Pasta & Ice Cream Cones

Hi there :) This is going to be a bit of a mish-mash post.  I made these pasta noodles a while ago and recently took an updated picture.  I'm really not sure what I want to do with them.  Maybe I'll make a pasta dish, or possibly scrap it and make new noodles that aren't so large and clunky.  Hmm...not sure.

I did have a few great comments on Instagram suggesting I use a larger bowl and hide the chunky noodles behind sauce.  Another person also suggested I make them into curly fries! I just might try it.

I also tried my hand at sculpting a little ice cream cone.  I've made waffle cones before but never this type.  I used Sculpey Firm to sculpt it since Premo and Sculpey III were just too soft and wouldn't hold the details.  Then I tried to make a mold of it, andthat's where everything fell apart! Maybe it's the type of molding material I used, but the cone details just didn't come out right.  So when I put the clay in the mold and baked it, it came out all wonky and un-detailed.  I guess I could hand sculpt each cone? I'll try and come up with an alternative and report back.

Clam Chowder

This weekend has been incredibly hot, so naturally I thought it would be perfect to make clam chowder bread bowls.  Good thing it was actually miniature chowder!  I first started to sculpt the round loaf and then cut the top off just like you would when making the real bread bowl.  Then I made the chowder with chunks of white and beige clay (potato and clams) mixed with TLS and sprinkled with a bit of brown and green clay shavings.  Finally I topped it off with a few bacon bits and baked them.

The clam chowder bread bowls was a fairly fast project, so I decided to also make a few cutting boards.
I got a long piece of wood from craft store and cut it up and sanded the edges.  Then I used watered down acrylic paint to give the wood a stain.  Next time I'll tray making different shaped boards.

Tip: Don't put too much water on the wood, it will warp the wood as it dries.

Hope you all had a great weekend! :)

Thank You!

Exactly one month ago I created this blog!  Don't worry, I'm not about to do some crazy "monthiversary" post or anything like that.  The main reason I'm writing this is to thank all of you! I'm a person of few words, but truly mean every word I say.  Thank you for commenting, emailing, following me on other media sites, and reading my blog. It's so great to see all this positive feedback, and I honestly appreciate all the kind words.

If any of you are hesitant to start a blog of your own, I highly encourage that you do make one.  Or at least create a Deviantart so the world can see your masterpieces! I would love to see any art that you guys have created.  So feel free to share your links with me in the comments.

Glazed & Confused (Part 2)

*Disclaimer: With the permission from Voodoo Doughnut, these works are purely replica fan art with no intentions to sell.  It is not intended to infringe on any rights by and of the company involved in the production of the miniatures made here. *

Woohoo! The Voodoo Doughnut project is all finished :) In case you aren't familiar with Voodoo Doughnuts, they are a well known doughnut shop in Portland, OR known for having uniquely designed doughnuts.

I was hard pressed to find a bit of time this week to finish making the toppings, assemble the pastry boxes, and decorating the whole doughnut.  Nonetheless I'm fairly pleased with how they turned out.  There are only a few issues I could nitpick, but what person isn't critical of their own work?

 The first thing I did this week was cut, fold, and glue the famous pink boxes.  It measures roughly 2.54cm x 2.54cm. x 1cm (LxWxH).  It took a while to create the box template from scratch since I had to reference photos online and then find clear images I could use.  Once I did that I brought the photos into Photoshop, tinkered with it a bit, and then created the template.

Bacon, Fruit Loops, crushed peanuts, sprinkles, Captain Crunch, shredded coconut

The second major task was to finish making the toppings.  In the last work in progress (WIP) post I wrote about making the Fruit Loops and Captain Crunch Berries.  This round I made bacon strips, crushed peanuts, sprinkles, and shredded coconut.  To make the crushed peanuts I baked peanut colored clay and then chopped it up into tiny pieces.  For the shredded coconut, I grated white clay on a grater.  I technically stole the sprinkles from my last doughnut project, but shhhh....I can re-use things, right? :)

After several days of working on it, here they are! As I mentioned last time, I was originally going to only make five different kinds but I couldn't decide on which flavors so I ended up choosing fifteen.  After seeing it finished, I'm glad I chose to make a bunch of them.  It's so colorful!  Here is a list of the doughnuts pictured: (left to right, top to bottom)

Tex-ass Challenge (equal to 6 doughnuts!), Miami Vice Berry, Raspberry Romeo, Peanut doughnut, Blueberry cake doughnut, Chocolate coconut, Portland cream, Chocolate bar, Voodoo Doll, Gay bar, French crueller, McMinnville cream, Captain my Captain, Bacon Maple bar, The Loop doughnut

Old vs. New

Lastly, I posted a before and after progress shot of two doughnuts that I made a while ago when I first started messing with polymer clay.  You can see in the older versions that I didn't take scale into consideration.  Also, the effect chalk pastels has on the clay to create that "baked" look.  I've definitely learned a lot of new techniques since starting, maybe if I make a third version of the doughnuts it will look like it was baked fresh from the store's oven. :)

I hope you enjoyed this short little series!

P.S. If you like the content I have provided and decide to make your own version of some Voodoo Doughnuts (or any doughnut for that matter), feel free to share them with me!  Tag me (@TheMicrobakery) on your Instagram photo so I can see your awesome treats.

