Mini Cookbooks, Michaels Haul, and More

I started working on these little cookbooks last night and am finishing them up tonight.  They are a bit big I wanted them to be like those big cookbooks that I have.  They're so cute.  They won't open or anything. They still need more coats of mod podge.

Mini cookbooks

I had a strange afternoon today.  I love feeding the birds, and when I went out with the dogs, I stood watching the birds.  Then I noticed a blackbird, a Grackle, to be exact, struggling with something as it attempted to fly up to my neighbor's roof.  It was a mouse! I said, "Oh no!  Let it go!" and the bird dropped the mouse.  The mouse landed on the recycling container, bounced off, and ran under it.  It had quite the fall so I hope it's OK.  I felt awful for the mouse and the bird both.  I felt sorry for the mouse and was glad it got away, but I also felt guilty for startling the bird into losing it's dinner.  We all have to eat.  The grackle wasn't pleased with me I don't think; it landed in the tree above me and I swear it glared at me, lol.  I told it that I would feed it a hotdog when I came home.  Then I went to Michaels to try to find marbles and bought all this, lol:

Michaels haul

 I had two coupons, one for 50 percent off, and one for 40 percent off, so I bought the pasta machine for clay.  I hated doing it because I already have one, but it disappeared when I moved 3 years ago.  I'm sure it's in the garage but there are so many boxes and I can't get to them all.  I held off for a long time, but justified getting a second one because I used the 50 percent off coupon.

I also finally remembered to buy the circle ruler thing that I've been wanting, some white sand (for sugared donuts, lol), some extra large craft sticks, a bag of little glass things, including marbles, and a bag of bigger glass things that look like cabachons but are not.  I also couldn't resist getting a bag of miniature coke bottles.  I don't think that's something I could make...not yet, anyway.  I love diet coke, and the mini bottles were only 3.99 and there are 6 pieces (I think).

Real life treats

 All of these polymer clay donuts, cakes, pies, and cookies have made me hungry so I stopped at the donut shop on the way home and bought a brownie and a maple glazed Long John.  To die for, lol.

First attempt at miniature polymer clay bowls

 When I got home, the Grackle was still waiting in the tree (or else another one was) so I broke up a hotdog and tossed it onto the roof of the shed.  It watched me do it but I don't know if it recognized a hotdog as food.  If not, the seagulls or crows will eat it. 

Mini polymer clay bowls

 I was watching a Youtube tutorial earlier about how to make bowls by cutting out a circle of clay and then forming it around half of a marble.  I can't find the tutorial now but I remembered it and gave it a try. 
Edit: I think this was the tutorial here.

The bowls came out so cute but the inside, where they baked against the glass, is much prettier and glossier than the outside.  Also, some of the bowls broke when I took the marble out. I don't know if they were overcooked, undercooked, or if I just used the wrong kind of clay for the ones that broke (the red and white marbled ones).  The one I made out of my Living Doll clay came out nice and is a lot sturdier, but it is also thicker.  I'm going to have to find out which clays I like best. 

 You can see the broken pieces here.  I'm going to keep them, and chop them up so that they look like bits of peppermint candy.  I can use them as topping later.

I rebaked the bowls to see if they'd become stronger, but I still don't know if they have as I haven't gone down the basement to get them yet.  I also still need to sand the edges.

Mini Newspapers

Ms. Sadie A. Doll made the front page!  Read all about her upcoming shop opening in the Miniville Daily News.

In the (Miniature) News

Sadie is thrilled that she made the front page, and insisted on reading her articles in the exact spot where the news photo was taken.

Poor Rufus is upset because his photo was cropped out and placed waaay at the bottom, where no one would see it.

Sadie explained that people would know all about Rufus because the paper had printed her "Pets welcome on the outdoor patio" policy.  Speaking of that, she put in an order for pet dishes so pets can be served sparkling clear water along with their handmade treats.

Mini newspapers

 Speaking of handmade, it was nice to have something bigger to work with today.  My eyes and my fingers were equally grateful for the larger newspapers after working on those tiny cookies yesterday.  I didn't even need a magnifying glass.

I admit that I actually wrote several news articles for The Miniville Daily News front page.  I found a free template for microsoft word online here.

 After I downloaded it I opened it in word and edited it so I could add photos.  I also "interviewed" Sadie for another newspaper using a free template I found online, but that only let me save a PDF and I didn't know how to resize a PDF.  I tried saving it as a microsoft word document, but it tried to get me to buy a subscription to do that so I let that one go. 

Miniville Daily News

I followed this tutorial
for putting the newspapers together.  I did 3 layers of mod podge, plus sealed the paper with spray fixative before mod podging.   

