Kegs and Beer Taps...

While I was working on a design for the back bar, I thought it would be fun to have some beer kegs with beer taps on them. The problem was, what on earth do you use for those in 1/4" scale?! Since I just received my order for the 1/4" scale plastic furniture from Miniatures.com the other day, I looked through all the little pieces to see what I could come up with. I also looked through my stash of wooden things to see if there was something that would mimic beer barrels. I thought these looked promising, so went to work.

A little stain, a little sawing and this is what we have so far.

I thought the little red water pumps that came with the kitchen furniture would work as beer taps. At first, I thought the X beads were a funny addition for handles, but they seem way too big to me.

Found some wooden beads and crimp beads and think that will be a good alternative.

The beer taps were painted silver and set aside to dry. Once I could handle them, I cut off the large base and gave them a second coat of silver.

I gingerly put a wooden bead and crimp bead in place before they were dry just to see how it would look.

Maybe a second crimp bead on the bottom? Or maybe put the crimp bead and then the wooden bead. Well, have to wait for paint to dry before I can do any more, but I am happy with the result. The crominions are already planning their first October fest and want me to hurry up before it turns into a November fest! LOL! Enjoying the fall weather here....have a great day!

Window Glass and Spray Paint...

After trimming and gluing all those tiny windows, I was getting a little bleary eyed! If I'm going to continue building these teeny houses, I think a new magnifying lamp will be in order. Harbor Freight has one for $39.95 and then they have a 20% off coupon so I think that is the way I'm going to go. Dear Hubby does a lot of driving with his company, so he offered to pick it up for me on his way by. Yay! So all of the plastic windows are in and I started putting the trim around them,

then with my twitchy eye, I decided to do something different for awhile. I remembered that I had to remove the Outback Steakhouse sign so I can add the extension to the front. Again, the glue held really well so I ended up causing a little damage.

But with some sanding and repainting, it was back to being presentable.

Of course, with the new extension on the front you won't even see this part unless you stand on your head but I know it's there! LOL! I was looking at images of the restaurant interiors online and found that in most of the Outback Steakhouses, the furniture is black. So I dug around for my black spray paint and then wrapped a piece of packing tape around a piece of cardboard to stick the furniture to.  

I remembered to use my plastic glove this time but still managed to spray paint my wrist black in the process...it now looks like I had some kind of horrible accident. Oh well, it will wear off in a few days. So I'll let all the furniture dry overnight  and start trimming around more windows.  Have a great afternoon!

Frosted Windows...

Woke up to frost this morning! It had gone down to 63 in the house so had to break down and put some heat on. So we are up to a toasty 66 inside now and I am enjoying my hot cup of chocolate mocha coffee! Yum! Since I had to do grocery shopping yesterday and we also had company, I didn't get a whole lot done on the restaurant. But generally, this hobby isn't about racing to the finish line but enjoying the journey. All the wallpaper was cut and fitted and pasted in place and I started trimming out the windows. La la la, says to self "these are coming out nice..." Then realization hits....what's missing from this picture..the window glass!!

So I tore off all the trim that I had painstakingly cut from striped wallpaper to start again. Well, I found out one thing, Elmer's white glue really holds well! LOL! Also, now that the wallpaper is all stuck on, I'll have to cut the window "glass" into separate pieces as it was designed to go on as one large sheet.

Cut the glass just slightly larger than the window openings and glued them in place.

Then is was back to doing trim work again. I didn't get much done, but sure spent alot of time! LOL!

The roof is something else I've been thinking about.  Since I reduced the length of the building, I have extra roof. I was just going to cut it off, when I realized that Outback Steakhouses have an overhang in the front.

I have quite a bit of tiny stripwood so will have to work up a design for the entrance. Of course, you know what that means...now I have to take the sign off the front of the building, and touch up the paint, and.......have a great day!

Shopping and Interioring Decorating...

When I went into the shop this morning, 2 of the crominions were gone. After asking around, I was told that they had gone shopping for a smoker for the restaurant. What? Without me? Rose had given them a lift in the Steampunk Summerhouse and also helped them load it and bring it home.

I really have to get on the ball and finish that Summerhouse, it's just not safe to go tooling around in it without any headlights.  After helping them unload it, I think it will be a great addition to the restaurant and who doesn't like some delicious smoked ribs?! It's a little high, but I bashed a plastic ladder from an old game for them and I think it will work just fine. They are already searching online for recipes and discussing what else they need. I got the first piece of wallpaper cut

and was about to glue it on when I decided I should probably use some primer on the walls first so I don't get bleed-through down the line. Since the furniture came in yesterday, the crominions wanted to try out different configurations for the floor layout. Here is what they came up with.

