Mushroom Café and the Chiffon Apartment

On January 21, 2022January 17, 2022 By miniaturemushroomLeave a comment

Hi there!

Happy Friday!

I’m closing out my second week of officially being a practicum counseling student. I’ve picked up an extra day at my practicum site to ensure that I meet my required hours. I also now conduct psychosocial assessments there. Not much else has changed though. I was exhausted last weekend, but I think getting my booster was a big part of that.

Anyway, on to the post! The apartment above Mushroom Café is where the Chiffon family lives. I found the dollhouse on Facebook Marketplace, and I love it so much. It’s gorgeous, and it was in wonderful shape. Here is the front:

I love cafés. Before I had to give up caffeine, my favorite weekend activity was finding a new café for Michael and I to try. So, of course, Mushroom Meadow has a café. Mushroom Café is owned by the Chiffons, and for the most part, they handle all their business on their own. It can get pretty crowded though, so sometimes Mr. Alpaca or Mr. Polar Bear will help out behind the counter.

Here’s the inside of Mushroom Café from Christmas 2020:

Recently, I added a bookcase for all my miniature mugs.

Here are some more details of the cafe:

Better pictures of the counter:

The upstairs apartment has two rooms. On one side, the Chiffon parents live, and the children live on the other. I wanted their apartment to look cozy.

She has a soft throw currently, but now that I can crochet, I’d like to crochet a throw for their bed.

More pictures of the parents’ side of the apartment:

The children’s room is Kiki’s Delivery Service-themed. I love Studio Ghibli movies. They’re so gorgeous.

I tried to include as many little Kiki details as I could. I’d like to make a Kiki dress for the Chiffon Daughter now.

Thank you for reading!

Christmas in Mushroom Meadow Part 3

On January 12, 2022December 28, 2021 By miniaturemushroomLeave a comment

Hi there!

Welcome to the third and final post of Christmas in Mushroom Meadow!

The Chiffon Dog Mushroom Café and apartment is always very lively at holidays, so I have a ton of pictures of it. Mushroom Café also has a new shelf for all its coffee mugs! I collect coffee mugs in miniature and in real life, so if you’re ever wondering what to get me as a gift, a mug will always make me happy!

I always put out holiday-themed treats and coffee drinks in the café, and I love deciding which Calico Critters will be at the café. The café was selling gingerbread men, Christmas donuts, peppermint lattes, and reindeer cookies this year.

I embroidered the Christmas tree hanging on the café door. Upstairs, in the apartment, the Chiffon dog siblings made gingerbread men together.

Mrs. Chiffon loves decorating for holidays, so she did all the decorating for the apartment.

The Chiffon dog brother and sister also have cute Pokémon Christmas bedding in their room from CatzillasMinis on Etsy.

That’s all I have for the Mushroom Café and apartment. As you can see, the Chiffons work very hard, and their café is one of the best places to go in Mushroom Meadow.

Another exciting place to go in Mushroom Meadow is Mrs. Bear’s Bakery. Mrs. Bear and her wife, Mrs. Collie, and their three children live on the second floor of the bakery. Mrs. Bear bakes everything, and Mrs. Collie helps serve customers and watches the babies. Mrs. Bear made many Christmas treats this year.

Everything expect for the macarons were made out of polymer clay by me. Mrs. Collie read The Night Before Christmas to the babies on Christmas Eve.

The upstairs was also decorated for Christmas. They really need a third stocking.

The Hedgehog family had a lovely Christmas buffet that featured a cake I made out of polymer clay. Mrs. Collie stopped by to show off a dress made for us by a lovely Instagram friend.

Last, but not least, the Winter house is always fun to decorate. I’ve been talking with Michael about fixing it up because when I first built it, I didn’t know a lot, and the house is unstable, and it’s splitting in places. I also made some ugly design choices in certain parts. We’re probably going to remodel it together in the next year or so. Here are pictures of their living room.

This is their dining room. I made the little advent calendar myself, and I’m really proud of it! I thought it would be much harder than it was.

The gingerbread house is from Amazon, but the Snowman mugs and cakes were made by me using polymer clay.

I hope you enjoyed seeing Mushroom Meadow decorated for Christmas!

