, definitely need to make a toaster for the lunch room at the North Pole Postal Service! The coffee grinder is tiny indeed, especially the pull-out drawer, but I never doubted you would finish it to perfection. Great job! - Marilyn D.
ReplyDeleteThank you both for the compliments! Marilyn, I can walk you through the toaster, as I still have the piece I cut off, which shows the construction. Huibrecht, to make it look like a vintage Dutch "koffiemolen' was exactly what I hoped for! It is from one of the DHN issues, back in 2009, I think.
DeleteBEAUTIFUL WORK Marijke!
ReplyDeleteYour creativity and perseverance has paid off in spades so I know it will only be a matter of time before you solve your scale face dilema- Simply Wonderful!!!
Thank you Marijke, I found it! It is the april 2010 issue. I will try and make one myself one day. I hope it will be as detailed as yours!
ReplyDeleteAt least you have easy access to Bindel's Ornamenten! I had to improvise with what I had on hand. I think I might go back to making flowers and plants for a while....
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