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Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Buddy System...

OK.  I found out why Nellie let Tessie and Zar in her abode yesterday.

It seems that Nellie was not without food, drink or for that matter a chamber pot, night before last.  Tessie let her use the bathroom in the townhouse. 

I fear that Tessie is creating a monster.

Now Nellie is talking larger structure with separate bath and kitchen...

To keep their minds off of larger houses, I showed them both where Tessie used to live and threatened to put both of them back in there permanently.

The first photo is Tessie's first home.  She doesn't want it back....That's the one structure that she religiously avoids.  At all costs.
The point of the story?  Someone on the Greenleaf forum posed this question a couple of weeks ago and I thought you might like an answer...There were lots of them, but this is mine.

"How do you display miniatures that are waiting to be put in a dollhouse or room box?"

Having been in minis for around 30 years, they accumulate.  They are stuffed in drawers and boxes in the workroom, but when I get new furniture and other goodies, I sometimes like to be able to see what is new.

When Tessie vacated the Cortland Doan display case, she took all of her belongings with her.  Including Friskie the Alligator.  Actually, I was happy to see him leave.  He gets testy and snaps at people when in a bad mood.

Someone spelled his name wrong on his food bowl...I got it at a garage sale and Tessie decided she wanted the bowl.  So she changed the gator's name to match the misspelled name.  He used to be Albert....I don't know which is worse.

Anyway, the display box became a great place to showcase a few pieces of furniture.

When it gets messy, I simply take off the back and change everything inside.  I have permanent wallpaper and rug in it that are left from Tessie's time, but they are very neutral and go with just about anything.

I also have the lantern that is next to it.  The rug and wallpaper are not quite as neutral.  They are colors that I like a lot and I know that they will go with a lot of the things that I buy or have in the drawers. I just opened the door, took out the chair.  Swept the floor and cleaned the windows and it was ready for a new chair, table and cat....Maybe the cat wasn't such a good idea.  He may have mini fleas.  He scratches his left ear a lot.


Tessie and Nellie volunteered to pose in her old home....On the condition that Tessie got to hold the screws that keep the back on.  She's not taking any chances.  She hated being confined in that pretty little case. To quote her, "There's not enough room to swing an alligator in there!" 

Now I know why Friskie is in a bad mood most of the time...

Another piece that gets changed often is this three tiered shelf.  I got it at a going out of business sale at a local craft store....Very cheap.

I simply put a panel of wallpaper in the back of each of the shelves.  I made a template of poster board for each one.  Now I can change the wallpaper in a flash.

All I have to do is cut another piece of poster board from the template, cut out a piece of wallpaper to match and wedge it in the back.  They aren't even glued in.

I don't have to put down flooring, the wood of the shelf is very nice, with not a lot of grain running through it.

This one gets changed more often.  It is open and easy to pull stuff in and out of.  And besides, it does need dusting every once in a while...

Maybe I should go do that now.  It hasn't been tended to for a while.

So now you know what to do with all of that leftover furniture.  There are a lot of other ways to do it.  Look around.  Lots of empty containers and boxes, just waiting to be filled.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

9 comments:

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. You are so right! When one is obsessed with the mini habit, you decorate all kinds of containers and shelves with minis. I have done mini scenes (1/12th scale) in hat boxes (4), cookie tins and many on my bookcases. Then after I read your article today, I took a second look at a two-tier shelf I have that may get used for a mini display. If I wanted to work more with smaller scales, I'm sure I would convert other things to mini displays.
Phyllisa

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. I've been wandering around your site again on this rainy Sunday afternoon. I ran across a website you recommended that has been discontinued and I wondered if you knew if it moved and where. It was a wonderful resource for miniatures and I visited it often.It's:
https://picasaweb.google.com/sherree2
These are also gone:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cloe19th
https://picasaweb.google.com/revisvenus1
Phyllisa

Caseymini said...

Phyllisa, I only did the ones today as a way to do quick displays. One time I started counting unusual containers, room boxes and houses. I quit at 60.... There were more....

The websites that you mentioned have been gone for a while. They were European and I suspect that the copyright police finally caught up with them. I think that a lot of the stuff was being used without permission. Just a wild guess.

Deni said...

I really like the idea of diplaying in different containers, while in waiting for a scene great Idea! now where can I find those containers lol

12Create said...

Such a good idea. I have some lovely pieces tucked away for the right house. Perhaps I should try to display some of them. I love the lantern in particular and love the wallpaper in it.

Caseymini said...

Deni, I find a lot of them at thrift shops and garage sales. Good luck!

Fabiola said...

I like your little scenes in different containers.
Great idea.
Greetings, Faby

elizabeth s said...

Hi Casey! I think that your ideas of having small but changeable mini rooms to keep you abreast of what you have and can enjoy, is a really good one! Better to know and see as much of your collection as possible rather than forget what is stored away for a future project and then repurchase it over... and over... and over again!!! :D

elizabeth

Lady Fanaberia said...

Great ideas :) I really love your miniature scenes :)