Thank you for reading!

Christmas In Mushroom Meadow Part 1

On January 7, 2022December 28, 2021 By miniaturemushroomLeave a comment

Hi there!

I know it’s a little late, but I wanted to share all the Christmas decorations in Mushroom Meadow.

This will be split up into three posts because Mushroom Meadow had a lot going on this year!

First, I want to introduce the Maple Cat family’s new butler, Mr. Cheshire! I’ve loved the butler set for years, and I’m so happy to have it! And, of course, the Maple Cats are very glad to have their very own butler.

*Mr. Cheshire, the Maple Cats’ new butler*

Mr. Cheshire worked very hard on his Christmas baking for the Maple Cats.

The Maple Cat house was so much fun to decorate for Christmas too. Here’s the front:

*King Maple in front of the Maple Cat house*

I also decorated the stairs on the side of the Maple Cat house:

Finally, the living room had a golden Christmas tree!

The Polar Bear family also got their house decorated for Christmas for the first time. Their igloo was built in time for Christmas last year, but I hadn’t finished the interior, so I didn’t decorate it.

The bedding, bear, and stocking are all from CatzillasMinis on Etsy. I love her shop so much!

They were in the midst of wrapping presents when I photographed their downstairs decorations. The TV is a Christmas ornament from Target that I just love. It’s the perfect size, and it’s so cute!

Next is the Lavender house, where Emma Deer and her siblings and parents live. I have ended up with far too many deer babies, and I do not know where to put them all!

I made the cross stitch reindeer. I wish its red, sparkly nose showed up better in this picture!

They also have snowman cookies!

Baby deer mailing their letters to Santa!

This is a cute winter bear from CatzillasMinis:

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to decorate the Panda house, so all they got was this little tree.

I have high hopes for next year though because I do not plan to be recovering from surgery!

I hope you liked this post!

Thank you for reading!

Snowman Party!

On January 5, 2022December 28, 2021 By miniaturemushroomLeave a comment

On December 4th, I hosted a Snowman themed party on Instagram! Since that was the day after my surgery, I took all the pictures for it a couple weeks in advance. Around 40 Instagram accounts participated, and it was so fun to see everyone’s snowcreatures!

For my post, I made this cute snowman costume out of felt:

I also made some more snowmen and snowwomen out of polymer clay for the occasion, and even Santa Lion made an appearance!

This party was easy to set up and host while I was recovering from surgery, and I loved seeing all my friend’s posts! They were so creative and adorable!

I was delighted to discover that I have so many little sleighs! I also made the tiny snowman cupcake and polymer clay Christmas tree for the occasion:

It was such a fun day, and I felt so blessed to have so many lovely friends.

Thank you all for reading! There’s going to be a cookie party hosted by LifeinBoston on Instagram, and if you’d like, I hope you’ll participate!

Have a happy Wednesday!

Haunted House/Room Box

On October 13, 2021October 12, 2021 By miniaturemushroomLeave a comment

Hi there!

I hope you’re doing well!

I used scrap wood, extra windows, and foam core to build a haunted house/ room box over the weekend!

I had a lot of fun wrecking it with paint and sandpaper to make it look as abandoned and decrepit as possible.

I haven’t decided what to do with this house yet. I don’t think I’ll have anyone live in it, but maybe someone from Mushroom Meadow will stumble upon it and be scared. Or maybe it will be the location of one of Mushroom Meadow’s many Halloween parties.

The attic has a large barrel of poison, some rope, newspaper, and decorative lace in it. Someone tried to use newspaper to patch the holes in the roof–almost as though someone has been hanging out up there!

I used air dry clay and craft moss in this house too. I have a lot left over from when I built the fairytale house. I have a lot of stones left over too, so I surrounded the haunted house with them.

It was also nice to have a use for some of my broken things, like that window pan and the chair.

Overall, it was a fun weekend project, and I can’t wait to incorporate it into Mushroom Meadow somehow. I’ll probably include Baby Ghost since he’s a ghost, and this is a haunted house.

Thank you for reading! Have a great Wednesday!

Tulip LaPoodle

On October 8, 2021October 5, 2021 By miniaturemushroomLeave a comment

Hi there!

