Tea Party
When I started making individual scenes, I often ordered miniature furniture sets from the Smithsonian Museum catalog. I do not know if their catalog still features 1:12 scale miniature furniture, but 20+ years ago, it did. Most I ordered without a particular scene in mind. This dining table, four chairs, breakfront, and buffet were too cute to resist.
I had purchased the miniature set of china at one of the many miniature shows I often attended. These shows feature vendors with a wide variety of miniature items to sell, often at a discount when their supply dwindles, or better yet, as grab bags of odds and ends.
I am NOT a collector. Collectors spend vast sums for exact miniature replicas of full scale items. I am a hobbist.
The window frames a view of the "backyard." I dyed a piece of silk to make the drapes, put the plates and the pink napkins (folded from tissue paper) on the buffet along with a vase from the china set filled with dried flowers painted pink.
On the tablecloth (a handkerchief from my mother's collection of unused handkerchiefs) were the tea party goodies. A triple stand miniature ornament given to me by my sister, I removed the tiered cake, the plate of cupcakes and the plate of petit fours. The cheese board with the cut apple, and the bowl of fruit rounded out the food display. The "silver" tea service and brass candlesticks came from my "stash." I made the roses for the centerpiece.
