Visitors to Wee Christmas at Kenmore.

Last fall, Susan Sherman introduced herself to me, expressing an interest in visiting IGMA’s Williamsburg Study Program and meeting our participants. Susan is the Manager of Special Events at Historic Kenmore Plantation, and coordinator of a substantial holiday miniatures display at the beautifully restored home of George Washington’s sister. Anchored by a replica of Historic Kenmore, 2017 marks the fourth year that the display has taken place, enhanced by structures and individual miniatures loaned by the surrounding miniatures community.

A Georgian dollhouse on display in the Wee Christmas at Kenmore exhibit.

The public is invited to loan dollhouses or other miniature buildings, favorite pieces  or vignettes from their collections, display cases are available to protect smaller items, and each exhibitor will receive a free pass for themselves and two guests to the exhibit and other holiday festivities organized by the Foundation.

Care will be taken to properly protect your treasures, the exhibits will be monitored and stanchions will be in place to prevent enchanted viewers from getting too close. Pieces must be delivered and picked up by exhibitors. Interested parties are invited download the registration form below and submit it to Ms. Sherman. There is no time to waste, registration deadline is October 13.

EXHIBIT_REGISTRATION_FORM

Some dessert for your miniature celebrations? Pie preparation board in 1/12 scale by Betsy Niederer.

So, what is there to be thankful for? I’m thankful I live in a country where we have elections. I’m thankful for each new day that gives me a chance to try and be a better person, better parent, better friend. I’m thankful I don’t have to worry about where I’ll sleep tonight or what I’ll have to eat tomorrow or next week. I’m thankful I discovered miniatures 25 years ago and I’m thankful for the friends and challenges I’ve found there.

What are you thankful for this year?

Two vintage wooden crates repurposed as miniature settings by IGMA Artisan member Barbara Vajnar.

If you are lucky enough to know the name of an miniature artist or artists whose work they enjoy, you can start there, if not, miniature accessories like potted plants and books are a good choice as they can be put to use in just about any miniature setting. And if you can pick out an item that has some personal connection, maybe a favorite childhood book, so much the better.

No access to miniatures? Perhaps something like a framed shadow box or glass dome, easily found in a craft shop, in which to display miniatures. If the miniaturist is crafty and enjoys adapting other containers for display purposes, and antique shop might turn up an vintage box or tin that would make lovely display piece.

Some of my most frequently used tools.

Then there are tools, one can never have too many tools! Good tweezers are invaluable and there are so many different sizes and styles-there is always at least one pair next to my work station with others stashed around nearby. I also love my squeeze scissors-so much easier to pick up and use without having to slip my fingers into the finger holes of a pair of traditional scissors. Rulers are another item I have in a great assortment of sizes and styles. Good  metal rulers with 32nd and 64ths marked on them, as well as see-thru rulers most often labelled as quilting rulers in sizes from 1 to 6 inches wide and in lengths from 6 inches on up.

A good lamp is another very useful tool. Craft stores carry a good assortment of task lamps for crafters and when you are working in small scale, additional light is bonus. Storage is another category of possible gifts. I love plastic bins for good protective storage for miniatures that have yet to find homes, as well as for storage of projects in progress and for materials. A trip to the Container Store or any of my local craft stores will usually turn up an assortment of useful containers.

Self-publishing through on-line sources like Blurb.

Lastly, if you want to put in some extra work, here’s an idea that would have a very big impact…make them a book of their miniatures. There are several companies online who will take your photos and bind them into a book. My husband did that a few years ago with photos some of the miniatures I have made. He photographed a few that were in my inventory and raided my photo library for others that had been sold.

Holiday display in a store window.

Holiday display in a store window.

Miniature Christmas scene with brush trees.

This year I’ve been noticing a proliferation of tiny paper houses designed for miniature holiday displays. They look really neat on miniature mantels or under a miniature tree. There have also been

Brush trees atop a 1/12 scale toy piano made by Tracey Meeker.

discussions about where to get, or how to make tiny trees with which to landscape those displays. Sometimes you can find  small bottle brush type trees in the craft stores, and I know I saw a post somewhere about how to make your own. And, someone once wrote about bleaching the green store bought ones so you could have white trees or other colors. Yipes!

On a recent visit to a friend and fellow miniaturist’s house, I noticed some tiny perfectly shaped little trees in her displays and asked her where she had gotten them.

DenTek brushes ready to be put to alternate uses!

Well, she laughed as told me-and now you can be in on the joke, too! They began life as dental brush tools for cleaning  your teeth. Tiny, perfect, little, conical brushes on a plastic handle. You can paint them any color you wish, add glitter if so desired, then clip them off the handle and plant them in a small scrap of wood. The hardest part is to plant them squarely into the base so that they stand correctly. The brushes come in various sizes from about 3/8 to 1/2 an inch tall and can be found in most drugstores. Make sure you get the conical shaped style as some are just straight up and down and not that typical tree shape.

Paper chains being made in a miniature representation of an American summer kitchen.

The Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee boasts a small but wonderful collection of Thorne rooms, nine in all. Last year IGMA’s Jolie Gaston and Annelle Ferguson were asked to add some festive touches to the rooms and they leapt in with gusto. Their efforts were so well received that they were asked back this year. Jolie researched the periods represented by the 9 Thorne rooms and borrowing items from her own

An Art Deco celebration in 1/12 scale at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

and other collections, she and Annelle have decorated those rooms in period style.