I hope you’re doing well!

Today I’d like to introduce Tulip LaPoodle.

A while ago, Tulip LaPoodle packed her things and moved out of Mushroom Meadow. It just wasn’t the place for her. So, she lives outside the town with a hedgehog friend and three Sylvanian fairies, named Peridot, Rosie, and Bluebell. The hedgehog was a gift from one of my Instagram friends, and I just love it. It has such a cute little face, and its texture is helpful for grounding me.

Tulip LaPoodle was living with the fairies for a bit, but as of last weekend, she now has her own place! I built her a little room box out of foam core and popsicle sticks.

*Tulip LaPoodle’s Room Box – first floor*

Because there isn’t any room left in my study, I’ve been building little room boxes that I don’t intend to keep if we ever move or something. Tulip LaPoodle’s house is the first of these.

I especially love the roof I added to it.

*Second floor of Tulip LaPoodle’s house*

That’s all for Tulip’s house!

Thank you for reading!

Baby Ghost

On October 6, 2021October 5, 2021 By miniaturemushroomLeave a comment

Hi there!

I hope you guys are doing well and feeling loved!

In Mushroom Meadow, a very special citizen resides. His name is Baby Ghost.

Baby Ghost was accidentally summoned in July of 2020 by the Panda twins when they were playing with the Ouija board unsupervised.

Of course, the Panda twins were absolutely terrified at first. But thankfully, Baby Ghost is a friendly ghost. Mrs. Panda was also annoyed initially because the twins know better than to play with the Ouija Board without her or their dad present. She was also very grateful that they summoned a friendly ghost and not something dangerous. After the shock wore off, Mrs. Panda decided to adopt Baby Ghost as one of her own, and she gave him the graveyard room to sleep in.

The Panda House is a spooky house, so I’ll share more pictures of the other rooms in it in a future post. I made the bed in Baby Ghost’s room, but the rest of the furniture and decorations are from other shops and places.

During the month of October, Mrs. Panda allows Baby Ghost to haunt all of Mushroom Meadow. He can go anywhere he likes. However, during the other months of the year, Baby Ghost must stay home. Although, Mrs. Panda does let him go out sometimes. He got to attend the Mini Masquerade Ball last July, and sometimes he visits Cordelia. Baby Ghost and Cordelia are best friends. Cordelia is the only baby mermaid in Mushroom Meadow, and Baby Ghost is the only baby ghost, so they’re both different, and they bonded over that. The Otters love having Baby Ghost over too because Baby Ghost helps keep Cordelia company while the Otters eat their brownies. Cordelia hates brownies. She only likes sushi and seaweed.

*Baby Ghost visiting the Chiffons last October*

Baby Ghost loves being spooky and surprising the citizens of Mushroom Meadow in their homes, but he also loves when they’re not scared at all because then they usually let him stay and play. Last year, Kiki Chiffon and Lily Bunny weren’t scared of him at all, and they invited him to have tea and bagels with them. He was very pleased. Everyone in Mushroom Meadow loves Baby Ghost very much, and they try to be prepared for Baby Ghost’s October visits.

This year, the Deer family invited Baby Ghost to have freshly baked Halloween cookies with them.

The Pandas have their house decorated for Halloween, so I’ll have to post more pictures of their house in a later post. Baby Ghost has many more places to go this October. He’s only been to the Lavender House so far. He hasn’t even met the fairies or gone to the café yet! I hope you enjoyed meeting Baby Ghost!

Thank you for reading!

October!

On October 4, 2021 By miniaturemushroomLeave a comment

Hi there!

I took last week off from posting because it was my orientation week at the place I’ll be completing my practicum for my master’s in counseling. I learned so much, and I even got to shadow a couple days! All the information was a little overwhelming, but I’m ready to start working with clients!

I also got to do my first play therapy sessions last week, and those were amazing. I definitely made a couple mistakes here and there during them, but I think, overall, my sessions went well. What amazed me the most was how quickly they went by. I only have to have 30-minute sessions for my class, and I expected them to feel really slow, but before I knew it, I was giving the 5-minute warning. Kids really do just play, and it’s so rewarding to let them lead the relationship.

