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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Minis On Vacation....

This morning I found a new Plano box in the fishing tackle department of Walmart. I thought it would be the perfect size for a mini making vacation kit. I was right, for once.

The box that Tessie is sitting on in the photo is 7" by 11" by 1 1/2" thick.

If you can find room in your suitcase when you go on a trip, you can happily make minis for a week...If you have any spare time after the vacation part. I am going to show you how.


Here's the inside of the box. It has adjustable partitions. You can make the compartments the size to suit your needs. I use the larger size of these boxes for storing minis, beads and lots of other stuff that needs to be in a class by itself. Thank you Plano!

Anyway, I have all of the tools, glue, and materials in this one box to make lots and lots of accessory type minis. I will tell you what is in my box and you can make changes in yours according to what you wish to work on.

In the top lid, I have a few scraps of wallpaper....Remember the leopardskin purse from last week? Yup. You can make some of those.

Now. From top left to bottom right. First I have a small matchbox full of ball headed pins. Beneath that there is some Penelope canvas and some woodsies for making simple baskets. Oh and a needle and thread.(black and white)

In the next compartment, there are cards of bunka in black, white, green and pink. There are two cards of ribbon, black and white. One card of antique lace and a couple of cards of basket colored floss.The last compartment on that row has four kinds of fabric, about six inches square. They weren't measured, just hacked off.

Row two in the first compartment are strips of index card, cat food cardboard for various uses and white fun foam for books. The second compartment is more fabric.

Third row is a small plastic bag with silk roses and tassels. Next is a small bag of jewelry findings. Then there are some pieces of foam core and some tampon tubes for purse making. The last compartment on that row has several colors of thin leather.

The last row has a flexible 6" plastic advertising ruler, an Exacto knife, small scissors, a tube of Elmer's glue and an emery board.

The last compartment has bent nosed tweezers, toothpicks, several makeup applicators, a small mechanical pencil, some metal hair clips for clamps and a tube of Elmer's stick glue.

With what is in this box, I can make a whole list of minis.....Let's see.... Books, boxes, purses, shoes, aprons for Tessie, hats, note pads and earrings for the cat....I just wanted to see if you were paying attention....

Speaking of cats...Widget had to come and supervise the return of everything to the rightful compartments. I still have a little room in there. I am sure that I will think of something else to add to the mix. I will let you know what else goes inside.

Meanwhile, Widget and I are off to make lots of things with only what will fit in the box. Then we will show you what we did with it. This should be fun.

See you tomorrow.

10 comments:

Debbie said...

Great idea Casey, although not sure about the ear rings for the cat..LOL

Susanne said...

This is a Miniature Makers Finest Survival Kit (MMFSK)...Thanks Casey, as you might have noticed, I seem to forget the right things every time, I go to my summerhouse or elsewhere..
Love, Susanne

DLSarmywife said...

Casey, your vacation mini box is a great idea! Can I ask a question? What 'count' do you use on the Penelope cloth? I'd love to try some baskets but wasn't sure which one to buy.

Caseymini said...

Debbie, what's wrong with earrings on a cat?LOL

Susanne, I will probably have a couple more additions tomorrow, after working with it. So far I have made a basket, six books and a purse. Without cheating outside the box.

Disarmywife, as far as I know Penelope canvas only comes in one size. It's called ten count, but it can be split for petit point to 20 count. You can do the baskets with any stiff evenweave embroidery fabric.

Marion said...

Well done. I am always hopeless preparing for holidays. In particular when it's on a plane, because you're so restrictted with what you can take. In our motorhome it's a lot easier, just a biiiiiig box! ;-) I am looking forward to see the results.

Kathi said...

Hey, I want to go on vacation too!
Are these Plano boxes less expensive than the bead boxes you see at WalMart? I like that the dividers can be repositioned. That's a real plus.
Can't wait to see what you and Widget make with these goodies. :D

Caseymini said...

Kathi, this particular box was 3.97 plus tax. I used to have some of those from the craft dept and I gave them all away. Never the right size compartments and too small. The Plano all come with moveable walls. Much better for minis. The next size up is the one that I use the most. I don't go buy them all at once. One at a time, when I need more, 5.00 isn't too bad and they last forever. I have some that are almost 20 years old!

April said...

When will you be posting the earrings for cats tutorial? I could make a couple of cat capes to go with.

Unknown said...

Veo que no piensas parar ni un sólo momento. Yo tambien viajo con una caja igual llena de material, pero no tanto. Cuando vuelvas Tessi esprará a ver que traes y nosotras tambien.:)
Besos Clara.

Evelien said...

Very clever idea, just need to book a vacation now ;)

And can the earrings be for a dog too, my Benz (jack russel) is a real lady lol..

groetjes Evelien