With some additional display space available, they were able to add a few vignettes depicting holiday celebrations in other styles and periods throughout American history.

Jolie and Annelle, with some assistance from other miniaturists in the area also helped the KMA host a Family Fun Day in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Everyone enjoyed viewing the miniatures and making a miniature wreath to take home for their own holiday celebrations.

Elaborate miniature train station and transportation toys from the Jerni Collection on display at the New-York Historical Society. Photo by the NY Historical Society.

Festive train displays are a part of many holiday decorating traditions. This year the New-York Historical Societyhas an exceptional display of  toys and trains on view from the largest and most comprehensive collection ever

Toy Ferris Wheel from the Jerni Collection at the New-York Historical Society. Photo by the NY Historical Society

assembled.

For the last 50 years, Jerry Green has been collecting an example of every piece ever made by well known European and American firms from the late 1800’s through the first part of the 20th century- known as the ‘Golden Age’ of toy manufacturing. Not seeking fame as a collector, Jerry amassed his collection almost in secret, piece by piece, storing

Toy train station from the Jerni Collection on display at the New-York Historical Society. Photo by the NY Historical Society

them in his basement until he found that there was very little of any interest left to buy.

A portion of the collection went on display at Sotheby’s last year when Mr. Green decided he was ready to sell. The exhibition took up an entire floor there, yet represented only about 20% of the entire collection.

The display will remain on view at the New-York Historical Society through January 6, 2013.

Click here to view the CBS Sunday Morning segment about Jerry Greene and the Jerni Collection online.

A miniature version of their signature blue boxes rests on the steps of this iconic NYC brownstone in the holiday windows of Tiffany’s. Photo by Jessica Lin of Timeout.com.

Tiffany’s, a store where something wonderful frequently arrives in a very small package, can usually be counted on to use miniatures creatively in their holiday window displays. This year is no exception as wonderful vignettes depicting elegant New York City brownstones serve as the backdrop for sparkling jewelry and their signature robin’s egg blue boxes.

Miniature mannequins in various scales dressed for the BG Follies in Bergdorf Goodman’s holiday windows. Photo by Ricky Zehavi.

Catty corner across the street were the windows of Bergdorf Goodman decorated in this year’s theme of the BG Follies, one of which featured a collection of miniature mannequins in various scales costumed in exquisite Jazz Age gowns.

Further down Fifth Avenue, the windows of Lord & Taylor’s featured holiday celebrations around the world, from a food cart at the Central Park Zoo on a snowy winter day, to traditional Christmas markets in Germany, to festive holiday lanterns in Japan. Smaller windows were fitted with larger than life size ‘snow globes’ and contained smaller vignettes, one a tiny automated carousel with riders whirling away the days.

Pie preparation board in 1/12 scale by Betsy Niederer.

Like so much of the northeast, I and members of my extended family were in the path of Superstorm Sandy last weekend, but apart from the loss of utilities for a few days, we fared well and have only a few stories to tell; compared to many others, we were very, very lucky. With Thanksgiving  just around the corner, that will be one of the

Roast turkey platter in 1/12 scale by Jan Patrie of Autumn Leaf Studio.

many things we have to be thankful for this year.

It is easy to look around and see what is lacking in our lives, it is much better for our psyche, though, to take note of what has worked out well and what has already come our way. As we head into the giving season, giving thanks for what we have both in material goods and experiences, can be a wonderful gift to ourselves.

I am very thankful for my circle of friends in the miniature community. I hopped a bus to the Philadelphia Miniaturia last weekend and reveled in heat, hot water and t.v. and even more so, the community of friends. IGMA was the beneficiary of the fundraising auction this year and we truly appreciate the generous natures of the many miniature artists and collectors who donated to the auction and those that shopped the auction as well.

The photos this week are thanks to two of IGMA’s well known food artists, the turkey platter by Jan Patrie of Autumn Leaf Studio. Visit her website for more information on that and many other wonderful food items. The pumpkin pie preparation board is by Betsy Niederer from her etsy site where you can purchase a tutorial to learn how to make one for yourself.

Vintage toy Erzgebirge village set in an auction catalog.

Erzgebirge village sets, complete with tiny trees and their original chip-wood boxes and wondered how hard it would be to make something like that in 1/12 scale.

I looked on-line for more photos and eventually bought a set of

A vintage Erzgebirge set on E-bay.

vintage buildings and trees on E-bay. With some actual pieces in my hands, I started digging around in my bag of wood scraps. With a scrap of basswood stock wedged in my mitre box I was able to use my handsaw to cut a decent roof line. Basic

Miniature Erzgebirge buildings (houses are approximately 1/4" wide) in front of a vintage toy Erzgebirge church.

craft paints worked to give them color, and another small piece of wood served as a ‘stamp’ to add window and door blocks of color to the basic shapes. A fine paintbrush added window and door frames and mullions. Not easily.

My little buildings still seemed to be lacking something, so, using light card stock, painted, I cut roof panels to overhang the edges just slightly.

I experimented with churches and barns and even tried trees shaved from a toothpick. The ‘chip-board boxes were made from card stock and brown paper.