Crustaceans

Today I assembled the Hall of Crustaceans (sign to come).  I had one shell left from the shell plant, and it fit nicely here.  The shrimp and crab illustrations came from the Wok and Tempura Cookery book.

Please read here if you would like to learn more about crustaceans.  (I did!)

More Specimen

After the first blocking, it was urgently clear that I needed more butterflies and dung beetles.  Devon got to work on this right away. (Thank you, Devon!)

I affixed the frames to the wall with temporary miniature wax, and used more blocks for the pedestals.  The dung balls look surprisingly regal.

Crustaceans next!

Mini Taxidermy

Continuing with the natural history theme, I decided to add some Victorian taxidermy to my 1840s sewing box.  Please see here and  here  for some real examples from the 1850s.

I, of course, used faux taxidermy, and I stuck with the butterflies.  I ordered a small butterfly hole-punch from eBay, and went back to the books from the kickoff.

Devon punched out a few butterflies and mounted them onto a page from one of the books. (Thank you, Devon!)

Results are below.  As it happens, the wings from the devil-like creature shown above made some very nice moth wings.

Mini Crustacean Pictures

My upcycled sewing box has a distinct museum feel.  With this in mind, I decided to try a natural history angle.

And once again, I started with the wall art. 

I found some creature-like illustrations from the Wok and Tempura Cookery book, and ordered some ornate frames from eBay.

Results are below.  I have not affixed the pictures to the sewing box yet. When I do, I will use temporary miniature wax to avoid any damage to the marble paper.

Finishing Touches

Completing a miniature project is much like finishing a long, wonderful book that you don't want to end.  So for this reason, I found a few more spaces to fill and details to obsess over.

I realized with sudden urgency that I had to include this chicken portrait.  I took him from the Tempura Wok and Cookery book.

I also wanted to include this plush elephant that I found at the kickoff.  I decided to make him the shop keep:

And finally, I decided to include one of my early advertising charms. This one is from Little Brown Jug whisky, and appears to be from the 1920s.  I am donating this affectionately from one collector to another.

And now, the final blocking.

Third Tin: Mini Jigsaw Puzzle

I would be remiss if I did not use this pig.

I found him while cutting up the Tempura Wok and Cookery book for the Words and Sentences game.  I considered turning him into a Victorian era Sliced Animals set, but I decided to go with the less morbid picture puzzle.

I added light color and mounted onto cardboard for stability. 

Then I cut into pieces, and shrunk down a photo of the picture for the box cover.

Final results below.  I left the pieces loose, so it's fully operable.  It has 70 pieces total, but it's harder to solve than it looks!

Second Tin: Mini Word Game

I used the second smallest tin to make a word game.  I had originally thought Scrabble, but Scrabble was not invented until the 1930s, which was too new for my shop.  So I found a few anagram histories online, and settled on an 1877 version of  Words and Sentences by Milton Bradley. 

I cut out recipe titles from the Wok and Tempura Cookery book and glued them to a piece of carboard for stability.  The titles worked well because they were all in caps. 

Then I cut up the letters as shown.

I found clear pictures of the original box cover and instructions from BoardGameGeek and shrunk them down to size.

Results are below.  I left the letters and instructions loose, so it is technically playable - but it's short a few letters.  Perhaps a food-themed game?

Nesting Tins

During the kickoff I chose three tins as part of my inventory.

But when I unpacked the items, I found that additional tins had been nested inside each other as shown.

I was delighted with my discovery, and secretly hoped that Gorey himself had taken the time to layer them.  With this in mind, I took extra care with the mini tins.

Mini Tiddlywinks

I used the smallest tin to make a miniature Tiddlywinks game.  Tiddlywinks originated in 1888, which makes it roughly the right age for my project.  Also, the pieces were simple enough to execute in miniature.  You can read about the history of Tiddlywinks here.  (I did!)

I went back to the books for the game pieces. I used a 1/16" hole punch to make the smallest pieces ("winks"), and a 1/4" hole punch for the shooters ("squidgers"). 

I found pictures of original instructions and game boxes from the Tiddlywinks site and shrunk them  to the size of the tin.

Then I used one of Devon's red plastic pony beads for the cup.  (Thank you, Devon!)  Results are below.

Yarn Display

I was quite pleased with my yarn. So pleased, in fact, that I took extra time to consider its display.  I found the solution while reading the Tommy Tiptop book:

I decided to turn Tommy and his excitement into a stand-up billboard.  I painted pine craft sticks for the background, and ordered some 1880s yarn advertisements from eBay.  The ads worked well since they are approximately the same age as the shop.

Results are below.  It is possible that this display amuses me more than it should.

Mini Yarn

I confess that I do not have the patience for embroidery.  But I did want to use the embroidery thread that I found at the kickoff.

So I decided to make miniature yarn balls, using more beads from the necklace.  I stitched around the beads as shown:

Then I cut up the table of contents from one of the books to make labels.  The Tommy Tiptop book was perfect for this, as all of the chapters started with "Tommy":

I am still pondering the display, but for now the yarn fits well in the small wooden box from my inventory.

Incidentally, the chapter names made me curious about Tommy Tiptop and his adventures.  I read the Great Show last night - quite amusing!

Mini Posters

I was once a part-time poster artist. So for nostalgic reasons, when I make a miniature scene I usually start with the wall art.

During the kickoff, I intentionally searched for old paper items to convert to framed pictures.  I came back with four books and one box of Monkey Brand Black Tooth Powder.

I was happy with the possibilities:

I ordered some simple frames from eBay, and applied to the illustrations as shown.

Then I added light color to some to match the litho paper on the storefront.

Results are below! I hung the Tooth Powder immediately to cover a hole in the wall. (I used temporary miniature wax to affix so the wall is preserved.)  I will wait to hang the others to see where they best fit.