Sadie announced that 1:40 AM is much too late for us to be working, so she told me to get to bed.  It looks like she followed her own advice.

Hope you all have a good night.  Take care, and thanks for joining me on my descent into mini madness :-).

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I'm having such a blast making mini baked goods.  Today, chocolate chip cookies are on the menu.

Miniature polymer clay chocolate chip cookies.

These were super easy but soooo time consuming.

Mini chocolate chips for 1:12 inch scale dolls

 Sadie is very happy with these cookies; they fit perfectly in her tiny hand (with the help of some unbaked polymer clay to hold it in place, lol.

Mini chocolate chips next to real cookie

I even grabbed a real cookie to show scale.  I only had Maria cookies here.  Heaven forbid I bake real cookies for me, lol.

I followed a great tutorial on youtube to make these cookies.  It's by SugarCharmShop.  She has the BEST tutorials.  I'm just starting out so my things aren't as nice as hers, as she is a gifted artist, but I'm learning, and having a blast. 

Mini chocolate chips from baked polymer log

I baked a thin polymer log, as per the tutorial, and then chopped it up into chocolate chips and chunks.  This was hard to do as I overbaked the polymer clay.  I had to use a magnifying glass and reading glasses, lol.

Then I mixed the polymer clay with the chips.

I used Sadie's hand as a guide to get the right size cookies.

Then I rolled a log, chopped cookies off, and shaped them. Then I used a toothbrush, foil, and a pin to add texture and details.  The video in the link above explains this much better.

Lots of polymer clay cookies

I broke one cookie apart, as though someone was eating it, and I left a little roll and one slice in case I want to do a baking scene with Sadie.  I didn't paint or texture the roll and slice so they look unbaked (even though they're baked, lol).

I don't know what I like better, watching videos of mini tutorials, searching google and Pinterest for ideas, or making things.   These simple cookies took almost 3 hours, including baking time and photography.  I can make real cookies in half an hour...and now, I really want cookies . Sadie offered me hers, but it's really not the same ;-).

Miniature Pies

More pies, lol.  I get hungry making these polymer clay desserts for some reason.  I made the apple and lemon pies today, and the blueberry and pie crusts yesterday.

Mini pies for the dollhouse bake shop

Polymer clay miniature apple pie

 The Apple pie is my favorite; I used new techniques that I learned from watching SugarCharmShop's tutorial

Polymer clay mini lemon meringue pie

 The lemon came out OK but my yellow is too yellow-y.  I tried making it lighter by mixing it with white polymer clay but it gave it a green tinge so I used it as is.  The meringue is white polymer clay mixed with liquid sculpey.  I mixed a bit of yellow polymer clay with liquid sculpey to get the goopy lemon look on the bottom of the pan.  I have to tint the edges of the meringue golden brown later; not sure what paint I should use on baked clay.

Sadie is very happy with her pies, but she's rather a messy eater.  She spilled pie filling on the table ;-).

More Mini Plates and Pie!

I'm having too much fun, lol.  I made more mini plates, but this time I used clear nail polish instead of the quick dry stuff that I accidentally used yesterday.

Miniature plates

 Here they are, with my hand in the frame to show how small these dinner plates really are.

Miniature plates

 The clear nail polish gave the plates a lovely sheen.  In the photo below, the nail polish is on the plate on the right (3 coats, front and back).  The one on the left is with the Quick Dry stuff, which looks like clear polish but is not, lol.  When I compared the two, I found the quick dry stuff gave it a stiffer finish, and it looks like a disposable paper plate.  Both polishes made the plates translucent, but the clear nail polish made it almost transparent, and the design on the plate shows through clearly on the back.

Mini plate on left coated with quick dry, plate on right with clear nail polish.

 Here's some mini baked goods on a plate.

 And last but not least, pie and pie crusts.  I goofed up on the blueberry pie because I was in a hurry to finish because I had to clear the table for dinner.  I forgot to go over-under on the lattice.  It's my own fault as I don't make lattice pies in real life and haven't seen one in ages; I forgot they are supposed to be woven and not just lain over  eachother.  I dusted the bottle caps with baby powder so the pie and pie crusts are easily removed.  I just have to paint the bottoms. 

Mini pie and pie crusts

I'm not used to coloring with chalk pastels; it's messy and will take some getting used to.  I did the liquid sculpey added to some blue and purple grated chalk pastel to get the filling. I also took the time to make a bunch of little blue balls for the blueberries, which was silly as blueberries get squished in pie anyway.

Next I'd like to try a pie with a piece cut out. It took me so long to make the blueberry pie I didn't dare cut it in case I ruined it, lol. 

