Happy Mardi Gras! Pardi Gras! Fat Tuesday! Carnival!

Mini* Aesthetics put out a challenge to create a scene representing a holiday or observance in the month of February, and I chose MARDI GRAS!  I went to high school in New Orleans and I always looked forward to Mardi Gras!  Even though I've only experienced the G-rated, family version, it was great fun to attend the parades with family and friends.  Some day I plan to get back down there to experience the X R-rated version. :)  We like to attend the Bayou Festival and the Crawfish Festival in Long Beach, CA, during the summer to get a little "Nawlins" flavor.  It's a good time with some great Zydeco bands with a little Zydeco two-steppin', good food and New Orleans steppers dressed in traditional Mard Gras colors (purple, green and gold) that parade around the venue.  We've also gone down to San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter a couple of times for their celebration.  Today we're headed to the Farmer's Market in L.A. for their celebration.  

                                                        I love me some Mardi Gras!

  I really don't care to work with assistants because they always have issues, especially these creative types, but what's a float without riders?  So, meet my Krewe:

I know him as Lil Man.  His only concern was that he preferred to wear purple instead of green because green did nothing for his complexion.  Once I explained that I couldn't pull a switch because there wasn't enough green fabric to cover-up Big Boy, he was cool and happy to be there.  Such a sweetheart!

  She calls herself Butterfly (already reason to raise an eyebrow).  Butterfly rocks a tatted, bald head and she didn't want to wear the wig.  It went against her individuality and her creative spirit and she didn't want to look like everyone else... blah, blah, blah!   I told her it was my float, my design, my vision, and my vision had hair in it, lots of hair, dreadlocks!  So she just needed to shut-up, put on  the wig, stand up straight, and just wave and smile... just wave and smile....

OMG!  Big Boy!  Mr. I'm-too-sexy-for-my-shirt clothes!  He wanted to stand on the float (you see how big he is), NUDE, just wearing a hat and a mask!  I flipped!  Are you nuts?!  I told him it wasn't that kind of party and he better pull the stick out of his A BUTT (referring to the stand), sit his A BUTT down, and put some clothes on (you see he conveniently left his pants at home.)  This is what I was workin' with and this is why I don't use assistants!

  HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

from Beany and Richie

Glamboyance in Pink and Orange!

Help! Is this a Barbie world?  Not knockin' Barbie, but it's just soooo GIRL-Y!  But, I do believe that every living room should have a white sofa!

The stuff:  The sectional  is Kaleidoscope.  The table is a coaster on top of a bottle lid. The pillows, throw and ottoman are by me.   The fireplace is from HBS, mounted on "stainless steel" paper.  The floor is cork printed contact paper and the rug is a gift bag. The orange flower was cut from a calendar.  The wall art was made with Martha Stewart cut outs.  The clear chair is a wedding favor.  The tall floor vase is a pen part.  (I love these pens from Michael's, all kinds of designs for $1.50).  The mirrors are lids to jewelry boxes from Pier I.  The hanging lamp is half of a large plastic Easter egg.  The red desk came with a set of very cheap furniture that I purchased years ago and just found.  The wooden box under the desk is a napkin ring from Crate and Barrel. Accessory items include charms, dollhouse and wood items from Hobby Lobby.

It's always so exciting to see a new follower or two, so thank you for joining!

I need to go de-tox now from all the pink!  Beany

I Say It's a Dollhouse

I've noticed that a few of you have recently purchased or constructed dollhouses or room boxes. I really envy you because you have the architectural details that I'm craving.  I don't own a dollhouse so I've been working with the IKEA Lekman and the IKEA Glasshouse.  While I was out Christmas shopping, I spotted this little house for $40 at Tuesday Morning and thought it would satisfy my needs for a little bit. I put it together in about three minutes with ten fat wooden screws.  The box says "Ages 5+", and I think it was intended for a five year old to put together.  Ahhh, just my speed!   

This house came with 34 pieces of furniture and a few pieces are just screamin' for a makeover.  I'll get to that on one of those dark, cold, dreary days, when it's too cold to go out and..... oh yeah, we don't get those kind of days, so no tellin' when I'll get to that little project.

It's actually a cute little house and I could see a lot of possibilities.  It has two stories and the partition creates four rooms.

Then, I actually measured the first floor (the dimensions weren't on the box) and the ceiling height is only seven inches.  Very disappointing, but I could possibly get away with it and I can still use the second floor.  So, I removed the partition and second story floor for some further exploration.  I don't know.... it's looking like a combination of the Lekman and the Glasshouse to me!

