Workshops in Texas and Sturbridge

In the upper Midwest, Spring is in the air! Or perhaps my burgeoning tulips are just being optimistic. This Spring, Mr. T2S and I will be busy preparing for several shows and teaching our first class, the Vintage-Inspired Christmas Hutch with Glitter Houses. If you will be attending the Texas Miniature Showcase in May, or the Sturbridge Miniatures Festival in June, I hope you will join us. We'll have fun working with LED lighting, paper techniques and assembling glitter houses. The lighted glitter houses and the decorations will be added to a hutch that has been beautifully painted and aged by Jo Dewane Miniatures (the QUEEN of mini aging techniques!).

Vintage Style Christmas Hutch with Glitter Houses 
1” scale Aged Hutch (prepared by Jo Dewane) holds 2 sizes of glitter houses which you will assemble and light.
Learn to work with LED lights to create this charming Christmas display. The light switch and battery are housed behind the cabinet doors, allowing you to easily add and remove the hutch from your scene. You will be given tips and shown techniques for working with paper, as we assemble 2 sizes of glitter houses and decorate them. Materials and instructions to make the decorations shown will also be included in the class.
Tools required: 6” ruler, sharp tweezers, x-acto knife with new blades, small paint brushes (old and new), small wire cutters, work light, small sharp scissors, white glue, magnification if needed.

Class registration for the Texas Miniature Showcase is available on their website. If you are interested in attending the class in Sturbridge, please contact me. We will also be teaching a class at Philadelphia Miniaturia in November. I hope you can join us!

Highlights from Orlando

Warm hospitality, greasy food, Carmen Miranda, and a good mattress. That, in a nutshell, was our weekend at the Orlando show. Several fellow bloggers and blog readers stopped by our table to say hello. It was fun to meet the people creating the posts and leaving comments! I had the opportunity to finally meet the blogger of Tabitha Corsica and view her stunning creations!

Mr. T2S and I went to Epcot on Friday and had a blast dodging raindrops and eating our way around the World Showcase! Perhaps I should have left out the bratwurst from the German village... but after a trip to the Italian village and a glass of Chianti, the grease in my tummy was soon dispersed and I was ready for the Chinese village. Mmmm...yummy!

A "shop window" scene from the UK village.

Our layover in Atlanta gave me some time to check out the exhibit on display–Recycle Runway. Artist, Nancy Judd, creates fashion from garbage to promote conservation. Truly amazing work!

Do you recognize the plastic bags from Target?
The Carmen Miranda style dress and head piece took 100 hours to create.

Coca-Cola couture

A Preview of New Kits for the Orlando Show

We've rolled out a couple of kits to debut at the Orlando show. The first kit creates 4, vintage-inspired, French pillows. They are the results of my interest in French Country style. In creating the designs on the pillows, I took inspiration from vintage flour sacks. The pillows are reversible, with pretty blue back sides, and are already "antiqued" to perfection. Directions to complete the pillows are included. I had so much fun creating this kit, I'm sure that we will be adding more kits that have been inspired by French Country style this spring.

French pillows kit

The back sides of the pillows.

The second kit is a cute little set of 3 treat boxes. They assemble so easily and the heart-shaped window in the top frames the items you choose to put in the box. They complement the pink dessert tower and dessert boxes. They were photographed with Kim's sweet, little cupcakes with roses.

New treat boxes

I hope to meet some of you in Orlando. Please stop by our table and say hello!

50 Miniature Valentine Tutorials

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It's the weekend for romance and L-O-V-E. Between sips of wine, bites of chocolate and moments of amour, perhaps you can fit in a few of these titillating tutorials?

If you would like to add a link to the list, please leave a comment. Your suggestions are always welcome!

1. Candies and caning Christine Green via CDHM
2. Bear, sculpted Nathalie Gireaud via CDHM
3. French desserts and macaroons Peiwen Petitgrand/Oiseau deNim via CDHM
4. Valentine cookie casket Linda Cummings via CDHM
5. Roses, cold porcelain Cynthia Howe
6. Roses for cakes Cindy Teh/Snowfern via CDHM
7. Roses, silk ribbon Cynthia Howe
8. Rose bushes Polly Morris via A Small World's Big Buzz
9. Roses, long stem True2Scale
10. Column Mimicracra53
11. Red hat Fabimini
12. Waffle, heart-shaped Mamiblue
13. Bag showcase Erie
14. Small chest of drawers Jimena
15. Carnations 1inchminisbykris
16. Shabby chic bed 1inchminisbykris
17. Corset Anna Hardman via creativedoll.blogspot.com
18. Bra and panties Loes Snoodijk
19. Jungle pattern undies mishellyzoo
20. Stockings Regalia via Picturetrail
21. Wallpapers about.com
22. Valentine candy boxes 1 about.com
23. Valentine candy boxes 2 about.com
24. Valentine printables Dolls House Nederland
25. Chocolate candy 1 Madison
26. Chocolate candy 2 about.com
27. Heart topiary about.com
28. Memory board about.com
29. Valentine table for kids Miniature Collector magazine
30. Valentine swirl truffles Garden of Imagination via YouTube
31. Valentine's cupcakes Hummingbird Miniatures via YouTube
32. Valentine chocolate truffles Garden of Imagination via YouTube
33. Valentine hearts in polymer clay Garden of Imagination via YouTube
34. Valentine cookies Garden of Imagination via YouTube
35. Chocolate covered cherry Garden of Imagination via YouTube
36. Heart-shaped cake Gentleman Bunny via YouTube
37. Heart sugar cookies Gentleman Bunny via YouTube
38. Layered cake with heart-shape icing ConfectioneryShop via YouTube
39. Triple layer strawberry cake TheSweetSpotShop via YouTube
40. Strawberry cane ToniEllison via YouTube
41. Valentine bunny Gentleman Bunny via YouTube
42. Chocolate cake ValentinaCharms via YouTube
43. Valentine cards printable Jean Day
44. Perfume bottles Lisa's Little Things
45. Wine bottle 1 MiniMaker via Squiddo.com
46. Wine bottle 2 Pierre Piveteau
47. Bottle molds about.com
48. Bottles from molded resin jicolin.free.fr
49. Oysters SugarCharmShop via YouTube
50. Breakfast tray Juli

A Valentine's Day Treat

Mary Broaddus is up to her old tricks — creating more beautiful, detailed miniatures! She sent me these pics to show how she used the Little House on Main glitter house kit and the Valentine's Decorations kit. As usual, Mary made everything else on her table, including the foods and candies. I adore the vintage style bobble head candy container! Please visit Mary's Etsy shop to see more of her delightful creations.

Mary kit-bashed the Little House on Main glitter house kit.

The basket is part of the Valentine's Decorations Kit.