The last things I made for my miniature scene “The Gift of Sensitivity” were a book, a candle, and pea pod. From the beginning, I imagined the sleepless princess reading, so the book and candle were a given. Because the pea that’s under the mattresses can’t be seen, I wanted a pea pod on the floor somewhere to suggest its presence.
Having taken book-binding classes, I decided to make a real book that opens. The signatures are pieces of printer paper hand-sewn together. I didn’t sew the signatures to a spine like I would normally do, but glued them together instead. I usually prefer sewing over gluing (as I was reminded when I made the bedding), but after seeing someone else glue the signatures of a miniature book, I realized it would simplify things. I printed several covers for the book and glued the one I liked best to chip board. I used scraps of marbleized paper for the end papers. The gold paint on the edges of the text block and along the spine was added by hand.
Years ago, I set aside a chunky bead for the candle. It was perfect for 1:12 scale scene but much too small for 1:7.2, so I put it back in my bead box. I’d seen Ara Bentley use crayons to make candles. I don’t own a glue gun, but I was able to achieve lovely drips with matches. Wax alone wasn’t strong enough, so I glued the candle to a painted wooden bead. I added a jump ring for the handle and a bit of wire for the wick.
Because the pea pod was such a tiny detail, I kept putting it off. Miniature food is often made with polymer clay but I have struggled with it. I kept wondering how to make this critical miniature easy to construct while also looking great. Air-dry clay? Paper and beads?
After I did the math and realized my pea pod needed to be 0.4 inches (1 cm) long, I went straight to paper and beads. I didn’t think I could get clay thin enough to look right (which was actually a relief.) I had construction paper that was the perfect color, as well as some pea-green seed beads. I started out trying to wire the beads together to keep them in a straight line, but I couldn’t keep the wire from showing. After several tries, I just glued the beads into a bit of folded paper.
One other last detail was draping the nightgown so it looked natural hanging over the arm of the chair. Unlike the bedding, the cotton nightgown draped easily and dried quickly. I was really happy with the results, but to make it look even better, I glued it to the chair.
While I was doing all these other things, I made a faux hardwood floor out of cardboard to use during the final photo shoot. Come back next week to see the finished project.
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