Miniature Museum of St Louis

I was finally able to visit the Miniature Museum in St Louis, and I didn't even have to drive to it! Fay Zerbolio made all the arrangements and Becky Niethammer was our "chauffeur".

The museum was a good 45 minute drive or more from the airport hotel, and I would have gotten lost for sure without the aid of GPS, so I was so glad I didn't have to drive and find it.

The museum is located in an older part of town right across the street from the Windmill. Yes, you read right--there is a windmill building right across the street from the museum. The "windmill" used to be a restaurant but they went bankrupt and had to shut down. The city took over and sold it to some corporate entity for a $1 and who plans to refurbish and restore the "windmill" to its former glory.

This area of the city is where Anheuser-Busch used to have a factory and they built small houses right up against each other (non-existent side yards) for their factory workers. However, almost all the houses are brick, so they are probably 100 yrs old and still inhabited by people. Brick must be plentiful and cheap in St Louis, because there are lots of brick houses that we drove past.

We drove past the huge gardens belonging to Anheuser-Busch, now owned by some European company, and even some land owned by Ulysses S. Grant. I never knew US Grant even lived in Missouri--I always associated Missouri with Harry Truman and Mark Twain.

Anyway, what follows are selected pictures of the collection at the Miniature Museum of St Louis. They are liberal with the picture taking policy and they gave me permission to have the pictures on my blog.

These are not the greatest pictures, because everything was under glass cover. If you go, look for the red push button below or to the side of the display case to turn on the light for each display box.

 This was one of the nicer roomboxes and not overly decorated.

 These are really TINY little dolls 1 inch or under. The detail is remarkable for such a small size.

 Tiny little glass figurines. 

 A collection of micro mini roomboxes and houses

 A collection of plastic dolls from Germany. Sorry picture is so blurry

 I am fascinated by roomboxes featuring toys and dollhouses (multiple scales within one vignette)

 A cafe roombox. The pictures don't do justice to the detail and quality because of the display cover.

 Mary Engelbreit (ME) is very popular because she lives in Missouri. This quarter scale house uses an ME book cover for the roof and illustrations from the book pages to decorate the exterior.

 A garden shop roombox and vignette from a gift bag

 I liked how they displayed all the cards right on the sales counter instead of putting them in boxes.

 A nice way to display contents of quarter scale rooms and only the exterior of the house and protected by conventional picture frame.

 These are really cute miniature teddy bears in many sizes and the picture doesn't do them justice.

 Remember these tin dollhouses from your childhood?

 There are several mid-century tin dollhouses at the museum, on the 1st & 2nd floor.

 This is actually a half scale Victorian dollhouse in purple inspired by those famous ones on Nob Hill, San Francisco, California. It's pretty big, though.

 This is a terrible picture, but I love small porcelain figurines

 These dolls are smaller than they look, but you can't tell because there's nothing to give you perspective on the size like a ruler or quarter.

 Who doesn't love Raggedy Ann and Andy?

 A collection of Gudgel Houses (144 scale)

 I liked how the creator HUNG the teacup onto an egg holder instead of gluing to the saucer. Something to consider the next time you do a teacup vignette. I think this was donated by Barbara Ann Meyer.

A collection of porcelain dollhouse miniature furniture

This is really exquisite. The antique shop window is in a pocket watch that is about 1-1/2" diameter. Pull out your ruler to imagine how small it is and you really appreciate how Sandra Manring was able to find suitable items appropriate to the scale.

I love this porcelain dining room set donated by William Cambron. It's slightly bigger than 1" scale .

A flower shop roombox to inspire you.

Petit point rugs donated by the late Judith Ohanian.

Shaker Paper (doll)House by Evaline Ness. I have never seen this book before online, so I took pictures of all four rooms included in the book.

I like how the greeting cards are displayed and opened up on the table.

A general store roombox

This reminds me so much of American homes in the 1970s-1980s

The next 4 pictures are of the Bon Marche--see placard for details.

Roombox created from Brooke Tucker class

Roombox created from Brooke Tucker class

OK, this is very plastic-y, but it has all the elements of a 1950s diner and the charm that comes with that time period.

Does your miniature workshop room look like this?

A genuine 1" scale Mary Engelbreit dollhouse

Inside the Mary Engelbreit house

I found this collection interesting--a set of dollhouse miniature furniture from Hummel. There are intricate engravings on the furniture which I could not photograph adequately.

More tin dollhouses

The decor is a reflection of their times

Miniature silver pieces. It's in a small display case on the right hand side as you enter the museum on the 1st floor. Look for it--they are exquisite pieces.

The museum collection is located on two floors. Don't forget to check out the bathroom, because they ran out of room and put miniatures in there as well!

There's an ecletic mix of miniatures from the sublime to the "ordinary" (but no longer available unless you stumble on them in flea markets, antique shops or ebay) from a bygone era.

I wish more of the collection had placards to explain the significance (history, the artisan's credentials, uniqueness or rarity) of the items on display. 

If you decide to go, call ahead and ask where you should park. Our "chauffeur" parked in the back of the building, but I couldn't see a parking lot allotted to the museum.  The museum is closed on Monday AND Tuesday. 

