"I Have a Pocket!!!"

The puce and purple lasted about four hours in all.......Tessie decided that they did make her look fat and they didn't go with her hair. And she couldn't ride the dragon.She didn't want to hurt Cordelia's feelings so she came to me for help. I made her a new apron and vest. Then she said that would be enough new. She went back to the old style of vest without bows and a very sedate apron. She did have one request though. "Could it have a pocket? I've always wanted a pocket to keep things in. I have never had a pocket." That was simple enough to do. She is now happily stuffing everything but the kitchen sink in the tiny pocket that I put on her apron. I can't imagine going through life never having had a pocket. It always amazes me that they went for hundreds of years without them before someone got the bright idea to invent them....I wonder who that was?

Speaking of places to put things, Zar's kitchen didn't have any canisters for flour, sugar, tea and coffee. What ever happened to the old tin ones that our moms used to have? They always had such neat designs and were so colorful. Now all we have is stainless steel, glass and sometimes plastic. None of them are very pretty. I think that the old tin ones have all rusted to pieces for the most part. Because of that, we mini people have to make our own with what we have.

Sometimes what we have is not very pretty to begin with, but can be made that way with a little work, glue and wallpaper. I am talking about the infamous Tampax Tampons(they must be the cardboard tubes!). There. I said it.

Nobody likes to talk about them in real life, but they are so handy in mini. Remember the barrel purse and the bolster pillows that I did tutorials for way back towards the beginning entries of this blog?

Judee Williamson taught me to use them for bolsters about 25 years ago. I have been thinking up uses for them ever since. The canisters and the purses were both those"wake up at 3am and can't get back to sleep" ideas. I have been making them for a years, since a couple of middle of the night AHA! moments.

I keep a combo pack of them handy exclusively for minis. That's the ones that they put out that have 3 sizes in one box. They are wonderful little gadgets. Please allow me to demonstrate.

Here you see the start of a large canister. I used the largest size. Each size is actually two different diameters. In this case, that is essential.

For the large canister I cut three pieces from the tubes. Use a sharp exacto to cut. To measure where to cut, simply wrap a strip of paper the right width around the tube and mark with a pencil. The shorter, outside piece and the lid rim are cut from the larger tube. The liner, that the cap sits over to stay on is cut a little taller from the inner tube. Take them apart like they are in the photo. The outer piece, in this case was cut 5/8" tall. The inner piece was cut about 1/16" taller. I cut a strip of mini wallpaper the same height as the outer one and long enough to go around the tube. I also cut a strip 1/8" to match the piece that I cut for the rim of the lid.

I used white glue and attached the wallpaper to these two pieces. You can overlap if the paper is not too thick. In this instance, I cut it exactly, without overlapping.

When the glue dries, set your larger pieces on the wallpaper and trace around the edge. I just glued this piece straight to the edge of the top and bottom without overlapping anything. After it is dry I used a gold pen to edge the top and bottom of the canister and lid. For some reason, in the photo the gold ink looks kind of green. The last step is to put a bead on top for a handle.

You can make various sizes of these for different applications. The ones that I remember had four different sizes. If you wanted them shiny like the old tin ones, you could use glossy varnish on them. You can also cut the smaller ones shorter and make old fashioned body powder boxes that open and then put a pompom inside for the puff.

Tessie grabbed this one before I could do the shiny part. She whipped the spoon out of her pocket and immediately started searching for things to fill it with. I imagine that one will be for flour. It is the largest.

She is back to being a happy camper since I didn't make her put the skirt back on. I'll tell you a secret. The skirt that she usually wears is actually a petticoat. She took to wearing that, her chemise and a vest a long time ago. Those and an apron is all she needs. Oh! She does have bloomers, but she won't ever show you those. Shame on you for asking!

Anyway, things seem to be back to normal, now that Tessie can properly ride the dragon without her skirt hiking up.

I guess I should go make the other three canisters. Tessie needs a place to keep the cappuccino.

See you tomorrow.

P.S. I added a couple of extra instructions in later. I hope they make everything clearer.