A Small Art Deco Update

I have ordered some materials for the art deco house and, while waiting for them to arrive, have been playing around making things for the house.  (Yes, I should be working on my swap, but I will get that done, too.) 

First of all, my half-inch painter's tape arrived. I tested out stripes with it, and much prefer it. 

For comparison:

The half-inch tape is a darker blue as well, and therefore closer to the color I will actually use when painting.

I also worked on the vanity for the bedroom.  The vanity is made from a kit by SDK Miniatures.  Something had gone a little wrong in the cutting of the base structure pieces, as their tops and bottom edges were all on a pretty severe angle, and I was worried about how it was all going to go together.  I ended up creating my own base structure with some wood I had on hand.  The rest of the pieces (drawer fronts, sides, top, spacers and handles) were all perfect.  I followed Susan's suggestion to make the vanity two-tone, using both Golden Oak and Dark Walnut Minwax stain pens.  Two-toned furniture was common in art deco.  I gave it a shellac finish and swapped out the mirror card for some real mirror, and I think it's a lovely little piece.

I added a laser-cut dresser scarf I had on hand and my mannequin head with the flapper headband.  I also added a brush, hand mirror and cosmetics from a Mini-Etchers 3-D printed set.  Unfortunately, I don't see it on her Web site, but I'm sure you can contact her about getting a set.  I got mine at one of the Weebly online mini shows, in which she regularly participates.  They come attached to a bar for easier handling and include the mirror, brush, lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, three bottles of nail polish, a tube (toothpaste?) and a spray pump bottle. I painted all the items while they were still attached to the bar, only doing a bit of touch-up after clipping them off.  I then immediately super-glued them to a little vanity tray I had made from a watch part, circle of mirror and some silver-painted fairy lace.  The little items are so tiny (most are smaller than a grain of rice) that I was terrified in between clipping and gluing that I would sneeze and lose them all!  The left-over card mirror from the dresser came in handy for cutting an oval for the hand mirror.

You can see the silk cushion on the vanity seat.  It's from a Mood swatch of silk charmeuse called "colonial blue."  I've decided I want rich colors in the bedroom.  I am going with the colonial blue, with some ivory and eggplant accents.

Of course, once the vanity was done, I had to make the matching bed.  That kit went together just fine, although I always find it helpful to shave down the mattress piece to accommodate the bedding, especially when it must fit within a restricted space (e.g., has a footboard or side cabinets).  I removed around 1/8 inch each from the length and width of the mattress before I started dressing it.  The bedding is still a work-in-progress.  My first attempt at the coverlet was not very successful, and I need to rethink how I will do it, but I do have the bed finished through the blanket stage.  With the sheet and blanket, it's a perfect fit.  The coverlet is designed to not take up any more space in the restricted areas.

While looking at inspiration photos for bedding, I saw some beds with breakfast trays and decided I needed to have one.  😊  The tray itself it made from cherry wood, using the same technique I used for the replacement shelves on the drinks cart.  The egg cup (you can probably tell) is an earring back, with a half egg made from air-dry clay.  The cup and saucer were metal minis; I had them on hand, so just painted them.  The coffee is still in the process of being built up from Gallery Glass in this photo.  The two plates were made from paper, shaped, coated with nail polish, and finished with a bit of "Liquid Gold" around the edges.  My better half told me the one with the peacock in the center looked like it had a mustache (😮), so I ended up using the other one.  The toast is a bit of styrofoam shaved out of the center of a piece of left-over foam core; I colored it with pastels and glued a very thin strip of brown mulberry paper around the edge to create a crust.  The little dish of marmalade was made by snipping bits of orange embroidery thread and mixing them with yellow and orange Gallery Glass in a small bead cap.  The lovely rose was a gift from Debora (Dalesq) on Greenleaf.

Here it is all put together.

For fun, shown next to a postage stamp:

I honestly thought they'd be the same size.  I was surprised that my tray was smaller.

The other addition to the bed was the (non-working) lamp.  If you do a search on art deco lamps, you'll see many shaped like a female figure holding the ball of the lamp.  Here are some examples:

For my lamp, I purchased some N-scale "swimmer" figures.  Unfortunately, the one I wanted to use had her hands attached to her face.  I guess she was doing the breast stroke?  I had to clip them away and clip her arms, then attach two small pieces of wire to create the extended arms I wanted.  I was supposed to get swimmers with extended arms, but, to my annoyance, the swimmers I got looked nothing like the ones pictured when I ordered them.  *sigh*  You can see the join in the picture, but it doesn't look too bad in real life.  I then attached her to a base, painted her a dark bronze, and glued on a glass bead for the light.

My own art deco lamp!  I would love to make a working model, but given how thin and delicate the figure is, there would be no place to thread the wire.

That's it for now.  Have a wonderful week, everyone.  My wood circles and my black-and-white Marlike flooring tiles have arrived, so I hope to start working on my base soon.