Summer Strawberries (CREATE Class with Sun Lemmens)

I took a NAME (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) CREATE class taught by Sun Lemmens of Nalladris. It was a Strawberry Cart class. First, we would assemble the cart and then paint all the items to go on the cart.

Assembling the wooden pieces...

Photo courtesy of my friend Julie who was also taking the class, better organized than me, and remembered to take pics

By the end of the first class this was as far as I had gotten:

Because of course I couldn't just assemble the cart as pictured:

Looks cute, but lets really strawberry it up!

I saw the opportunity to take this cart to the next level and got strawberry pattern fabric for the awning (which of course didn't arrive in time for class day) and I wanted to paint my wheels black but the black paint didn't dry in time to assemble them during class. During the week I finished up my wheel painting. And struggled with the fabric awning.

Thank heavens it was gluing and not sewing!

Wheels and awning on; just awaiting trims!

Wheels done and shadowboxing trim is on the front of the cart

Loving my strawberry flowers I painted on the wheel axels

Cart was finally complete and ready for the goodies! For that class we needed to prime all the 3D printed items that would go on the cart and then paint them. 

Again, photo courtesy of my better organized friend, Julie

What a difference priming makes! The details really began to pop out! (I actually remembered to take the next two photos! Just forgot the overall "before" photo of all the pieces we'd be painting.)

Detailing on the teacups really stands out now

Cake strawberries look less like sugar lumps once primed

It was a tedious process using the smallest paint brush I owned, but it was also fun. Steps to painting the waffle desserts:

Step 1: Primed

Step 2: painted waffles

Step 3: Paint strawberries on top and in the whipped cream filling

Step 4: add greenery to strawberries on top

Hand-painting the design on the teapot was cute, but on the smaller teacups and sugar bowl/creamer I was going cross-eyed trying to see what I was painting! (I have since bought a tool that holds the object while I paint it looking thru a magnifying glass. So I'm prepared for whatever future classes I take!)

Painting the teapot

Whole set finished

This was my first time using glass paint and I love the translucent look it gives to clear 3D printed objects!

Lemonade pitcher and glasses look so berry-utiful!

My milkshakes will bring no one to the yard because they will not be put on the cart (who would buy a milkshake off of a cart in the summer? Glass of melted ice cream, anyone?). I adore how they look, but I struggle to suspend that much reality for my miniatures (yes, many of my shop/restaurants have no bathrooms or kitchens and I can overlook that, but ice cream being sold outside in the open summer air? Nope, can't handle that. LOL) So, they will not be going on the cart -- they will be put in my 1950s Malt Shop.

My kids loved those pirouette cookies - so glad they are in these milkshakes!

Of course, I recall that I have an ice cream cart somewhere in my collection. Maybe I could put that by the Strawberry Cart and that would explain the milkshakes being on the cart: it was a crossover from the ice cream business!

Almost complete (real life strawberry for scale):

I am adding a few items to the cart. I needed to make strawberries for the empty baskets in the photo above (did you even notice 2 baskets were empty?). I broke out the Sculpty and started rolling and fussing...

Strawberry field

Not the most realistic, but they'll do...

Made some on "vines" so that I can make a strawberry plant or two to also be sold on the cart.

Some of these turned out very well - I'm berry excited about it

Filled up my extra baskets. They are not the best but from a distance they're pretty good!

Added some jam jars (by Elizabitzies; Elizabitzies Etsy Shop) and I'm still waiting on some chocolate covered strawberries (by CSpykersMiniatures; CSpykersMiniatures Etsy Shop) and now I feel like it's "done" (or as done as any of our miniature projects are - I still need to make and add the strawberry plants). Will add this to my goat-pulled honey cart and ice cream cart and have a little summer farmers market scene happening!

