Miniature cooking range
As the weather merrily drifts towards spring, I was let into a secret by my daughter. Apparently the Santa who came to our house when we went carol singing was Uncle Clifford.
Whole of last month she happily bragged about how she was the only one to get a gift from Santa because she was such a good girl and then to have this unraveled was jaw dropping to say the least. I suspect the brother!
Meanwhile, the brother has unfortunately gotten fixated by a popular pop song which he insists on inflicting on us at every given opportunity. My motherly affection is being severely tested. I plan on giving him ice cream, maybe it will cause a sore throat. I'm also starting to worry over how devious I am. But the other option which has been tempting me is an inspiration from the title of the song "drag me down"
In the midst of all this, I have a broken down washing machine and a microwave oven. Thankfully the cooking range that we use at home works. It must be atleast twenty yrs old and is a hand me down from my mother-in-law.
She's a most delightful person and has duplicates of everything except her son.
He could do with some spares for replacement/realignment, but I digress.
She's a most delightful person and has duplicates of everything except her son.
He could do with some spares for replacement/realignment, but I digress.
Anyway so the cooking range I built may not be as long lasting as my M.I.L's but it's certainly good looking.
The reason I mention longevity is because the four poster bed I constructed has been severely maimed. I saw my eight yr old swing a pillow randomly and knock it off a shelf from a height of about four feet. Now why he did that, is an answer I cannot hazard. My guess is because he could. My daughter did a similar thing with the iPad two years back and shattered the screen. We still use the fully celloptaped, forever injured iPad.
In 'Catch 22' there is a soldier in white who is plastered from head to foot, when he dies several months later he is replaced by another identical soldier and no one realizes it's a different soldier. I suspect if we bought a new ipad and cellotaped the new one as well, my kids wouldn't even know.
The four poster in its erstwhile glorious days.
Now to tell all minaturists or miniature enthusiasts how I made the cooking range.
1) Take a sturdy cardboard box, admire it from all sides. If you like its proportions keep it, if not junk it.
2) With a heavy heart make a rectangular shaped opening in the front of the perfectly proportioned box. Basically this is the place you would access the grill or oven from.
3) Cover all available surfaces except the top surface with black duct tape.
4) Cover the top of the box with a silver foil or silver coloured duct tape.
5) Next go and empty the new muesli box that you just bought into a jar. Maybe eat some with yoghurt. See that's the reason people should like my blogs, I time it with breaks and rest periods and suitable sustenance options.
6) Now once you have the empty muesli carton cut out four circles of different sizes. These will be your burners. Cover these with black duct tape too. Stick these card board burners to the silver foil covered box with double sided tape.
7) Next to make the oven door:
Measure a rectangle a little larger than the opening you made in the box, on the same muesli carton. Cut out the centre of this rectangle leaving an equal border on all sides. Stick a clear plastic sheet by the simple expedient of putting black duct tape on the inside along the edge of the clear sheet (remember this is your glass).
In the photo above, notice the white of the reverse side of the duct tape where the oven door meets the bottom of the cooking range. Also observe the Velcro stuck on both sides.
8) Once all the exposed surfaces are covered with black duct tape, focus again on the perfectly proportioned but subsequently mutilated box. The inside of the oven needs a shelf. This can be easily made by folding a thin cardboard sheet like our favourite muesli carton in a 'C' shape (a C with sharp line angles) cover with silver foil or silver duct tape and wedge it into the oven and stick with fevicol.
9) Next attach the oven door to the box. Stick the door to the box with duct tape at the bottom. This door is now openable. Use Velcro to make it shut.
I placed a small battery and led light to give the red glow of a fire burning.
10) The burner knobs are golden coloured beads and the oven handle/napkin holder is just a tooth pick painted silver with nailpolish with the two ends stuck into two beads which are stuck on the door.
There, those are your ten steps to making a lovely miniature cooking range. Now get those dolls to rustle up dinner and if its edible invite me to your fairy tale life.
The four poster in its erstwhile glorious days.
Now to tell all minaturists or miniature enthusiasts how I made the cooking range.
1) Take a sturdy cardboard box, admire it from all sides. If you like its proportions keep it, if not junk it.
2) With a heavy heart make a rectangular shaped opening in the front of the perfectly proportioned box. Basically this is the place you would access the grill or oven from.
3) Cover all available surfaces except the top surface with black duct tape.
4) Cover the top of the box with a silver foil or silver coloured duct tape.
5) Next go and empty the new muesli box that you just bought into a jar. Maybe eat some with yoghurt. See that's the reason people should like my blogs, I time it with breaks and rest periods and suitable sustenance options.
6) Now once you have the empty muesli carton cut out four circles of different sizes. These will be your burners. Cover these with black duct tape too. Stick these card board burners to the silver foil covered box with double sided tape.
7) Next to make the oven door:
Measure a rectangle a little larger than the opening you made in the box, on the same muesli carton. Cut out the centre of this rectangle leaving an equal border on all sides. Stick a clear plastic sheet by the simple expedient of putting black duct tape on the inside along the edge of the clear sheet (remember this is your glass).
In the photo above, notice the white of the reverse side of the duct tape where the oven door meets the bottom of the cooking range. Also observe the Velcro stuck on both sides.
8) Once all the exposed surfaces are covered with black duct tape, focus again on the perfectly proportioned but subsequently mutilated box. The inside of the oven needs a shelf. This can be easily made by folding a thin cardboard sheet like our favourite muesli carton in a 'C' shape (a C with sharp line angles) cover with silver foil or silver duct tape and wedge it into the oven and stick with fevicol.
9) Next attach the oven door to the box. Stick the door to the box with duct tape at the bottom. This door is now openable. Use Velcro to make it shut.
I placed a small battery and led light to give the red glow of a fire burning.
10) The burner knobs are golden coloured beads and the oven handle/napkin holder is just a tooth pick painted silver with nailpolish with the two ends stuck into two beads which are stuck on the door.
There, those are your ten steps to making a lovely miniature cooking range. Now get those dolls to rustle up dinner and if its edible invite me to your fairy tale life.
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