Takeout


When we lived in "the city" (that's the isle of Manhattan, in New York City), we'd do takeout all the time. We had a great Cuban-Chinese place that we loved, and a burrito place too. Then, there was some tasty pizza and pasta. And the great falafel joint and yummy Chinese. Ahh...the good 'ol days. Nowadays, ensconced in the suburbs, I just get bossed around by my three kids, who tend to demand three different meals. Well, no more of that -- they get what goes on the table! I admit my resolve slips into the dead zone of chicken nuggets some days, but I usually try to steel myself for a food fight and forge ahead on nutrition :)

Takeout boxes never looked like this one from the Crate and Barrel outlet, my go-to discount mecca of choice as of late. I was there looking around for a gift for a blogger pal who shall remain nameless (it's a surprise, folks!), and saw this somewhat dented white box of circles for $6.00. Dining came to mind, and it just looked so chic, peaceful, and quiet, just like those easy, calm, fun takeout days. Not that I'd trade them for now, but I can live temporarily through this little scene. You'll see I tried a few different accessories and approaches -- looks like Asian takeout here!









On more little scenes, a BIG scene will soon bloom with the opening of the Call of the Small exhibit at Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre in Canberra, curated by Anna-Maria, the whiz behind The Shopping Sherpa. Have you all been following the progress of this very neat show to which I happily lent my blog name? Anna-Maria worked her wizardry and encouraged artists working in 1:1 to take it down a notch...and then some. The creations look amazing, and I only wish I could transport myself to Canberra to see the exhibit when it opens on August 12. But alas, this eye candy from some recent posts by Anna-Maria will have to do...










Credits: Table is by Elf Miniatures; chairs are vintage Wolverine; flooring is green glitter card stock from Michael's; plants are vintage TOMY (yeah! I finally scored another one, along with two other elusive TOMY plants); shelving on wall are two vintage Fisher Price benches; globe light is by minimodernistas. Accessories are Re-ment, dollhouse store finds, and stolen from my kid's goody bag from a birthday party. Seriously.

Re-ment: The plate, bowls, and chopsticks are from Tea Time #7, Nagomi Japanese Dishes, and are good for 1:12. The small blue vase on the top shelf is from Tea Time #4, Antique Japanese Glass and is good for 1:12.

VERO Bath

When I got my VERO House from Germany last year, it was in pretty rough shape. Each room had its own affliction -- torn or damaged wallpaper, wood or window cracks, paint chipping -- likely courtesy of one or a few different owners. I have been trying to piece together its history, but as many of you know it can be so difficult to locate definitive information for vintage houses.

I do know the house was likely made by VERO in the late 1960s, perhaps early 70s. Since I bought my house on German eBay in fall 2009, I have seen a few others come to market that look very similar. One find helped me to see what the rooms originally looked like and how they were decorated. You can see more on that here.

One such room is on the lower left, and is most probably meant as a bath. Here is an example from a very similar house:



In my case, this room was the most damaged, covered in layers of thick, heavy blue paint and papers. It looked as if ancient frescoes had made their home there! Scraping to the original papers was not an option. This is what it looked like:





I scraped the papers and paint off as best as I could and then smoothed the craggy spots. After painting a molding piece along the back wall, I covered the ceiling in a remnant piece of grey-colored wood. I had painted the ceiling white, but that looked completely bizarre and out of place, given the creamy/aged pallor of the rest of the house.

I bought some papers and new paper paste at the Paper Source this weekend -- as part of a very fun mini meet-up with Dale of Dale's Dreams and Paula, who is getting back into minis and just got an amazing modern acquisition (thanks again for a great afternoon, ladies!) -- and tried them out. The results:








I was trying to be faithful to the 1960s/70s vibe of the house -- what do you think? I left the original blue papers on the floor and covered it in some of my favorite Chilewich placemat, hoping for a tile effect.

Next I might move to the main entrance/living area...

Credits: Sink is a UK eBay find; toilet is IKEA; rug is by Peppercorn Minis; planter is a craft store find and plant is an aquarium plant; wastebasket and light are AG Minis; Eames Hang-it-All is by minimodernistas; purse is handmade by Oese. Accessories are Re-ment and Barbie by Jonathan Adler.

Re-ment: The green soap and lotion bottle on the sink are from Cosmetics, Natural #4, and are good for 1:12.