Milkshakes that may or may not end up on the cart

Empty white platter is for the chocolate dipped strawberries

Cute sign by Elizabitzies

Love the bunny in the strawberry patch below

My goodies on a tiered platter (all from class)

Whole cart, from the front, overall

Whole cart, from the back, overall (restock storage underneath; hope to find a little cashbox to put back there too)

Upper Cabinets Finally Done!

Took me much longer and hit more snags that I thought possible but it's finally done!  Enjoy the pictures and the video at the end (sorry there is no entertaining music for the video - turns out you can't add music if the video is more than 60 seconds).

Filled with dishes

Was surprised to discover that I had more than enough dishes to flush it out. Technically there are 2 open/empty shelves that I am temporarily storing some platters in/on, but overall, it is fairly full.

Installed some strip lighting across the tops inside and ran the wires out the back so it'll light up too. Wish the light filtered down more than 2 shelves, but now I know and have learned: I should have made the middle shelf wooden instead of glass and ran more lighting under there to light up the bottom 2 shelves too.  But I'm not taking this thing apart and reworking it AGAIN.

With the lights on

Left cabinet with lights on

Left cabinet with lights off

Also added some velvet paper and wooden dividers to the drawers for the utensils...

Had a surprising amount of silverware too

Here's the video on YouTube:

Funny how you can accumulate things when you've been collecting for a project for 34 years! And now they all have a place to be displayed.

Mansion's Butler Pantry

It has been almost 10 years since I had made the bottom cabinets for the butler's pantry (Very First Butler's Pantry Cabinet Post)! My, how time flies! And I had a vision for how the upper cabinets should look, but I had been procrastinating on making them because I couldn't figure out how to get thin glass shelves for the cabinets. I really wanted glass shelves in the cabinets and then my daughter gifted me a bunch of glass microscope slides for my birthday! The slides were 3" wide which was a little longer than I wanted, but close enough that I was hopeful it would work out. Stained the wood pieces and cut my trims...

Propping the first upper cabinet over the previously made bottom cabinets

But I quickly realized that the wider glass shelves were making my upper cabinets wider than the bottom cabinets. And eyeballing the measurements I could tell the 3 cabinets across the long expanse would be all I could fit. There was no space for the corner turn and a fourth cabinet over the short side of the "L" bottom cabinets.

Being wider meant that the upper cabinets would go all the way into the corner

The upper cabinets wouldn't line up with the bottom cabinets since they were about 1/4" wider (which added a 3/4" total to the expanse). And I knew that would bug me. Every time I'd look in the room I would cringe. So, even though I'd started to assemble the 1st cabinet, had cut all the pieces for the remaining upper cabinets, and assembled the cabinet doors, I decided to attempt cutting the glass shelves to be only 2-3/4" wide. Because if I could cut the glass shelves smaller, then the entire cabinet could be narrower and I'd have room for all 4 upper cabinets, lined up over the lower cabinets to form the same "L" shape. Some corners chipped and a few shelves completely broke/shattered.

Chipping was a big issue

Went thru about 30 glass slides, but I eventually got 16 shelves cut to 2-3/4" wide without major chips or cracks. Now came the laborious procedure to rip the assembled cabinet and all the doors apart, cut everything down, and start back at the beginning again.

Breaking the assembled cabinet apart (cabinet doors assembled on the right would have to be broken apart and cut down too)

Now the upper cabinets line up with the bottom cabinets

Didn't have the hinges for the doors so I can't attach them yet. But I think some still need to be cut down more (they overhang the sides too much and will interfere with the hinges). And I think there are 2 doors that I must not have cut down enough because the look wider than their counterparts. But overall, they are looking like how I had envisioned them.

We were hosting a party this weekend so everything had to be packed up. But I will attack this project with a vengeance during March! And maybe I'll get the foyer and the butler's pantry finished before Spring fully hits and the yard and flower boxes need my spare time and attention.

First Impression, Foyer Issues

Tried to tackle the Mansion's Foyer in January 2025. The fact that the first week of February is already over should tell you how this is going...

