School Daze

Some of us look back on school days with nostalgia, and some not so much. School rooms give lots of challenges, for both design and construction.
Our mini group decided to create a 50’s primary school room.
This is our inspiration.

First came the desks. In my stash, I had a desk part, which was our starting off point. From this came the pattern.

And the prototype done with card.

Then to cut out a gazillion pierces of desk legs from cardboard., glue 6 together.

Coat with wood hardener. (This is optional. I don’t think it made the paper that much stiffer!) Sand edges smooth

The card prototype

This is the underside with supports for the book shelf.

And the other side showing supports to fasten the seat.

Now for the real thing. The pieces before being gessoed and then painted.

Clamping jig setup, painted pieces in place.

What do you think of the wood used for the desk? Can you believe it is made from foam core?  Just cut to shape and sand the edges. Use a steel brush to create the texture. I have a tiny one I found at a garage sale, but you could use a pet brush. The ink wells are air dry clay, rolled thin and cut to shape with a large straw. Place on double sided tape, glue a small bead on top, allow to dry and paint the whole thing black. Then glue in place.

Several coats of Modge Podge and the desks are ready for occupants.

All the desks in line. Notice anything? We had planned for 6 students, and there are only 4 seats! Doggone!  Back to the drawing board to make 2 more seats. Cut down the desk supports to make a chair, went through the whole process again.

Now the kids in the back have a seat.

Remember those blinds that would all of a sudden flip up and make a terrible racket as the spring took control? They were never straight, either!

 

This was a fun project.

Teapots and cakes.

This is a Niagara minis project. The teapots are from air dry clay, as well as the cakes. Some of the frosting is dimensional paint. The cake rack was made from bits and pieces of wood, shelves slightly slanted for display.
The roof is a glass insert from a picture without the frame. It lights the room effectively, adding shadows and light.

For more info, go to Niagara Minis Tea Room

Making Wall Sconces

Hmmmm, now what could be used to make these?
Take a push pin, a star acrylic bead, a small circle punched from paper, a round bead and a seed bead. Also, cut an oval from card.

Then put some Play Dough or something similar into one segment of the star bead and glue in place. This will provide a point of attachment to the wall.

Place the star bead on top of the push pin and glue in place.

 

The circle of card gets glued on top to make a platform for a candle.

Add the round bead and the seed bead to the bottom, 

Add the oval to the back. Paint the whole thing black.

Whole thing painted black

Laundry

Worked on an old time laundry scene.