Cookout Series...

One of the first lines introduced by Of Mice & Mini's was our Cookout Series.  It all started with a little chef mouse called Come & Get It.  It was summer.  He needed a BBQ to cook outdoors.  So after a trip to hobby lobby, a wooden bowl, nails, screen, glitter glue and black sand later, I turned him into a pit master.  We added a fimo hot dog and hamburger to top it off.  From there we went on a food theme and created a BBQ Meat Table with hamburgers, hot dogs and roasters.  Of course you also need something sweet so we made a S'mores Table with marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars.    I'm not the most talented food artist by any means, but these get the message across and make for a fun little summer outing for any of the mice to enjoy.

Mini Mondays...

Of Mice and Mini's is a line of miniature accessories designed to complement and enhance your Wee Forest Folk displays.  Every Monday we will be blogging about our latest creations, new finds, our current inventory lines, display ideas, tips, other artists and all kinds of things regarding miniatures when it comes to Wee Forest Folk.  For those who don't know, Wee Forest Folk are a line of collectible animal figurines, mostly mice, that do what people do. They are made in Carlisle, Massachusetts by the Petersen family and their team of employees.  Each figurine ranges from 1"-2" in height and is a tiny work of art on it's own, but some of us like to take things a step further.  We create homes and scenes for these little creatures.  Some of them live better off than we do.  Heck, most of them do.

Making displays, scenes and accessorizing your mice, as we call them, isn't all that hard.  But it isn't all that easy either.  No one scale works perfect with them. Some 1" scale miniatures, while large, will be okay in some circumstances.  Half-inch miniatures are the truest scale for the body size, but not the height.  The mice are stubby little critters. Half-inch scale tables and chairs, while a good width, will be much too tall.  Quarter scale furniture works nicely for the height and while they are smaller in scope, they let the mice be the star of any display.  Mix and matching scales is the best approach when looking for miniatures for the mice.  It's a process that requires some patience and flexibility.

I've been collecting the mice since 1990.  I started selling them in my shop in 1996.  I was buying displays, but started making my own in the late 90's and that's when I became a miniaturist.  I am now a miniature artist in some respects.  You will see in our inventory and future blog posts some of the items I have created. But I don't only make from scratch.  My talents are limited.  So I like to find items I can repurpose to work with the mice.  I put together some items from kits that were created by other miniature artists.  I also eye some pre-made items that I know will work as something else for the mice.  I snatch them up and add them to the line as well.  Our inventory is an eclectic mix of all of the above.

We hope you will enjoy our Mini Mondays and come back to see our miniature treasures featured that week.