Birthday Arrangement in Miniature

 Several years ago, I received the flower arrangement below for a significant birthday from my older daughter, who comments on the blog as Lady Iolanthe. The arrangement looked like it should be do-able in miniature, so I took a good photo of it.

It has taken me at least two years to "get around" to making this arrangement in miniature, and it is intended to go into the display window of the miniature flower shop, Floriana. The last flower I had to "work out" in miniature was the goldenrod, of which there is quite a bit in this arrangement. I woke up too early this morning, and decided to give it a bit of thought. My first attempt, model railroad foliage with fine yellow sand, just didn't look right. Then I remembered that I had some fine plastic foliage, the right colour for the goldenrod base, in my stash. And here is the finished miniature:

It is a bit rounder than the original, but I think the result is pretty good! As I couldn't find my box of fishing weights, I looked in a box of washers for something to weight the tiny basket down, but nothing that would fit was heavy enough. That's when I noticed the cone-shaped chimney top I had removed from the stove in the wooden shoe factory, and that's what's in the basket; Waste Not, Want Not, I guess! It is heavy enough to give heft to the basket.

I will be making more goldenrod for the Bird of Paradise arrangement that was a gift for our recent 50th wedding anniversary, from our far-away children (no visiting, thanks Covid!) I will take a photo of how I did the goldenrod pieces, in case anyone else is crazy enough to try it....

Got Some Work Done Toay

The sun came out, it was dry, and it was warm enough to finish spraying the stove for the wooden shoe factory.

Taken at an angle, obviously, and the metal plate to go into the wall is still on the kitchen counter. In order to dry the piece, I pushed a branch from the apple tree through the stove, which dislodged the pencil sharpener inside! Serendipitous happening....

The stove being done, I can now stucco the remaining walls of the wooden shoe factory, yeay!

I also did a dry run - minus most of the foliage and all of the goldenrod - for the first flower arrangement I am working on. It is obvious that I'll have to cut down on the number of flowers in the arrangement; a miniaturised floral piece is simply not big enough to be an exact copy. It has to fit into a small basket, and I need to find my tiny lead fishing weights to hold that down, before I do the planting. Also, I still have to "invent" goldenrod flowers.

At least I was able to get some miniature work done again!

 

New Batch of Flowers

It has taken a couple of weeks to work out how to make some of the flowers that I need to reproduce two Real Life floral arrangements in miniature, to be displayed in the Floriana flower shop. When the arrangements are completed, I'll post photos of the real thing and my miniature versions.

These were almost all made today, most of them during our Wednesday afternoon virtual mini meeting. From left to right, approximately, strelitzia or bird of paradise flowers,a branch of privet, orange and yellow gerberas, large and small carnations, assorted foliage, and in front on the left, some St. John's Wort berries.

The R & D phase of these miniature flowers takes much longer than the actual flowers themselves, as ideas are tried (and found not to work!), new ways of making them are considered, samples are produced, and then I get to play with colours. The berries were easy, as I made a whole plant of these a few years ago for the apothecary garden. I am very pleased with the way the bird of paradise turned out, as they had to be "invented" from scratch, based on photos on the internet. My wedding bouquet half a century ago was made up of these flowers, and they also feature on the tiled kitchen walls in our house.

The yellow gerberas are the second batch, as the first ones were multi-petaled, and when I looked at the photo of a several years' old birthday bouquet, they were actually quite simple. I have a bunch of yellow multi-petal gerberas now for some other arrangement....

The hardest thing, I think, will be coming up with a good miniature version of goldenrod flowers, which were used as "filler" flowers for both of these arrangements. I am playing with model railroad foliage, hair spray or something like that, and flocking powder; once I am satisfied with my version, I'll post a photo. Then I can actually build the arrangements!

 

Happy Easter!

