A Miniature Tin Holds Memories

The attractive front of the miniature tin

I was out and about today, fossicking for minis, and came across this lovely little tin. It's about 2 1/2 inches tall. I had to buy it, because it reminded me of the tearooms and bakery I'd made in miniature. (You can see those if you click on 'The Tearooms' in the blog index). I'd named them 'Bellevue Tearoom' and this one is 'Bellevue Bakery'.

The back of the tin is as charming as the front!

But the real surprise, which I found delightful, came when I opened the tin. Here it is:

The detailed interior of the tin

You see -  the bakery downstairs and living rooms for the proprietors above. It's one of those scenes where each time you look at it, you see something different. There are so many details that are interesting - the welcome mat at the door; two kittens playing on the floor of the shop; patchwork quilts on the beds; dishes on the draining board in the kitchen.
  There were other little tins in the series. Perhaps I should start a collection! 

The Tearooms: Wedding Cake Display

Miniature wedding cakes on display

The top floor of the tearooms is set out as a display of wedding cakes. The floral arrangements I made with ribbon roses and fronds of artificial ferns, stuck into brass urns on top of columns that are 'real' size wedding cake pillars. You can buy those from cake decorating shops.
   I made the tables and covered them with material cut from an old blouse of mine, white muslin embroidered with tiny white flowers. It used to be my favourite so I was pleased to give it another 'life' once it became a bit the worse for wear. The chair was a dolls house miniature I painted white and reupholstered in gold material.
   And the cakes! Some I bought, some I made and the tiered one in the middle of the long table is a plastic bubble bath container! The teeny tiny bride and groom cake topper is a metal miniature. It's hard to see in this photo but on the round table is a tiny Swarovski crystal glass that I filled with pale blue and pink Fimo sugared almonds. They were fiddly to make, believe me!

The Tearooms - The Cafe

A miniature tearooms 

This floor of the Tearooms is set out with tables and chairs in a cafe setting.
   I was lucky enough to buy some of polymer clay artist, Jewel Lewis, sets of teapots, plates, cups and saucers. She does wonderful work in millefiori patterns in such tiny details. They are works of art!

1:12 scale teapots

   I painted up the bookcase on the back wall to display my collection of 1:12 scale teapots and tea canisters. I've collected those at various dolls house and miniatures fairs and conventions.
   The paintings on the walls are all of pretty scenes featuring tea party settings. I'd cut them from magazines and framed them with miniature picture framing wood. That's a bit trial and error for me - measuring and cutting accurately are not my strong points!!
   All in all I think I achieved the look I was after for this room; fresh, light and somewhere you'd go for a relaxing afternoon tea - if you were only 5 1/2 inches tall!

The Tearooms: The Bakery

1:12 scale tearooms 

A miniature bay window 

What fun it was creating a 1:12 scale bakery in the ground floor of the tearooms. For the counters I used the plastic boxes that Ferrero Rocher chocolates are packed in. Part of the fun was eating all the chocolates!
   Some of the cakes I made, some I bought. I created the pavlovas using white bathroom sealant that I piped onto plates and let dry before gluing on tiny slices of Fimo kiwifruit and strawberries. They looked really authentic. Other cakes and pastries I made out of Fimo.
   For bread in various shapes and sizes, I used Crayola Magic airdrying clay. It dries white and can then be brushed with powdered pastels in shades of brown to give colour. The bread was stacked on a bakers rack and in baskets.
   An old dolls house 1:12 scale refrigerator made a drinks cabinet when I took the door off and put tiny Coke bottles and juice bottles in it.
   In the bay window I put the most impressive cakes!

The Tearooms

Miniature tearooms

This is the second incarnation of this 1:12 scale building I designed. I wanted a building that didn't take up too much space so decided to make it tall and thin, only one room wide over three storeys.
   At the time, we were having an extension built onto our real house. I asked the builder if he would cut the wood to my measurements as I didn't have a suitable saw. He said he'd be happy to, then appeared a couple of days later with the whole thing, except for the windows and door, built for me! Good on him!
     When I decided that I wanted a bay window on the ground floor, my husband had a bright idea. He cut up the lid of my yoghurt maker to make the top and bottom of the semi-circular window!
   Originally I made it into a Victorian era emporium called 'Buckinghams'. It had departments for hats and parasols, sewing notions and materials, and lingerie. I made all the furniture and accessories and had a lot of fun doing them.
   Later, I decided that rather than having another dolls house, I would strip 'Buckinghams' out and redecorate it to make 'Bellevue Tearoom'. I added shutters and window boxes, changed the dull brown Victorian colour scheme to a fresh blue and white, applied the gold stick-on lettering and had great fun making cakes, breads, and pastries for the tearooms.
   On the ground floor is the bakery. There is a tearoom on the middle floor and the top floor houses a wedding cake display. I'll show you it in more detail over the coming days.