From coffee pods to flower pots

Some time ago I visited a friend who used coffee pods to make coffee. I have heard about them, and I have heard that miniature-makers find them useful, but I had never seen one. My friend was utterly perplexed when I asked whether I could collect the used ones. I wasn't sure exactly what I could make from them, because they are different from milk containers, slightly convex.

But I was sure that I would think of something, and I was also eager to show my friend what a valuable contribution to my miniature-making she had made. So this past weekend I started exploring the potential of used coffee pods.

My first thought was buckets, like I make from milk containers. The bottom can be easily bent inwards, and it doesn't matter that there is a hole. However, they have large brims that don't look natural for a bucket. Flower pots was the next option, and although they are twice the size of a 1:12 flower pot, I thought they could be planters or larger tubs.I wanted them to look like terracotta, but I am not very good at mixing paint. I should have added more red. Still, I was quite pleased.

While I was at it, I also painted a nasal spray bottle cap that had been waiting for this transformation for a long time. It is more like a flower pot in size and in shape.

Then of course I had to make plants. First of all, I made a simple fern, using florist wire and tape and painting the leaves with a lighter shade of green for effect. Then I constructed a weird plant from plastic Christmas decorations, but as I was passing the kitchen to clean my brushes, I suddenly saw that I had a plant with exactly that shape of leaves. (It is not my plant, so I am not on friendly terms with it). It also needed some painting, and the result was, if I may say so myself, stunning. I don't know the name of this plant so maybe someone can tell me. After that, I made the third plant by cutting up a 1:1 plastic twig.

For the smaller pot, I made a geranium. I will not describe the process because I have done it before, but I can confirm that it took about six hours and that the twelve stems contain 240 individual petals curled while wet one by one. Since I don't have my punches at the moment, I cut the leaves from florist tape and painted a bit here and there for variety.

So here is the result of my weekend:

Last in the picture is another milk canister I made from an eye-drop bottle.

This was a hugely productive weekend, don't you think?

Small makeovers

One of the perks of being retired is that you have plenty of time. In the past few weeks I have been going to flea markets here and there - in a big city, there is always a flea market somewhere over the weekend. Some of my visits have been more successful than others, but last week I had incredible luck, interestingly, at two different stalls, and one seller clearly knew what they were selling while the other was just happy to get rid of stuff.

With the first seller, it was a bundle, and not everything was of interest (I don't need the horse and the cow), while with the second I picked exactly what I wanted. And I wanted plastic stuff to upcycle.

Stupidly, I didn't take a picture after I had sorted the treasure into categories, but you can see that there are many shoes. I once made a shoe shop for a friend, and with this pile of shoes I might make another one. Another large pile is combs and brushes and hair dryers, which begs for a beauty parlor. Sports, portable phones, food, kitchen utensils. Some things I found a place for at once, like the garbage bin that went into the garage of my Triang, the only dollhouse I have in my present accommodation. It's not period correct, but nothing is at the moment, while it really looks nice there. Some things fit in the Triang kitchen.

But otherwise I just had this enormous number of small items. I needed to start somewhere, and I picked some, more or less at random.

Mind, there is nothing wrong with them if you are a child and play with your dolls, and some collectors might be happy to include them in their projects as they are. But my challenge is to make them more interesting. 

Here is what I have done with them.

I would never be seen with a handbag like that if you paid me, but I have a friend who would love it. The jewellery box, I just painted over slightly, to make it look less plastic, and the notebook almost looks as if it were leather. The comb and mirror don't look exactly like ivory, but still better than before. Some items I need to explain. For instance, I wanted to make the coffee pot look like a traditional Kockums piece.

I studied the web carefully and found helpful images. I mixed chalk paint with hobby paint to produce the right colours. I had some paint left, and I had an extra lid, so I made a matching canister. I am not sure Kockums made canisters, but it doesn't really matter. I used eye-drop container.

I am particularly proud of the scissors, because they look exactly like my 1:1 scissors.

Similarly, I used my full-scale binoculars and iron to paint the miniature versions.

Side by side like this, you get a very good sense of scale.

I find this upcycling utterly fascinating. I do like making things from rubbish, but there is a very special joy in making ugly things more attractive and unique.

Finally, I dealt with the "silver" coffee set in which both coffee pot and sugar bowl lacked lids.

I once made a lid for a real antique tea pot (scroll down in the post to find it), so this was child's play.

Now the father in the Triang house can have his coffee, even though it is totally wrong scale and style.