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    DIORAMA DISCUSSION: Out of Africa

    Posted by DeeinNJ on March 11, 2008, 11:07 am
    Message modified by administrator Dee March 11, 2008, 11:08 am

    Hello everyone,
    I'm a little off schedule, but I'm posting a Discussion today. Hope to be on schedule again soon! Glad to be back with another fun diorama. This time, I’m borrowing some props from friends who are the TRUE crafty folks. I belong to a Barbie collector’s club and we have meetings every other month, which usually revolve around a theme. For the December/January meeting, hosts Renee & Paola held a meeting with an African theme. Unfortunately, I missed this meeting, but a fellow-club member allowed me to borrow some of the amazing goodies she received so I could set up a theme room to share with you. I thought this might inspire others doing a similar themed room or who have doll clubs of their own for which they might find some inspiration. So, we’re taking the props “Out of Africa” and we’re bringing them back here!




    Here is Adele lounging in her African themed sitting room. As part of the giveaway, members received a Barbie doll dressed in this hand-sewn (by Renee) African fashion. I, of course, wanted my gal to be loungin’ in her new room, so I took this outfit from the very nice Barbie it came on and redressed Adele in it because she is articulated and could properly recline and model it for you. Renee made these in several different color combinations and all were beautiful. The slightly textured fabric has a hint of iridescence, while the print on the dress has a touch of metallic gold flecks. Too cool.



    I added my own jewelry, which I made from some real-people-size earrings I bought cheap. I was able to make a nice set of earrings and an necklace and still have a few pieces left over.



    Her “bamboo” bracelets came on Dooney & Bourke Barbie.



    The kitty, which is pretty to-scale, was sold in a long, clear plastic tube full of kitties as a kid’s toy. You may have seen these... they have ones with jungle animals, dinosaurs, Egyptian icons, etc. This tube was full of all different kitties, so if you love kitties and want some for your dioramas, head to the toy dept or craft store kid’s aisle.



    I’ve set Adele on the FR decadent lounger w/the gold cushion covers. I tossed in a few African-print pillows that Renee made and it’s instantly transformed.



    The amazing artwork (African prints), I presume, came from a book or catalog. (Did you notice the crooked one on the wall in one of the other photos? Oops!) You can find plenty of art right in your mailbox, then mount it into frames or onto nice cardstock. Paola made these along with these African masks. Is this expert detail or what? I guess if you aren’t as crafty -- you could use molds. I put magnets on the backs of these items so that I could use them with the metalwalls of my Room with a View set by Bella Productions. I’m using the “Stucco” textured walls that they sell in this particular room.



    The mirror came from Spain. It was a nice little souvenir that fellow-club-member Heather brought home for me because she knows I’m a diorama junkie.



    The coffee table was made by the gals for the meeting and it is actually made from a coaster. Get together with friends, split up a set and make your own. If you don’t have any collector friends close by, make a set and sell or trade them here on Divas!

    On the coffee table is a little plastic bowl in a leopard print. I have no idea where this came from, but it sure is neat. The cleverest thing is that the gals took gold Christmas-tree bead trim and snipped the string of beads apart to make the gold balls that fill the bowl. That’s resourceful. Why spend money on beads when you have old holiday decorations just hanging around at home! The little plant is Rement and I placed it inside a Rement trash can (which I use as a vase), for a more earthy look. The candle is just a dollhouse miniature. The rhino sculpture was another little trinket from the meeting and I guess you can pick these up wherever you would pick up little trinkets like this one. Sorry I don’t know where it came from.



    The “leopard” rug is really just a cheap hunk of fabric cut into the shape of a leopard skin. It came with a fashion I bought years and years ago (I think I use the rug more than the fashion -- hee, hee). The person who made it actually drew on the little face and ears for the leopard with paint. You could easily make one - go wild!

    The parquet floor under the rug was a hunk of printed cardboard that came with a Mary Kate & Ashley playset, but I thought it looked cool, so I tossed it into the mix. I think other cultures mix lots of textures and materials, so that’s what I was trying to do, too. Under that is the wacky pattern of my livingroom coffee table (from the 1970s, so you can’t buy this anywhere that I know of.)



    The end table is a trinket box from the dollar store that looks like a woven basket. On top, the gals painted wooden pieces from the craft store black and filled them with plastic “grass” to make this cool arrangement on the table. The candles are My Scene Barbie props repainted. The gold urns are also playline pieces.



    The leopard ottoman is also a trinket box (the lid comes off so you can store all these goodies together), and it’s actually furry! The gals gave this away along with the Fashion Fever black/leopard print kitty house to go with the room, but I couldn’t find a place for it in my diorama. Besides, kitty likes sitting on Adele’s lap, so she doesn’t need that kitty house right now. Another project from the meeting which I didn’t include was an actual chaise. The craft project was to cover a chaise with a rich fabric and add trim. It came out great, but I used the FR chaise here ‘cause it was a little more trim and I could fit more goodies into my photos for you.



    The floor plant is just some artificial leaves stuck in a small vase that I thought looked ethnic. I’ve had this little vase since I was a kid. Glad to know it is still serving me well.

    In any case, if you didn’t have to build take-down dioramas like I do, you could really spend a lot of time coming up with cool ideas... window treatments, knick-knack displays, African wall hangings, etc. My fellow club member Joan used matchstick placemats for walls in her room and they looked very cool. But because I have to take it all down and stash it under the bed or in a closet, I didn’t go too crazy. I also pretty much create my dioramas just to photograph my dolls in, so I don’t need an entire room, just a corner of a room in which to set my doll for her photos. BUT... I did want to show you the great talents of my fellow club members AND inspire you all to create your own African theme room.


    Hope you enjoyed it and thanks to my crafty friends for providing fodder for this month’s Diorama Discussion. If you have a project, vignette, set up or other fun diorama topic to share, e-mail me and I may feature you in a future Diorama Discussion!

    Until next time!

    DeeinNJ




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