Nothing like tooting your own horn! My Easter card to you is a photo of the spring plants in my Floriana flower shop, as there is an Easter arrangement in the window. And the other pastel spring flowers will hopefully give those of us in less moderate climates a small foretaste of what is to come.

The snow here is nearly melted, and we are waiting for the usual spring floods; there is an ice jam at a dam up-river, which so far has affected a community down-river from us only. For those of you who are new to this blog, I live near the Saint John river, in New Brunswick, Canada. This is a huge river by Canadian standards, and also forms part of the border between us and the USA. Every year, this river floods its banks, as it is the major and only real watershed on this side of the St. Lawrence River; it can go up more than 6 meters in the spring. Last year we had very serious flooding, but the forecast this year is that it will be less, as we have had a very mild winter. I live well above the river, and do not have to worry about flooding here, although it can affect the way I travel into the city.

As the weather has switched from sunny and warm to cold and wet almost every other day or so, I am behind on my spray painting, which I prefer to do out of doors because of paint fumes. The little stove for the wooden shoe workshop has had its first coat, but definitely needs another in some places. The radiator for the loft project is now sprayed, although I would like to give it another coat. I have to wait for the temperature to go above 10 degrees Celsius to be able to paint out of doors, and it can't be damp....

In the meantime, I am attempting to create some flowers for a couple of Real Life floral arrangements I am reproducing in miniature, for the other displays of the flower shop. Eventually, I hope to be able to change out the window for each of the four seasons, and have some plants ready to go for each of those, but each window needs a spectacular display, as a focal point. I am attempting to create miniature goldenrod flowers, which feature in both of the arrangements I am trying to reproduce, but it is hard going and quite, quite messy...

I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you; we have mini eggs, Ferrero eggs, and peanut butter and chocolate Easter treats here.

 

Trash to Treasure Final Episode

And this is the end result, at least as far as the competition is concerned. Once it is over, the lamp will be electrified, and I will change out some of the items of the setting. We were given a list of 35 items, of which we were to use at least 25, with the option of one item not on the list, but it couldn't be furniture. We did not have to use all of every item!

1. Four feathers (in the floor vase)

2. Ten beads: the candles, lamp base, vase, silver box on shelf

3. Three cotton balls: one is the padding for the ottoman seat, "hair" on old man cactus

4. 10" square of wrapping paper - not used

5. Eraser -  not used

6. Five stir sticks, popsicle sticks or tongue depressors: frames for painting and zen garden, and a thin black plastic one as the pole of the table lamp

7. Small box, maximum of 3" (7.5 cm) a side - not used

8. Two stickers - not used

9. Four bottle caps any size: shade of table lamp, form for ottoman. wooden one for floor planter

10. Greeting card - not used

11. Six" square (15 cm) of fun foam - not used

12. Six" (15 cm) square felt: floor covering

13. Six toothpicks:  legs and back supports of chair

14. Two sheets standard size paper:  mirror support, book covers

15. One full sheet card stock: tables, shelves, books, mirror frame, ottoman

16. Five Q-tips or cotton buds: cactus plant on upper shelf

17. Three thumb or map tacks: candle holders on shelf

18. Six" (15 cm) length ribbon or lace - not used

19. Two toothpaste tube caps: white flower pots

20. Small mirror no more than 2" (5 cm) diameter: wall mirror

21. Tea or coffee grounds: dirt in the flower pots

22. Six" (15 cm) square fabric: upholstery of chair, ottoman

23. Two paper or binder clips: legs of corner table

24. Six straight pins: top of silver box, inside lamp shade support, shelf supports

25. Paper napkin or paper towel: padding for chair (not visible!)

26. Two drinking straws: legs of kidney table

27. Two pipe cleaners: tall cactus, old man cactus

28. One standard styrofoam cup: not used

29. One yoghurt or sour cream lid: not used

30. Two nut shells: not used

31. Two" (5cm) square aluminum foil: bowl on table*

32. 6" (15 cm) square sandpaper: inside of zen garden on shelf

33. One egg carton: soil base for plant pots. canvas for painting

34. Six" (15 cm) square foam core: inside shelves, tables, chair, and books, as well as a sliced in half piece as base for the zen garden

35. Five sequins: incorporated into painting

*(I misplaced this, but it is in the photo at the bottom of this blog entry)

It adds up that I used 25 of the 35 pieces allowed. My "as desired" was the scrapbook paper used for the wallpaper, which was indispensable for this project, and made it all come together. 