Miniature dollhouse Paper Plates

I bought a 1 inch paper punch on sale at Michaels yesterday and went a little wild with it today, lol. Here is my first paper plate full of paper plates ;-).  I learned about this technique on Youtube .

Paper plate full of tiny paper plates

 I had a blast with my new paper punch and will have to go get more; they were on sale at Michael's.  I bought the scalloped edge kind, but I didn't get the one inch circle because I've already ordered one on ebay and was waiting for it to come in.  Michaels sale was better than ebay though, and I'd like a smaller size for dessert plates and saucers.

Computer paper plates

 The blue and white plates were printed on my computer.  I found the image online, used my word processor to resize the images, and printed them out, then cut them out with my paper punch.

 I used a nickel to make the folded edges.

 I thought I used clear nail polish but after the second coat, realized I was using that super dry stuff that is normally used to make nailpolish dry quicker.  It made the paper translucent so the design shows through on the back, and it stiffened the paper nicely so it doesn't feel like paper but more substantial.

 The colored plates were cut from packaging (the paper punch packaging included, lol)  These made firmer, sturdier plates but were harder to bend the edges.  I used clear mod podge to make them shiny.

I tried using mod podge on the compuer paper but it didn't work out.  It made the bent edges straighten again and it made the paper too flimsy.  The Super Dry worked much better on computer paper.  I didn't try the super dry on the card stock-like plates because I hate the smell. I would have used mod podge everywhere if it would have worked.

Sadie loves her new selection of plates, and chose this one below as her favorite.

Miniature Donuts

Donuts! I love donuts so of course I had to try making mini ones.  I think these are my favorite minis of all, lol. 

Miniature baked goods

They were so tiny I had to use a magnifying glass and reading glasses to make them.  I rolled a snake of polymer clay; cut it into tiny bits, rolled the bits into balls, squashed them a bit with my finger, and poked a hole in the center with a toothpick. 

I used chalk pastel to color them, and I indented them in the center a bit with an exacto knife.  I followed this Youtube tutorial from SugarCharmShop 
to make the donuts.   I LOVE her tutorials; she does amazing work. 

I pulled out this quarter to show scale and discovered quarters make great cake plates, lol. 

I wish I knew where this little tray came from.  I know it's from packaging that I kept to use but I can't remember which packaging, or else I'd go buy more as it makes a perfect donut tray.

Mini dog biscuits

My mini dog treats need work, lol.  

Mini bake shop in progress

I love the way the potted plant shows through the window in this picture; looks like a tree outside, lol.  I really need to make some curtains, shelves, chairs, posters, cash register, and figure out where to put the display case.  I like it angled like this for photos but don't think I want it there permanently.  I should have drawn a photo of my ideas for the place before beginning rather than just make things and try to figure out where to put them later, lol.  Live and learn :-).

Sadie is taking time to relax from baking by testing out the new chairs.  She thinks they're uncomfortable because she can't fully bend her legs when she sits in them; the seat is too low.  (I found the chairs at a dollar store in Guelph 4 years ago.  I wish our dollar store carried minis.)

Rufus is very happy with his dog treat!  He can't wait to eat it.
Sadie can't decide if she likes the white rainbow cake or the chocolate rainbow cake better.

On a side note, yesterday was April Fool's day and my 84 year old Uncle Buck always plays April Fools jokes on me.  Yesterday I decided to trick him for once.  He loves sweets, but is diabetic so he's not supposed to have them often.  Yesterday I told him I was sending over a special cake that had no fat and no sugar.  I gave my Dad one of my tiny mini chocolate cakes to give to my uncle, and my Dad carefully wrapped it in a tissue and put it in his pocket.  I wish I could have been there to see my uncle's face when he got his cake, lol.  My Dad said he cracked up laughing.  Later, when I talked to him on the phone, he said he laughed, but he loves the little cake and is going to make a pedestal for it so he can display it.

Dollhouse Mini Cakes

These miniature cakes were simple but time consuming to make.  I used little foam shapes that I found at the dollar store, covered with 3 dimensional fabric paint for frosting.  I cut wedges out of some of the cakes and poked the foam to make it look textured, and others I left whole.

Miniature cakes

Mini cakes drying

I made lots of them, and used two different types of fabric paint; some from Michael's and some from the dollar store.  The Michael's paints are way better and dried overnight, but the dollar store paints are still tacky and thinned out alot and will need another coat.  The better paints are the brown, white. and pink ones.  The yellow, red,  and lilac were from the dollar store.

Sadie was happy to see the cakes but put in a request for some donuts.  Rufus begged so much that Sadie promised to make him some dog treats, too.