Tutorial: Fruit Loops & Captain Crunch Berries

I promised a Fruit Loop tutorial, and here it is! :)  This is the first tutorial I've ever made, so if you see something wrong with it or need clarification, don't hesitate to leave it in the comments. If you decide to follow this tutorial, be sure to share some photos of your masterpieces with me.  You can leave a comment with a link to your photo or tag me in your instagram picture(@TheMicrobakery).  Enjoy!

Glazed & Confused (Part 1)

*Disclaimer: With the permission from Voodoo Doughnut, these works are purely replica fan art with no intentions to sell.  It is not intended to infringe on any rights by and of the company involved in the production of the miniatures made here. *

 After my last doughnut catastrophe a couple of days ago, and my vow to take a long hiatus from these delicious fried eats, it's only appropriate that I tell my delusional self to make more.  So in honor of one of my favorite cities, I am recreating some doughnuts from the infamous Voodoo Doughnuts.  Right now I'm making all the different components so be sure to tune in  next time with more updates of this work in progress.

I prepared the doughnut "dough" by stacking three layers of polymer clay together with a lighter middle layer between two darker layers.  Since doughnut bars were being made, I simply cut rectangles and then rounded the edges with my finger.  Then I textured the bar with a toothbrush and shaded it to create a "baked" effect.

It was so tough deciding which doughnuts to recreate! Originally I picked only five, but somehow ended up choosing to make 15 different kinds.  If you're familiar with Voodoo Doughnuts, then I'm sure you'll recognize some of the famously shaped ones.

Here are cereal toppings for two of the doughnuts.  I still need to make some of the other toppings; you'll see that in my second series post.  I will also be making another post for a Fruit Loop tutorial which should be up within the next day or two.

Lastly I created some miniature pink pastry box templates in Photoshop to store the finished doughnuts.  I still need to cut, fold, and glue the boxes together.  The base of the box is 1in.x1in.

There is still a bunch of work left to do, but this project is really fun so stay tuned for part 2!

Edit: Continue reading-- Glazed & Confused (Part 2)

Before the Blog

I've only had this blog and other various social media sites for a very short time now, and have been loving every minute of it!  It's been great to share my miniatures with a community that also has a great appreciation teeny tiny food.

Before I started the blog I had already created a few miniatures, and despite the fact that they are "decent" I will still share them with you (even with my "meh" attitude towards them).  Ok, to be truly honest, the first clay miniatures I ever made are  too embarrassing to show because I was just starting out.  Let's just say everybody has to start somewhere...  If I do decide to remake an old miniature, I'll be sure to do a before and after progression shot.

Everyone's a critic, so play nice :)

Double layer berry cake with whipped cream

Chocolate orange almond cake & berry cake

Tip: Never varnish with clear nail polish like I did with the chocolate cake.  Nail polish will eventually break down and crack over time, ruining all your hard work.  To try and conceal the mistake it was varnished a second time with Triple Thick Glaze.

Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sully cupcakes!

Pineapple buns

Chocolate chip cupcake & blueberry muffins

S'mores!

Cracker platter: Apples, brie cheese, salami, cheddar cheese, and crackers

Chocolate dipped waffle cone with vanilla soft serve

There are probably other miniatures that I'm missing, if I find them I will add them to this post.

Doughnut Fail...

This weekend I thought it would be a fun idea to make some doughnuts.  Here are two pictures I found inspiration from.

                             

Picture credit Maison Cupcake

Picture credit: The Simple Swan

I first made the doughnuts which started to look better after adding some pastel shading and texture.  But after making them all, it started to go downhill quickly.  I was a bit frustrated because I knew making sprinkles and toppings for the doughnuts would take forever, and it most certainly did.  Sitting in front of the TV for a couple of hours, I hand rolled canes of itty bitty thing polymer clay, baked it, and then cut it up.  It took 7 hours... The most frustrating part was when rolling out the canes of clay, because they were so incredibly thin, the clay would just stick to your fingers and end up deformed. Ugh.  

 

Used TLS and dark brown pastels to make the frosting, and clearly I put too thin of a layer on.  The sprinkled the sprinkles on just like when really making a donut. Here is a list of everything that went wrong:

• The chocolate "glaze" went on way too thin
• When sprinkling the sprinkles on, most of them landed vertically and stuck straight up.  So I had to carefully push each sprinkle down
• The sprinkles are completely out of proportion and don't look so great (darn, after spending all those hard hours of making them)
• The lighter ring around the doughnut didn't show up.  I have another technique idea I will implement next time
• Hmph...generally not satisfied with the way these came out.  Practice makes perfect, right? :)

Hello There!

Welcome to The Microbakery!  This blog was created to document my tips, tutorials, and works in progress with 1/12th scale miniature making.  The name is a play on the whole "microbrewery" and "microcreamery" trend and represents two things.  Not only does "microbakery" refer to a small artisan bakery shop, but I also make micro-sized (well, to be technically accurate, it's really a whole order of magnitude bigger haha) food.

I've always loved miniature things, however I'm relatively new to the world of miniature making.  So please bear with me as I learn new techniques and slowly update the blog.

Enjoy! :)