I will change out the vase with the feathers for a "suede" magazine/newspaper sling after the competition, and fill the silver bowl with moss balls and pine cones. It also needs some reinforcing, as it is quite flimsy. The little table will get a book, while the coffee table will get a coffee mug and some goodies on it, and perhaps another plant. The heavy legs of the kidney table will be replaced with the period-specific  V-shaped wire ones. As mentioned earlier, I intend to electrify the table lamp. I might add a little pillow to the chair, and perhaps a cozy afghan, for a little colour contrast.

This has been a fun challenge, and I enjoyed working on it. I believe it may show up in April on the Miniature Enthusiasts of Edmonton (MEE) virtual dollhouse show. As we aren't club members, we can't actually compete, but members of the group are pleased at others' participation.

The "hammered silver bowl" on the coffee table, missed in the previous photo....

Trash to Treasure Episode 4

I don't "do" modern interiors, but I am really having a great deal of fun with this mid-century modern loft corner. There! I've told you what I'm trying to create for the T2T challenge.

The little corner table just needs gluing up now; I ran out of superglue but it is being picked up by the C-in-C who is out running errands, so hopefully I can glue it up this evening. The chair has its back in place, although it too needs the superglue treatment. The mirror is fixed to the wall, and the floating shelves are auditioning their burdens. A ceramic bead on the little table is trying out for a lamp base; it likely won't be wired until after the contest is over.

Actually, I need to go over what I have used so far, in order to see if I could, perhaps, electrify the table lamp. I have a black or dark brown plastic stir stick, which would make a perfect post for the lamp. After all, the list didn't say all the stir sticks had to be wood....

The little black box with the white centre is my zen garden; it is a copy of one my daughter gave me. I still have to make a tiny rake for it, though. When the contest is done, I will add a few tiny stones; those aren't listed in our supplies!

In use so far: beads, cotton balls, stir sticks, bottle caps, felt square, toothpicks, paper, cardstock, Q-tips, thumb tacks, toothpaste caps, small mirror, tea dust/leaves, fabric, paper clips, straight pins, paper napkin, pipe cleaners, foil (may be removed!), sandpaper, egg carton, and foam core. Uh oh, I used scrap booking paper for my wallpaper, and I can't see that on the list....

Still to come are a coffee table, photo album, and some other odds and ends, depending on what is left of the supplies, and whether my imagination will figure out what to do with them. The hard thing right now is what to use for the coffee table legs. I think I've used up all my toothpicks!

 

Trash to Treasure Episode 3

 

The floating shelves have been installed, and a footstool has been added. I am currently working on the chair, which is taking time because of glue and paint having to dry. The shelves are made of a core of foam board, covered in card stock to resemble wood; the pieces were all given a light coat of satin varnish, which adds a little shine and deepens the colour a bit.

Another of the items we were allowed to use was a napkin; I used mine, which is three-ply, double to put a little padding on the chair seat and back. This is a stop-and-go operation; I have to wait for the glued areas to dry completely before I can do the other sides. I am not patient enough! The chair is based on layers of foam core, covered in the paper napkin, and then in fabric. The same fabric was used for the cushion on top of the footstool.

All my materials are being kept together, as I don't know what little scraps I might need! I've used up my allotment of felt but still have bits and pieces of the other materials ready to use. I made a couple of accessories today, or rather, started on them, but they aren't finished and ready to show as yet. Perhaps tomorrow....