Looks like I'll be busy painting these up after the wallpapering is done.  Also, I was wondering about tiny bottles for the bar. S has been searching for me and found some amazing things but my Yankee thrift kinda kicked in and I thought...."Hey, why don't I just cut out some pictures and use those?" You'll have to press your nose against the glass to see in anyway so gave that a try. So here is the back bar so far.

I think I will cut out pics of glassware next and then design the shelves. I think the cow is back inside....LOL! So I will be poking around with primer and then cutting more wallpaper. Will have to check out window treatments online....I saw this neat tutorial for window blinds.......Have a great day!

Grass Mowing and Bracelets

Whew! Mowed the grass today..Gasp, Wheeze! Actually got quite a bit done as it was only 65 degrees out. Have been having a little trouble with my thumb joints, so thought I would put together an amber bracelet to wear. Amber is supposed to help with pain and inflammation so I thought I would give it a try. I have an amber necklace that I tried wearing but my hair kept getting caught in the beads so it's just been hanging around. About time to put it to good use!

I re-used the magnetic clasp and attached a couple of jump rings to each half. After attaching the beading wire and crimping the crimp beads, I was ready to start stringing.  

Aside from the magnetic clasp attaching itself to my pliers once in awhile, things went pretty well.

One of the cromininions was chasing stray beads for me so it was a group effort.

I also found a tiny heart in my stash, so decided to add that to perk it up a little.

If this works well, I'll make one for the other wrist too as that thumb also is giving me a little trouble. Before I knew it, the mail lady had arrived. I just love mail. Sure enough, there was a small box carefully slid into the mailbox. It took me some finagling, but I finally was able to get it out of the mailbox! LOL! Inside were the 1/4" scale plastic furniture that I ordered! Woo! Hoo!

I was looking at interior shots of Outback Steakhouse earlier today so have some ideas for them.  I wanted to have a bar in there too, but have to think of something I can make teeny bottles out of.  Then you'll all be invited for banana daiquiris! Keep in mind though, they will be minion sized but they do have lots of banana in them! LOL! Have a nice evening!

Signage and Stonework...

Had a meeting with the crominions this morning to try to decide on signage. Since I still don't understand their language, there was a lot of pointing and grunting. I showed them the signs I found online and they chose this one without any fuss...a major miracle.

I printed it out and glued it to a piece of card, then sprayed it with some clear matte sealer.  I waited to put it up as they want the stonework finished today. You would think I was a paid contractor or something! I think I probably could be classified as a minion indentured servant. Hope my time is up when I get all these buildings done! Got the stonework done on the side and had to try it out with the windows.  

We will be smart this time and not glue the windows in until we trace around everything for the inside wallpaper.  So what did I go and do instead? I glued on the sign,

now I can't trace around the window over the door very well! LOL!  Next time...... I noticed one of the crominions walking around with a pirate following him.  

I thought..bodyguard? Nope. Turns out the Crocodile Dundee knives are very heavy and this crominion hired the pirate to carry it around for him! LOL! I don't know what it is, but these pirate minions seem to be getting most of the jobs around here. So after a grueling morning lugging rocks and mixing cement, all the stonework is done on the outside! Yay! Here's a pic of all the pieces laid out.  

I dug through my wallpaper stash and found a piece of scrapbook paper that I think will work for the inside.

I was going to stain the lower half, but got too much green paint around so we are going to wallpaper! The wallpaper will make it look lighter in there anyway...that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Have a great day!

Painting, Painting, Painting...

Put on my painting coveralls and went to work on the restaurant this morning. Climbed up on my extension ladder to reach the high parts and made countless trips up and down to refill my paint bucket. Had to take a break after a few hours as the arthritis in my thumbs was kicking up.  I had to hide on the backside of the building as these crominions are tough taskmasters. Now that they have their Crocodile Dundee knives, they are a bit formidable! After the siding was done, I started out on the trim. I used my exacto knife to cut the pieces out, trying to pop them out without doing that means you are guaranteed to bend them and those bends show up under paint.

I really like the green but it looks like it's going to need three coats...The insides of the window frames were painted too;

I did that on the Steampunk Tudor and liked how it came out. The front steps will be faux concrete, so some grey paint was stippled on. After two coats, looks like it will take a few more to get rid of the wood grain.

So after some good progress this morning, the three restauranteurs are very happy and excited to start.  

S sent me a link for 1/4" scale furnishings and accessories and the crominions kept getting drool all over my computer screen. I admit some of it was probably mine too...LOL! Here is the link if you would like to have a look around. B J Miniatures  I think I hear some shirts calling my name...time to break out the ironing board! Have a great day!