Speaking Of The Library.....

The Tiniest Books Ever!

I Left you last week, Dear Readers, having borrowed a chair from the Library in order to serve you tea and cake in the still incomplete Sitting Room. I am glad so many of you came by for a visit! And when I returned to the making of the furniture from these tiny kits, the Library was uppermost on my mind. (The Sitting Room is temporarily on hold while I figure out the upholstery and curtains.) The Library Table needed to have a Lamp added to it, and I was instructed to "find an ivory bead" in the bag of teeny tiny pieces from which these accessories were to be assembled. Alas, there was no Ivory bead! I checked and re-checked and could not find it! So I had to improvise. I pulled out some random beads I have had in a wooden box ever since I was a teenager. I truly don't know where I got them from! There was a slightly lop-sided one that I thought could be made to look like a lamp shade if only viewed from one angle, so I added it to the pin and then the two little copper beads for the stand, and glued it into the hole I drilled in the table top! Yes, they ask you to Drill into the furniture!! Above you can see the table with the new lamp! And while I was at it, I added the green bead to the globe stand. Eventually I will paint a little bit of ocean onto it! But the really fun part was just beginning.... this kit has Books! Yes, it really does! They are just printed paper, and are meant to be folded and glued shut or left open as one pleases. They are ever so tiny!

The instructions do not say to add anything for the "pages" 

but I didn't follow the instructions...

I wanted my books to have some three-dimensionality to them

so I added a tiny piece of cardboard to each book for the "pages"!

The first one is on the table above... can you see the pages?

(Go ahead, poke the pictures to see them larger!)

Here you can see one of the "open" books to the right.... 

but it is still just flat....

It needs pages too....

But before I get to that, I must see how it looks inside the Library...

Sorry about the dark photo.... 

(that little light must not be turned on properly!)

And there are more books to add....

Another flat open face-down book... which needs pages added, 

and another one on the chair....

And now the opened books also have their pages added! 

That table is getting crowded... 

I will have to stack the books somehow, 

or spread them onto other chairs around the house!

 

And then I had one of Those ideas, Dear Readers, 

the kind that torments you until you give it a try....

 

I thought the Library Table needed an ink well and a quill pen!

 Can you see I have added a Teeny tiny feather and ink pot?

I made the tiny quill pen 

from a tiny goosedown feather 

that was shed from my coat last winter!

Yes, I saved them! 

It needed some careful trimming... 

and I found the tiniest "pewter" bead in my old bead box....

But can you see it????

Here, I have set it against a dark backdrop.... 

can you see it now? 

Right there in the middle?

Well, never mind if you can't.... 

I will know it is there!

And then I added the "oceans" to the globe....

You will have to understand that it is a very old globe... 

and perhaps their knowledge of the size of the continents was not very exact!

And then we have to see how it all looks inside the Library....

Which is extremely difficult to photograph with enough light and clear focus!

I think I need to add some writing paper to that table.....!

And just How Tiny are those books, you ask?

Well, look! 

Here's the open face-down one...

Can you see it there on my finger?

I am saving it for a chair in the Sitting Room!

 

 I am sure you will agree, Dear Readers, 

that these must be the Tiniest Books Ever!

Speaking of the Library...... 

My favorite room in the House!

Tea For Two....

Two Too Tiny.....

While Waiting for the matte acrylic varnish to arrive, Dear Readers, I decided to continue assembling the remaining furnishings for this room. In the above picture you can see the mirror already assembled because I forgot to take any progress pictures. It was fairly straight forward gluing layers together and painting with gold acrylic paint. The mirror itself is mylar and does reflect the viewer.... a tiny bit! And while I was at it I added another five or six coats of paint to the Wing-backed easy chairs....

I have lost count of the layers, I think I have done thirteen coats of paint!

I am planning to do the colored layers next... 

as soon as I make up my mind Exactly what color they should be! 

And in order to aid in the decision, 

I thought the rest of the furnishings should be as complete as possible

 so I can get a feel for the look of the room.

Here you can see the mirror and the parlor stove propped in place.

(I will not glue them in until all the pieces are done)

And then I realized that the Library furniture

 (the next room after the Sitting Room) 

would also need to be "varnished" 

and so I might as well have it ready too 

for when the varnish arrived!

This room has a work table, two chairs and a globe on a stand!

Here they are, assembled and not painted.

Here they are painted and waiting for the varnish!

Here I have added the carpets to both the Sitting Room and the Library.

The clarity of the printed detail in these kits is very good!

I had Hoped, Dear Readers, that the acrylic varnish would arrive on Saturday. 

When it didn't, I went shopping! I found some at Michael's.

And Sunday saw me finally able to continue with the Teeny Tiny Tea Table...

Varnish applied!

So much Fuss for such a Tiny amount of varnish!

But once it was dry, I could add the cushions to the tiny chair....

And the lace "cloth" to the Tea Table!

And would you believe it there is a teapot and two cups!

 

 Can you even see them?

They are paper and are meant to be flat silhouettes.... 

but I wanted them to have a little bit of three-dimensionality to them....

so I added just a drop of Aleen's Quick Dry Glue 

on each piece and let it dry. 

I built up three layers of "roundness" this way!

And then painted them white as the instructions said.

(I am sure you will notice that the cup handles are "broken"... 

they did not survive the laser cutting process... 

but as far as I am concerned, they are just the "every-day" china!)

And then, Dear Readers, I must have gotten very hungry 

because I forgot to take any pictures of the cake making...

Can you see it on the little tray on the table.....???

(You will have to poke the pictures to see closer!)

Here is a slightly closer view...

 it is really hard to get my camera to focus on the right spot!

(This is the first mini cake baking I have done!)

I am sure it is a vanilla buttercream frosted angelfood cake, 

with a raspberry and mint leaves on top!

Would you care for a cup of tea and a slice of cake....?

 

Oh, Heavens, I forgot there is only one chair!

But wait, I will borrow one from the Library.....

There you have it, Dear Readers,

 Won't you join me for Tea?

Cake and Tea, In cups that just might be 

Two Too Tiny!