Manufacturer's pic of room

2015 update: Removed the stairs and wall (arrow points to wall remnant), made archway to music room and removed exterior partial wall on the right to better view front door/room

2018 update: hole cut in floor for basement access, electric installed across floor for front coach lights
2025 update: cut away door to Butler's Pantry on the left

I wanted the room to be elegant and impressive: after all, this is the first impression the resident's guests would have of the house. But there were several issues that needed to be addressed:

1. Entryway to Butler's Pantry

I wanted the room behind the foyer to be a butler's pantry that would also have access to the servants area in the basement. I added a hole under the foyer stairs for the staircase that will go to the basement and I had cut a small doorway allowing access to these stairs. But how would the servants get from the butler's pantry to the rest of the house (to deliver meals to the morning room, dining room, bedrooms, and tea to the conservatory)? I wanted a hidden doorway. A door that would blend in with the wall. So I removed the pre-fab door and created my own swinging door:

Taped a threshold to my door and drilled a hole thru for a pin so it will line up exactly at the bottom

Added a pin to the top corner

Pin in threshold (piece previously taped to door)

Drilled a corresponding hole in the wall edge for top pin to slide into

Glued threshold into place and now have a tight fitting door that will hopefully become a hidden door

Now to hide the door behind the foyer's decor. Easier to do on a wall with lots of shadowboxing, paneling, or trims. But I was saddened to see that my cut wallpaper line is quite obvious...

So I had a stellar idea to cover it with framing and a picture. Picked a postcard with an image I liked (from an art museum), cut framing to allow door to still open, painted framing gold to match chandelier, and loosely held it in place.

Disappointment.  It's too low. I needed to have cut the doorway higher. And I can't do that now. So, I've decided to just leave it alone and wait for a genius idea some day in the future. Maybe I'll remove the wallpapered door and put in a wall niche or bookcase type structure that pivots as a door? Still brainstorming a solution to this issue...

2. Flooring

Originally I wanted white marble that would flow into the music room's green marble. But everything else in the room (archway, wallpaper, furniture) is cream, not white. And, although it looked pretty, it wasn't giving impressive vibes. Then my Etsy guy (Gravik's Etsy Page - Last Project I Used Gravik's Things On) sent a sample tile of some wood flooring he made. And I fell in love.

Figured out how many wood tiles I would need and placed an order immediately. It was nice that this issue resolved itself so easily (compared to the other issues).

3. Staircase

I was not impressed with the stairs that came with the house (see photo above of Manufacturer's pic). It was just steps between two walls; very boxy and boring. I ripped out one wall to open up the room and now needed fancy steps that were steep to fit the small narrow space.

Staining the parts

Found stairs I liked and stained them the same as the exterior base trim which is sort of a mix of the mahogany and new walnut stains: I do one coat in Varathane Red Mahogany stain and the second coat in Behr Bombay Mahogany.

Love the spindles on the stairs

Was planning on doing a stair runner but I don't like how the pattern/colors/something is going with the wallpaper.

Ditched the runner

Liking this better without the fancy runner

4. Moldings (aka Mouldings)

I am not happy with the ceiling medallion I had for the room originally. It was oval and very "leafy". Maybe more appropriate for the conservatory, not the foyer. So I ordered a classic simple elegant ceiling medallion from Sue Cook (Sue Cook's Website) along with some crown molding that matched the medallion. Was so pleased at how quickly my Sue Cook order shipped/arrived! But, I realized the crown was too large and too ornate.

It's crowding the archway and making the room look smaller. So I will save this crown molding for the Master Bedroom or the Family Room and have now ordered some smaller crown moldings from Unique Miniatures (Unique Miniatures Etsy Page) that I will paint gold and install as soon as it arrives!

That's the status of the Mansion at the moment! Thought I'd have a finished room to show you, but these little issues have delayed my deadline drastically....Happy February, all!