Barbecue, part 3

Read the previous post about this project.

I had several ideas about how to make a fake window, but in the end I cut it from card and put a bit of transparent plastic and two bits of ribbon behind it. I glued the assembly onto the wall, then added the frame, made of coffee stirrers. I made the shutters from strips of wood and coffee stirrers and painted with the same technique as the door.

I made a window box from a bit of a biscuit box - just the right size and shape.

 

I bought these flowers cheap at a car boot sale. Have no idea what kind of flowers they are supposed to be or whether they need leaves, but I won't spend much more time on them, after all the whole wall is just a backdrop for some garden furniture. I may add a rosebush in the left corner.

 I aged the furniture a bit with dark wax. I found the garbage bin at a flea market the other day.

What is left to do now is some details: barbecue tools, wood or coal, meat and other food, plates and glasses, maybe children's toys left behind. This will be fun to make. Come back soon.

Barbecue, part 2

Read the first post about this project.

Following from where I stopped: I painted the fence green, let it dry, painted over white and wiped it off with a cloth.

I remember a comment from a facebook friend about aging miniature objects. Why are people so obsessed with aging, they said. When things were first used, they were new. That's absolutely right, but a perfectly painted mini-fence just doesn't look natural. Or maybe you need a different kind of paint. Chalk paint? I need to learn how to use it.

Anyway, here is the fence, and it's time to make a backdrop. Since the focus is on the outdoor scene, I won't bother to make a whole house, just a front, but it doesn't mean omitting details.

I started with a piece of cardboard, matching the size with the yard.
  

  

The door and window will be fake, so when I painted the wall, I wasn't very particular.

 
However, I didn't like the smooth surface. I didn't have sand paint, but if you use coffee grounds the effect will be similar.

I had some left-over slates from an old project. I have since then learned how to make roof slates, but at some point I need to use these left-overs, and there isn't enough for a larger house, so I decided to use them.

 

I painted them rusty red.

 

As you see, I have also started making a door. I cut it from a cheese box and painted in the same technique as the fence. For the little window, I used a lid from a spice jar, cutting half of it and inserting "frosted glass" (plastic file holder) and a dark background behind it. The door knob is a paper clip.

This is as far as I got today, and I will save some fun for tomorrow. I have an idea about how to make the window. Come back soon!

Yes, there is a lizard under the swing.

Barbecue

During a raid on a craft shop I came across this set of garden furniture.

It isn't particularly elegant, but it wasn't expensive, and I thought I could make something interesting with it. I have never made an outdoor scene, and the grill just begged to build an environment around it.

The first step was to decide on the size of the scene, and because it is an outdoor scene, I didn't use a box, just a piece of cardboard. I may add a backdrop, but I am not quite sure yet. Flagstone deck felt right for a barbecue, and it is fun to make from egg cartons.

 

You need a lot though, as I remember from my Roman turret project, and in a household of one, it may take some time. So I made as much as my current egg supply allowed and moved on to making a fence. I could have made a stone wall, but it would obscure the scene, and I wanted something that would emphasise the scene without disturbing it. A conventional wooden fence felt appropriate.

At the moment, most of my tools and supplies are in storage, waiting until I get a place of my own; moreover, what I have brought with me turned out to be quite random: for instance, I don't have my cutting mat and have to do with a piece of cardboard. Which works perfectly well.

I like putting furniture even in unfinished environment because it helps with planning the whole project.

I cut the cushions from a kitchen sponge cloth. I also decided that the owner of the patio is a bit lazy and hasn't weeded between the stones, and everyone who has ever had a stone patio or yard knows how stubborn weeds are.

Yes, I know that you can buy miniature grass in model railway shops, but what's the challenge? Much more interesting to make your own by unraveling a piece of fabric. Once again, my supplies are random, but I will save the dark threads as they can come handy in another project.

This is a later stage (when I had consumed more eggs), but it shows what I did. Bits of embroidery thread, bits of florist tape, and a few fabric leaves cut to measure.

I found a very interesting gate structure on Pinterest, which didn't work in small scale, but at least I made something less usual. And then, on my walk in one of the wonderful corners of my city, I saw just what I needed:

I have never seen a gate lock like this. My walking companion was puzzled about me being so excited and taking pictures of something so ordinary. But it isn't all that ordinary, is it? It's very clever, and it was fun to try and reproduce it in miniature.

 

The battery is for scale.

I was so eager to build the fence that I abandoned my principle to paint before assembly. It will of course be much more difficult to paint, but on the other hand I needed to see what it would look like before I can decide what paint to choose. I am considering the rusty red as in the picture of the full-scale gate, but I am anxious that it would be too conspicuous. If you want to know what I have decided you will have to come back.

In this picture you also see a bit of my workspace.

To be continued.