There is a small gift shop where you can purchase various miniature items from furniture to supplies for making miniatures, and out-of-print miniature books and magazines. You never know what "treasure" you could stumble on when you visit.

2014 St Louis NAME National Convention--the Hotel

Hello everyone.

It has been a long time since I posted anything. Wasn't sure anyone was even reading my posts, but was pleasantly surprised to find that a few more people were interested enough to sign up for the posts. Thank you to all new subscribers!

The 2014 NAME National Convention in St Louis has been GRRREAT!!!!

So here is my 1st post on this very busy week. We start with the hotel--the Marriott at St Louis Airport. I'm not even sure where the airport is, as I drove to the convention hotel site instead of flying, and I have not really heard the rumble of planes taking off overhead, if that kind of thing bothers you. 

Here is my hotel room with the standard double queen bed. The hotel was recently renovated and it's like stepping into the pages of a Crate & Barrel, West Elm or Pottery Barn catalog, which is to say the hotel's decor is retro modern with streamlined modern furniture in neutral shades of gray, taupe, chocolate brown, ecru and splashes of bright color. 

The beds are comfortable with crisp, white, cotton sheets, goose-down comforters, goose-down pillows (you get 6 pillows per bed).

The flat screen TV looks small, but it's actually 42-50" large. You get the standard cable stations with one station for HBO. The little cabinet below the TV hides a little fridge. The bottled water is not free, and unfortunately, there is no personal coffee maker with complimentary tea or coffee packets.

They do have a Starbucks in the lobby area, which I visited daily in the morning and noon for caffeination and sandwiches. 

Sandwiches are pretty decent size and include choices of ham, turkey, chicken breast (not often) and roast beef, for $5.

The brownies are very good---thick, gooey, rich, chocolate with toasted pecan on top or rich chocolate frosting, and average $4.

The coffee is typical Starbucks-ridiculously expensive, but the ladies behind the register are nice.

 I just wanted to show more of the modern decor in the hotel ambience. I liked the little leather stool/bench as a catch-all for luggage, purses, and a full-length mirror to inspect yourself before heading out the door.

 Here is a little sitting area with those mid-century chairs. There's not much of a view out the window unless you're lucky enough to look out onto the pool, which is very stylish and nice.

Here is some art work hanging on my bedroom wall. In the public restrooms of the lobby, they have hanging black and white portrait size photos of movie stars like Audrey Hepburn, Robert Wagner and other celebrities boarding a plane or in an airport lobby.

Here is my nightstand. The furniture in the room is ALL open shelving. There are no chest of DRAWERS. In the closet, you have a little space for hanging your clothes and 4 open shelves for your clothes. It's minimalism. Good to not accidentally leave behind items in drawers, but housekeeping and any guests will be able to see what your underwear looks like. There's a small lock in the closet to safeguard your valuables.

Right below the lamps are 2 electrical outlets for essentials like charging your cell phone and laptop and 2 on/off switches for the lamp. I found that really convenient.

I didn't include pictures of the bathroom--pictures just too hard to get right. Bathroom is tight, but there are granite countertops and either marble floors or ceramic tiles that look like marble. It's nice.

Funny thing--housekeeping will only leave you one roll of toilet paper. I ran out one night and called about it to front desk. They were very polite, apologized, and when I left my room that morning there was a roll of paper outside my door. BUT when I came back later after housekeeping had tidied up my room, there were no EXTRA roll of toilet paper. I just found that really odd. I can understand conservation measures, but being stingy on toilet paper, at a hotel no less? Really!

I thought maybe it was just me, but during one of my theme luncheons, another lady at the table brought up the exact same issue--so...you've been warned.

Poor Man's Photo Box--Photo Tutorial

      Tools/supplies: ILLUSTRATION BOARD (custom frame/art supply section of craft stores), quilting ruler (preferred) or ruler, pencil, Xacto knife with sharp blade, CARPET TAPE 1.5” wide

Illustration Board is used because it is thicker and RIGID like wood (except you can use Xacto knife to cut, and it is acid free to boot). You can use mat board, but it is too floppy to my taste.

Template for cutting the photobox (boxes labeled #1, 2, 3,5). Not to scale. Ignore Box #6,4

       Draw the template onto illustration board, on the side you do not want showing (with all the writing on it), including the dash lines. A square quilting ruler as shown is easiest because lines are level as you draw. For a 16 x 20” board, you can make a 6” box using the template above the picture. 

The picture illustrates the lines for making an 8” box from 16 x 20 board. For bigger boxes, you will need 32 x 40" illustration board.

     Use your Xacto knife to cut as follows: DASHED lines get cut into but not through the board, NON-DASHED LINES get cut through full thickness of board. You should be able to bend the sides where there are dashed lines. You may have to make MULTIPLE passes to fully cut through the board.

      Seal the sides of the box with CARPET TAPE (basically industrial strength double sided tape). 

      The finished box will have 3 sides & a bottom, but no top or front.

 6” and 8” photo box nested in each other, both used 16x20 illustration board.

       Now you can place your miniature items into the box and take pictures. The box gives you a nice clean background on all 3 sides. I chose white so that if you print the picture, you won’t waste a lot of ink on background color.

     If you want a colored background, just add colored paper or fabric into the box and voila!