Friday 26 September 2014

I have a collection of miniature food :)

To be honest, I think I love miniature food more than I love dolls. This is why I had to put a smiling face at the end of that title. I have a collection of miniature food J  It may seem very silly but there seems to be a huge following for this hobby. The food I enjoy collecting is Barbie-sized. This is also known as play scale or 1:6 scale. Every two inches in the miniature world is equal to one foot in the real world. A Ken doll measuring approximately twelve inches tall would represent a six foot person in the real world.

As you probably guessed, the food I collect can go in scenes with Barbie-sized dolls and furniture. Due to lack of space at home, I have not set up many dioramas but at this point I have enough of the elements to create quite a few.

It was in my quest for miniature food that I found Etsy, which I would describe as an online marketplace for those who wish to buy or sell handmade or vintage items. On Etsy, there are stores that offer mini food and kitchen accessories. Some store owners even take custom orders. I was really excited to receive my first purchase and was delighted that the items were as detailed in person as they were in the pictures. The miniature frappuccinos and Vietnamese meal pictured below were purchased from a store called Beadspage  https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BEADSPAGE?ref=l2-shopheader-name  , whose store owners are located in Singapore.
 
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https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BEADSPAGE?ref=l2-shopheader-name
 
 Remember, this is Barbie-sized! 
  https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BEADSPAGE?ref=l2-shopheader-name
 
Yes, that is a miniature Asian soup spoon and chop sticks. They are what is needed to eat from the bowl of noodles and the basket of Vietnamese spring rolls.

My all- time favorite store on Etsy is WonderMiniature  https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/WonderMiniature?ref=search_shop_redirect . The store items come from Thailand. Not only is there a large selection of mini food and kitchen items (like mini mixers and waffle makers!) but the prices, which include the cost of shipping, are very reasonable compared to those in other Etsy shops.     

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Ice cream from WonderMiniature on Etsy.
 https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/WonderMiniature?ref=search_shop_redirect

Cake cut into 8 slices.
From WonderMiniature on Etsy.
 https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/WonderMiniature?ref=search_shop_redirect

I love to find miniatures for the kinds of food I like to eat: ice cream, burgers, fries, tacos. All that nutritious stuff. Grilled cheese sandwiches. Desserts are also appealing because they are usually colorful with little details such as sprinkles, fruit, and even writing. Think birthday cake. 

Grilled cheese sandwich and chips from D-Lightful Designs on Etsy,
https://www.etsy.com/shop/dlsarmywife


I am fond of miniatures of Asian meals and dessert. They are fun to find because they seem to be rarer.

Mooncakes from A.L. Designs Jewellery on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/aldesigns?ref=shop_sugg
 
Egg custard tarts from MiniatureAsianChef on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/MiniatureAsianChef?ref=shop_sugg



Are you getting hungry? 

I must warn you, as delicious and realistic as they look, you cannot actually eat them.

To give you an idea of the scale of these food items, I have included some comparison pictures.

Coworker`s ramen noodles on left.  Mini ramen noodles on right.
Mini noodles from Beadspage on Etsy.
 https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BEADSPAGE?ref=search_shop_redirect

The mini version on the right appears to have noodles inside when the lid is removed.
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BEADSPAGE?ref=search_shop_redirect

This is not a giant hand.  The delicious looking taco is a miniature.
Mini taco from Scrumptious Doodle on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ScrumptiousDoodle?ref=shop_sugg
 





 

Wednesday 17 September 2014

World of dolls


Barbie opened up a whole new world to me. My online search for Barbie led me to entire websites devoted to reviewing dolls, posting comments, and engaging in discussions on all topics doll-related. There were also sites that were primarily galleries of pictures. Photography sites, blogs, Facebook, and YouTube were places where I found other doll admirers. I noticed that relationships had developed among the people posting online. I discovered that there was a huge online community of doll lovers. Wow, there were others like me!

In the beginning, I mainly focused on the pictures online. I found that I didn't understand a lot of what was being discussed. Certain words and terms were being tossed back and forth in the online banter. Articulation, face molds, play scale, Integrity, Fashion Royalty, and Poppy Parker were some of the terms that showed up a lot. I had no idea what was being talked about. There was a whole new language out there that I didn't know. 

