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Time for another miniature project. When one has the itch, one must scratch! This was a special double sided miniature scene.  Is this Mary's Sweet Baking House? Scene? Shop? One may never know... And judging by the instructions all in Japanese maybe it's not really meant to make sense as a label to us English speakers. I was a little intimidated to take on a project with instructions by picture only, but I think I did alright! The kit had a music box to attach underneath, which was wound up behind the tea table, and the music gearbox itself hidden behind a china cupboard. Sadly I forgot to take pictures of the end product, especially because Dad gave me a little lazy susan turntable base to put underneath. Oh well - when I get around to unearthing it from my crafts cupboard I'll update the blog. It looks pretty much like the picture on the box, though it does light up. **EDIT** I took more pictures, some with the lights on. Enjoy!
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As of January of this year, I hadn't done a dollhouse, or really anything in miniature, and the itch was getting pretty bad. However, Renaissance Fest clothing projects were taking good chunks of my time and craft room space, not to mention crafting/sewing budget! I had completed this kit previously, and it was addictive. With a wedding shower/bachelorette party coming up later in October, I had my excuse to do another! I even had a music box for this kit, as my previous attempt at ordering the "upgrade" for my other kit resulted in two other music boxes in perfect working order that now needed a miniature to go around it. ;) The box arrived a little beat up, but the contents weren't damaged, so it was a go ahead with no pre-repairs!
Something minor was lost in translation, which I found humorous. This series is by Cuteroom and is called "Tagether Around" with this particular model called "LOVE IS PERMANENT." And yes, the misspelling of "together" and the command in all caps that love is "PERMANENT" is what was printed on the instructions. A dubious beginning! However (and to my great relief) these instructions had been translated into English already, so I was able to conserve materials along the way and use the patterns for cutting out the fabric and paper components instead of wasting materials in trial and error.   The instructions have the builder start with the sweets on the table (well, actually the table itself) which is probably a good thing since those little pieces can drive a person batty. I mean, they are teeny tiny!
Now on to what i had been looking forward to putting together: the dress, with lights installed underneath. (I had to test it out once!) If I had access to more supplies I would have styled the dress a bit differently, but overall the gold, silver, bows, lace, tulle, etc., etc., etc. work all together in a busy jumbled mess. I did end up making the bodice slightly more modest by lining it instead of letting the black dress form peek through the piece of lace.
Above are the dress, table, and lantern in place to gauge overall fit before I glue things down.
One of the elements was a board with blank spaces to fill in the names and dates for that special day. This was my best attempt with my best pen - this thing is itty bitty in real life! And of course since it's over the top in design anyway, the whole thing just screams out that it needs an arch covered in pink puffy organza. Of course. (And it's lighted underneath!)
Somehow I managed to squeeze everything on the stand. There are holes in the black plastic base for the wires to go through. And you can see the extra plate of candies I included on the "grass" in back, made out of scraps from the other details. You can also see my hand in the picture, which should give an idea of exactly how small this thing really is!
Lit up it is really quite beautiful.
The switch for the lights and the key for the music box are on the bottom. However, a few months after I completed the kit I was showing it to my dad, and the music box refused to work! After prying the plastic pieces of the base apart I discovered the inexpensive "electrical tape" holding all the wires back away from the music box gears was not holding up. I replaced it with the real stuff, and now it's just a waiting game until the bridal shower in October! I plan on this being on a cake or cupcake stand at the top, with fancy tea party decorations all around. The spring Renaissance Festival came and went in April, and we got LOTS of compliments on our costumes! As promised, here is a picture of us all in our finery:  And did I mention that Kate and I had matching outfits? We were busy that day! Part of the time was spent handing out prizes from the musketeer's treasury. We were also in charge of reading the story during the Queen's Tea. The kids were enthralled! We read "The Knight and the Dragon" by Tomie DePaola.
My dearest hubs was also busy pulling triple duty as both Hearald for the Court and Executioner later in the afternoon, plus a Prince of dubious origin when the rest of the Royal Court was at the joust. He loved it all! We have found that elusive thing all couples desire: an activity we like doing together for fun.
And, lest I forget! L looked great in her purple gown. So good, in fact, that I'm doing an Anne Boleyn style dress for her this fall out of green silk. More blog posts to come on that for sure!  And you should see LOTS more from me in the future too. In October Kate and I have a bachelorette TEA party to host. I've already made a miniature music box for that. I just need to get the photos uploaded.... In addition Kate is doing our fall Ren Faire dresses, I have a skeleton of a plan of some pirate/steampunk/renaissance inspired costumes to wear to the KC Ren Fest, new skirt material to make over the Italian dresses from several years ago, a Renaissance princess teddy bear to make for some friends who just had a baby, brown pants to make for the hubby's new fall outfit, plus his black and brown doublets to re-line. Instead of making them reversible I'm just lining each with something more lightweight. I'd say that's enough to keep me busy!
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