The White House....in miniature

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I went with a few members of my miniature guild to Grand Rapids, Michigan to see the White House in miniature.
It was massive at 60 feet long including the east and west wings.

The gardens were even represented.

I believe the room in this photo is the State Dining Room. The tables were all set and the candleabra lit.

The Oval Office

The rooms were impressive with lit fireplaces, computers and televisions that appeared to be "on", and photographs of past presidents.

The display is a traveling display and now it moves on to a new location.

If you get a chance, it is worth seeing.

There is also a book available.

The Perfect Vintage...A glass of wine anyone?

These photos are of "The Perfect Vintage". It is a Whitledge-Burgess class that I am taking in November.
" The Tasting Room"
Even though I like the furniture they have shown, I am shopping for different pieces to decorate my room.
I have been waiting for a reason the purchase the country french bespaq table and chairs.

The Wine Cellar
This side of the roombox is a wine cellar filled with crates and bottles of wine.

A glass of Merlot anyone?

The class is being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 6-8th.
There still might be openings in the class!

My Shabby Chic Bakery

I spent some time rearranging my little pink cake shop yesterday.

Here is a front view looking into the shop. The shop is made by Sid Cooke Dollhouses. I like this design because it hinges and opens from the front.

Sometime in the near future I would like to change the store sign, add some window boxes and make a brick sidewalk.

The shelves and filled with cakes with room for more.

After tidying....it looks a little bare. I need to add more "stuff".

This side of the cake shop is a baking table made by Kim Saulter and
a small table to enjoy a slice or two of the delicious cakes.
The green and white dog bed I made in my Miniatures club last week.
My little Wee-Chon (Westie/Bichon mix) welcomes guests.

Filling up my patisserie

My "Le Petite Patisserie" is put together and I have started to fill it with desserts.

I put an elegant frame, matting, and glass on the room box. I think that the framing makes the room box look more like a piece of art behind glass.

On the display side, I painted the Bespaq counters the same color as the trim.

I just love the scene out of the window and door.

I have just started to fill the kitchen.

It will take me a while to fill it up but I am in no hurry.

The paper towel holder was a gift from my friend Sharon. She took the class with me.

I pleated the fabric for under the sink.

This Whitledge-Burgess class was so much fun. I am so pleased with the patisserie and look forward to filling it up!

Peach and Strawberrry shortcakes

Last week I spent quite a bit of time trying to make these shortcakes.

I had a few questions and if anyone would offer some advice, I would really appreciate it.

My question is in working with the "frosting". I used silicone and piped it on between the layers and around the fruit toppings.

It was a little tricky because I can't bake the silicone so instead of making a glaze for the fruit from tls, I had to use sculpy glossy mixed with artist chalk. Can anyone think of a better way to accomplish this?

Also, I wanted to grate some chalk for "powdered sugar" and "cinnamon" on the top. Once again, I can't bake it so how do I adhere it to the topping?

I would appreciate any suggestions.

For the cakes, I textured them with a variety of items to get a shortcake look. I used crumpled aluminum foil, them a toothbrush and finally sandpaper.

The peaches were fun to make. I rolled the clay and flattened it on one side on my ceramic tile. Then I popped it in the freezer to firm up a bit. I dusted the top with grated artist chalk in the red color. Then I slices the length into peach slices. With a toothpick, I made a tiny indent in the peach were the "pit" would have been.

The strawberries were just a cane that I sliced.....easy.

Enjoy!

Working on "Le Petit Patisserie" in class

I have nothing but good things to say about the Whitledge-Burgess class that I took in Chicago last week. Ray and Scott were wonderful teachers and I learned so much.

First, we built the walls outside of the main box. Some of the walls we wallpapered and some we covered with fabric. The print above is a quality quilting fabric.
This is the box that we installed the finished walls. It was already partially wired and we competed all of the wiring in class. I believe there were 18 recessed lights in the ceilings and display cabinets. There is one main light above the stove and another behind the door and window to light up the outside view.

The floors were fun to make. We used strip wood and wallpaper in a faux finished design.

The salesroom floor is also faux finished wallpaper in a marbled design. Just cut squares and glue down leaving grout lines in between. Finish with a high gloss acrylic spray for shine.

The stove and refrigerator was made from self-adhesive aluminum contact paper (shelving paper). The stove and oven knobs are earring backs!

The recessed ceiling lights were just grommets glued in place.

Almost done! We installed the finished walls inside the box against the ceiling and flooring to fit together like a puzzle. At this point, I still had trim to complete.

This was a four day class. We worked from 8am to 5pm every day to complete the room box.

More pictures to come!

Look What Came in the Mail

Take a look at my newest purchases. I ordered these cakes from Kim.

http://kimsminiatures.blogspot.com/

Look at the texture of the cakes. Even upclose, I am impressed by the detail.

There is a four layered carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, a pumpkin spiced bundt cake with glaze, a bowl of shredded carrots, a freshly baked cake, a bowl of cream cheese frosting, and more.
I set the yummy cakes on a table for a baking scene.
Mmmmm.....a slice of dessert anyone?

And a gift too! Thank so much Kim!