Anyway, onto miniatures! It’s October, which means Mushroom Meadow had to be decorated for autumn and Halloween! First, Mother Deer welcomed autumn in an outfit made of leaves.

Her husband, Father Deer, was a little shocked at her attire, but after 15 years of marriage, he’s learned to just go with Mother Deer’s unique fashion ideas. All the pumpkins in the picture above were made by me using polymer clay. I love making pumpkins. They’re so easy! I’ll have to post a tutorial sometime. Mother Deer also went to Mushroom Café to show off her new leaf outfit.

Next, the Red Pandas threw an autumn-themed tea party! The Red Pandas love their tea parties. Well, all the citizens of Mushroom Meadow love their tea parties.

I made all the food and the teapot and cups in the above picture as well. I’m in love with the cake I made. It turned out so pretty!

At the Fairytale House, Queen Maple just finished decorating the exterior.

*Queen Maple in front of the Fairytale House*

Some of Queen Maple’s pumpkins are from CatzillasMinis on Etsy, and the rest were made by me. Queen Maple still has to decorate the inside of her house, but she’s been so busy lately! It’s a lot of work to be a queen. Maybe King Maple will have to do the decorating this year.

I’ll share more of Mushroom Meadow’s Halloween and autumn decorations in the next few posts. There’s so much to cover! Mushroom Meadow just adores this time of year, so a lot is going on!

Thank you for reading!

The Strawberry Cottage

On September 24, 2021 By miniaturemushroom1 Comment

Six years ago, my friend took her own life. She was 18. She’d struggled with depression and suicide attempts since she was 9. Just a child. I built the Strawberry Cottage (pictures below) for her.

It’s still missing some important pieces, but it has some of the things she loved in it. I need to put shingles on the roof still too. I just hate doing shingles. But I promise to do it eventually!

We always said we’d be neighbors someday, so the Strawberry Cottage is next to the Lavender House, which is my house. Lavender is my favorite color, and I was often told that I looked like a “deer in headlights” as a kid, so the Deer family lives in my house. I wanted to accept the child I was in order to move forward and become the adult I am now.

*The Strawberry Cottage and the Lavender House at Christmas*

Red pandas were our favorite animal, and after reading The Golden Compass series by Phillip Pullman, we agreed that our daemons would be red pandas. Thus, the red panda Calico Critter family is who lives in the Strawberry Cottage. I love the dresses that the mom and daughter wear.

The daughter’s bedroom is filled with the things my friend loved. Her favorite movies, albums, and books are on the bookshelf. The room and home are strawberry-themed because we loved strawberries. We also loved regular, grocery store mushrooms (not the hallucinogenic kind!!), hence, Mushroom Meadow. I miss going to Target with her and buying a thing of mushrooms to eat. I also miss her singing Lady Marmalade and Zydrate Anatomy. I miss everything about her.

I miss her, and I wish she were here to see her house. I wish she could meet my dogs and my husband. I know she would love them. The dining room is pictured below. Sometimes I leave a cheesecake on the buffet because that was one of our favorite desserts.

We were avid readers, so the living room has lots of books. It needs more furniture, but I haven’t decided what else to add.

The Red Pandas throw a lot of tea parties because we wanted to have a tea party together at a fancy restaurant someday.

We were both competitive ice skaters as kids, so Ivy Red Panda and Emma Deer go ice skating at Cate’s Ice Rink often as well.

Suicide prevention is not just checking on your friends. It’s access to healthcare and mental healthcare, making a livable wage, resources for victims of domestic violence, decriminalization of addiction, housing the homeless, education about mental health, LGBTQ+ acceptance, support for veterans, and believing and allowing people to share their struggles without judgment. Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States. It’s the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 34. Men over the age of 65 have the highest risk of suicide.

I miss my friend every single day.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention hotline: 1-800-273-8255.

Mushroom Miniatures

Tag: poppenhuis

Mushroom Café and the Chiffon Apartment

Christmas in Mushroom Meadow Part 3

Christmas In Mushroom Meadow Part 1

Snowman Party!

Haunted House/Room Box

Tulip LaPoodle

Baby Ghost

October!

The Strawberry Cottage