One of the first words that kept being used was "articulation". Someone posted a comment expressing dissatisfaction at the lack of articulation with certain dolls. I guessed that articulation meant facial expression. I was confused. How many facial expressions could a doll have? Then I came across an advertisement on the Toys R Us website for a set of Barbie and Ken dolls that were snowboarders. These dolls were described as having seven points of articulation. Hmmm. I did some more online research on these dolls and found some comments that expressed excitement at the posing possibilities for these dolls. Huh. Articulation ... seven points ... posing ...  two knees, two elbows, two wrists, and the neck. Seven points of articulation! Articulation was the term used to indicate the ability to bend and move at the joints. 


 
 
 
Photo courtesy of Toys R Us Facebook page.
 
 

One of the first doll blogs with amazing doll photography to catch my attention was "Inside the Fashion Doll Studio. Barbie for big girls"   http://insidethefashiondollstudio.com . I spent hours gazing at the scenes that were created in the pictures. The dolls featured were fashion dolls who wore sophisticated clothing. When I say “sophisticated”, I don’t necessarily mean fancy style of dress but that the clothing had such realistic detail. If photos of these items of clothing were displayed in a photo while not being worn by a doll, one might think it was clothing for an actual human being. In the dioramas, the props such as furniture and food were what provided the finishing touches. What I really loved was the miniature food! I had never seen such realism in a doll's world before. This was no longer Barbie. This was Barbie brought to a whole new level.

Wednesday 10 September 2014

Miniature magic


I am an adult.  I like dolls.  There, I said it.  The other day, my 4-year old niece asked me, "Do you like toys too?"  This was while she gazed at the doll collection around us, the size of which seems to grow by the day.  I have Barbie dolls sitting on mini sofas on top of my dresser.  Beside my full size sofa, they stand together complete with Barbie-sized bottles of wine.  Mini Lalaloopsy dolls still in their boxes cover my night stand. 

I’m sure most of you know what Barbies are, but Lalaloopsies might be unfamiliar to you.  Lalaloopsies are dolls that are fashioned after rag dolls.  The story behind these dolls is that each is supposed to have been sewn out of some leftover household material.  For example, my latest doll is called Mint E. Stripes. She is made out of a candy wrapper.  Her "Sewn On" date (treated like a birthday) is December 26th.  This date happens to be National Candy Cane Day.  My birthday present to myself is to take all my mini Lalaloopsies out of their boxes, and display them on a gigantic Lalaloopsy couch.  Another part of my birthday present to myself is to take my very first 16" fashion doll out of her box and stand her in her display stand.  Yes, I love dolls.





What I love about dolls is the detail shown in miniature scale.  It makes me happy.  It makes me smile.  My first foray into this love of miniatures occurred as a teenager.  When I got my first permanent full-time job, I rewarded myself with miniature buildings that I had long admired in stores.  This line of ceramic buildings from Department 56 lit up from inside and were often displayed in Christmas scenes.  Groups of buildings were placed in snowy village settings complete with little people, street signs, brick road ways, trees, and other landscape features.  It was truly magical to me.  I love Christmas decorations so what can be better than having Christmas in miniature form?





A few years ago, with the arrival of my niece, my miniature ventures went in a different direction.  I started browsing the toy aisle to see what kind of toys were available for a little girl.  That is when I started paying attention to Barbie.  Barbie has existed for more than 50 years but I hadn't really played with them much as a child.  As an adult,  I developed a growing fascination with them.  There were so many hairstyles and different types of outfits.  How did they make all that doll clothing with such detail, pockets and all?  I started checking out the doll section wherever there was one.  I went online and searched for Barbie.  I began with the Mattel, Toys R Us, and Barbie websites.  While searching the Internet, I found sites that weren't stores at all but were just devoted to displaying pictures of dolls.  There were a lot of adults who loved them and wanted to share this love with others.  I discovered this whole new world where Barbie was not seen as a toy for children but was also appreciated by grown ups.  Perhaps the title of one such site says it all:  "Inside the Fashion Doll Studio.  Barbie for big girls."