My Valentine party table in 1:48 scale

I love Joann Swanson.  I loved reading her articles in Nutshell News.  I was very excited when I heard that she is now doing a blog sharing her DIY articles online.  Awesome!!!

Well, this week she had one that I couldn't resist.
http://joannswansondiyminiatures.blogspot.com/

I decided to do this in 1:48 scale as this is my favorite scale.  I knew this meant adjusting to what I could use.
I started on the chairs.  I decided I would use the BPF (brown plastic furniture) for my chairs and table.  I knew I could paint them to get them close enough for my personal taste and preference.  I didn't really want to build the chairs from scratch per her instructions. I also decided to paint as with BPF often there are imperfections not to mention using paper to wrap something not perfectly square would be beyond tedious.

Here are the steps I took to complete my version of her darling scene. 

Work in progress...

Chairs

• Pre-step, clean up existing BPF from previous use (remove paint by scraping and soaking). Skip this step if you are using unused BPF.
• I used a craft knife with a sharp tip and blade to clean up the extra flashing that is sometimes present in BPF.  Next use files and sandpaper to sand smooth any rough uneven spots that can't clean up with craft knife.  Use sharp scissors on edges to remove the fuzz caused by sanding.

• I cut the top and bottom rung from my chairs.  That was a mistake. I was working from memory on this project at this point and I should have keep the bottom rung instead.
• paint solid red.  Then using a 10/0 liner or smaller brush I  painted lines on the chairs.

Before the lines....

after

• I used the heart back graphics provided on Joann's blog.  I reduced them so they were 5/16" wide.  I attached mine to the middle rung that I left.
• I also printed out the graphics for the seat cushions.  Mine are smaller than the seat, but I am ok with that. I used white fun foam to make the cushion.  I trimmed it to fit the seat and then carefully sliced the foam in half for each seat.  I glued the printie onto the cushion.

• I used the thinnest wire I had on hand for the balloons.  I used these beads to make the balloons.  My husband helped me drill a hole in each one to insert the wire.  The white cord wouldn't come out and the wire was slightly larger as well.

• Per Joann's instructions I carefully added the balloon wire around the back of the chair before adding the tiny hearts at the top.  I will use cardboard and paint them.    I have a small flower punch that I will cut my tiny hearts from.

Table

• I painted the sides of the table legs white and also added white lines to the outside of the legs.
• I just purchased some laser cut lace and I will use that for the edging around the table top. more later...

Floor

• I cut a piece of foam-core board to the size of my acrylic box bottom.  I glued red velvet ribbon to the foam-core board and then trimmed the ribbon.  I will cut a strip of white thin card to add to the edge of the foam-core board.

 Here's what I have so far:

The black base is a 2 x 2 inch acrylic box base that a glass ornament came in.