A MINI COLLABORATION

A few weeks ago Tom and I collaborated on a roombox....although I would have to give most of the credit to Tom because he built all of the furniture. My contribution was the flooring, the painting, stucco, trim, wallpaper, and pictures. I suppose my most important contibution was that I asked Tom to build me a hutch and the one in this roombox was the result of that request. Then we filled up the room and we call it our 'Country Room'.

A VARIETY OF ROOMBOXES

A roombox can make a most interesting project. It can be fabricated from small boxes, a box made of foamcore or an attractive gift bag. One of the nicest things about roomboxes is that they do not take up a lot of room so miniaturists can continue the projects without needing large open spaces for a full dollhouse. The roombox pictures that I have added should be numbered so that I can write a few lines about them. First there is the reception room for the bride and groom. I made that roombox for my older daughter who was a bridal consultant for a number of years. Then there are a couple of roomboxes which were made for Ron's Miniature shop when the October salute to miniatures was held. The small mill was made by my husband Tom.....I think I like the large mill better :) but, the little mill got an Honorable Mention by the judges. There is also a project of Fimo 'Alice In Wonderland' characters. They were made by Wendy Brokaw of Carmel, CA. She does wonderful clay figures and I have been particularly impressed by her storybook figures. The pub roombox was purchased by me several years ago at Earth and Tree Miniatures in New Hampshire. If I remember correctly, there were two pubs, one by Kari and one by the late Tom Berkner. I cannot remember which one I brought home with me, but both were outstanding and I just need to get a couple of people to work in the pub...the bartender and a patron or two.

MORE FAVORITE ROOMBOXES

I will be adding five more pictures of roomboxes which are special to me. The first is a box made of fabric and foamcore; made especially to showcase the bookcase desk which was made for me by a friend from Phoeniz, AZ. She was a good friend, but sadly, she has passed away. The roombox reminds me of her each time I see it. Then there is a Colonial kitchen (which resides on a shelf in my kitchen) and reminds me of how much I have always loved Colonial Williamsburg. Then comes the only half-inch project that I have done, although I am contemplating a new one. The roombox is my version of a street in Paris. Having lived in France for two years, this little roombox brings a smile to my face whenever I pass it from its home on a living room end table. The last roombox is another one that I did for Ron's October display and it received a blue ribbon, not from the Judges, but as the People's Choice award. I used a Hallmark ornament for Pinocchio and Gepetto and then made the roombox to look like what I would have imagined Gepetto's shop to be. In the window is Figaro (was that the cat's name?) hovering over the fish bowl and Jiminy Cricket is on the workbench. It bothers me to think of how many years have gone by since I last shopped at Ron's....it's time for a change!!

HUSH A BYE BABY

Some years ago when my younger daughter told us that she was going to give us grandchild #3 and when I knew that the baby shower would be held in Miami, I decided that my gift to her had to be something miniature and hopefully, something practical. I talked over my ideas with husband Tom because he would be making the basic box and we decided to build a miniature nursery which would be done as much as possible in the colors and style of the real nursery. It also would have lights in the ceiling and a music box to hopefully lull the baby to sleep. Tom completed the box for me and I proceeded to decorate it. The first nursery box had a teddy bear theme and I found a mini shop owner who said she could order wallpaper for me. When the paper came in, it was not colored, that is the teddy bears were colorless and that just didn't work for me, so I hand colored every single one of those teddies. The final result worked well; so much more attractive than colorless bears on the mini wall. Tom used two night lights in the ceiling of the nursery box and they were wired to regular 110 house current. The nursery could be set on a dresser and enough light was given for Mom to feed the baby at night. I will post some pictures so that you can see just what the nurseries looked like. The project snowballed in that many relatives and friends asked to have one. In all we built 15 of them. The nurseries were all pretty much the same although some things were added. I enjoy decorative painting so some of that was added to almost all of the boxes. I made a lot of the toys, painted the tiny dollhouses and made pictures and Christening gowns. We also took measurements and drew up plans so that each new nursery would not be a new learning process. This was a fun project and I think I can say that it was much appreciated by all.