 This is going to take some thinking out-of-the-box and I have no problem flippin' this baby..

Uhhhh....not so much.

A little better with one eye covered.  

I'm seeing possibilities.  I think it's workable.  I'm determined to use this structure (dare I say dollhouse with real collectors in the midst?)

I'm gathering things for another scene but I have no idea which of my three structures I'll use.  Decisions, decisions.

Gotta go!  Beany

Southwest Vibe

Happy New Year to you all!  Ten days in and all is well!

This past summer, I went to Olvera Street in Los Angeles, which is a Mexican marketplace located in the oldest part of downtown.  It's a tourist attraction with a lot of little shops and some excellent Mexican restaurants, historical buildings and live performances.  I've been there several times and never noticed any minis, but now I'm on the lookout everywhere I go (as I'm sure most of you are), and BOY, did I score!  I found a lot of miniature pottery pieces, food, bright colored baskets, beverage bottles (alcohol), a few furniture pieces, sombreros and blankets.  It was a good day!

I picture this scene to be somewhere in a very hot and sunny southwest state, or somewhere south-of-the- border, or somewhere in the vicinity of Palm Springs, or somewhere in .....  You get the picture.        

Inside looking out to the patio

Outside looking in

Love the colored plates, but they were glued to the shelf

Basket full of mini pottery on Olvera St.

I thought I took a picture of all my purchases that day, but I guess not, but I do recall laying it all out on the bed like I was going to.

The stuff:  I used the glass greenhouse from IKEA.  The cork wall treatment that's serving as shelves are trivets from Pier I.  It would've been nice if the cork had spanned across the whole back wall, but hey...  The dolls are Guatemalan worry dolls (tell the doll your worries and they will do the worrying for you).  If only!  These are wedding favor chairs painted white (saw these on a few blogs some time ago).  Love the dining table and set of wall shelves by minisx2.  The cabinet, most of the pottery and the baskets are from Olvera Street, with some like items thrown in.  The rug is a piece of fabric and the floor is vinyl tile.  Patio:  The background is a picture from the dollar store.  I know you recognize those CB2 chairs.  The table top is a stone coaster and the floor is cork.

Until I post again, Beany.

Richie's-Garden-B-Happenin'

Richie's my very cool hubby!  Richie likes minis too. Richie likes to garden. See what Richie did! 

The bird is out again!

The bird spots the sleeping cat and thinks there's plenty of time to play.

But, is the cat really sleeping?  Hmmm......

NEVER trust a cat that can read!



All is well... for now.

Richie did a great job! Maybe he'll do something else for us one day!

 

Another One for the Halloween Challenge

THE PLAN:  1) Gulp down drinks, 2)  jump in the jet and 3) par-tay at the Jazz Club, (check out Jazzi's blog) 'cause clearly, ain't nothin' goin' on here!  The party's over there!

Whatcha Lookin' At?

I purchased this original piece of art from one of my very creative and talented nieces (there are a few of them, nephews too, hmmm....sons too!)  I was instantly drawn to the colors and the urban style.  It took me a few seconds to see the pair of eyes in the painting, but that made it even more appealing to me, but I don't think I'd appreciate these eyes on me in 1:1 scale.  I thought this painting would make a great backdrop for a little touch of funk-y-ness.  It turned out to be a very graphic room.  I have an idea when I start out, but I never really know where I'm going with these rooms until I get there!  One or two items can totally change it up, and for the most part, I'm too lazy to make changes!  For instance, the sofa, pillows, and egg table look like a face!

Check out the weenie dog book ends, too cute! (Stick pins from Target)
 

 


The painting is by Jocelyn McDaniel.  The red sofa is from minimodernistas.   The entertainment center is a painted box from Target dollar bin.  The rug is a cut up hand towel from Target.  The dalmatian pouf is a cat toy from Target.  The gray steel recliner is a phone holder (a little large, but I have large friends), yep from Target.  I didn't realize I spent so much time in Target!  The egg table is a magnetic paperclip holder from Pier 1.  The chrome pendants are pen parts (love the pen parts, whoever started using them gets mad props!) . The pillows are by me and the accessories are a mix of beads, craft store finds, thrift shop finds, and some homemade stuff. 

Welcome to a couple of new followers, how cool!  Thanks for joining me!

Now I can try my hand at some Halloweeny stuff!  Peace, Beany.