Spring Cleaning Miniature Gardening

I finished off all my little planters.  The small ones with flowers were the easiest as all I did was flock them and glue in the flowers.  The tall ones with evergreens were just as easy and will look great separating the outdoor seating of my cafe from the plaza.

The tomato plants were a little more work but relatively simple.  I glued three toothpick halves into each container and painted them green. When they dried I glued on Woodland Scenics Clump Foliage pieces. Unable to go to either the Craft or Model Railroad stores right now I went “Shopping in My Closets” as a friend of mine says and found my bag of various colors of Fimo and Sculpy polymer clays.  I made a bunch of red spheres about the right size and once they had baked (do this for 2/3rds of recommended time as they are so tiny they will burn) I glued them onto the plants.  Now Nona Scylla can always have fresh tomatoes.

The ornamental trees, which could flank a doorway nicely, were also a bit of work as what I had were really bushes and I wanted them to look more like well manicured ornamental trees.  So I glued half a toothpick in each planter as a pin and then found some aluminium cylinders in my bits box that were just the right height to glue onto those.  After they dried I raided my canvas painting supplies for my Fiber Paste by Golden to create the texture of bark. This stuff is an acrylic modeling paste, clear paint, with a fine texture mixed in.  Great for building up texture on a canvas (think Van Gogh) or the surface of a model building or tree trunks.  Then everything was painted, surface was flocked, and the bushes were glued into the trunks. I’m rather pleased with how these came out and am going to have to make more like them.  As for now, time for more trees and planted areas.