Reform the Entertainment

For Ara Kaye Feliciano

I was introduced to the world of miniatures when I started collecting Sylvanian Families in 2009. It wasn’t easy finding them in the country and what few stores carried miniatures had them in limited quantities and different scales then. These days, with Re-Ment finally making its way into the local scene, miniature collecting has suddenly acquired a whole new different market.

My real introduction to Re-Ment came by way of my Hello Kitty Junkie friends. They were the ones who showed me these collectible plastic toys. As far as sets go, I have Hello Kitty x Re-Ment sets and one of Little Twin Stars. I’ve also purchased Little Sweets Cake Shop and Tsukiji Sushi Meguri food sets and of all the non-Sanrio rement sets, I find that these two fit the Sylvanian scale best.

I’ll show you pictures of what I have first, and then try to come up with scenes showing at least one set. That way, this’ll give you an idea of what sets work best for Sylvanians, Barbie dolls, or other miniatures. For sizing, you can refer to this recommended site as reference: Mini-sizer

Here are some of my Re-Ment collections in boxes still:

The Re-Ment x Hello Kitty Meals “Ouchi Gohan” (left) and Stationery Sets (right)

Bread Bakery (left) and I Love Cooking Set (right)

Sushi Restaurant (top) and Hannari Sweets Shop (bottom)

Little Twins Stars Welcome Party

Little Sweets Cake Shop and Tsukiji Sushi Meguri

As much as Re-Ment are such fun sets to collect and play with, not all of them work with the 1/16 to 1/18 scale of  Sylvanian Families products. Buying complete sets, unless you collect them separately from your Sylvanian Families collections, may give you odd pieces that may be too big for your critters.

I have samples here of how Re-Ment can fit (or not) in your Sylvanian dioramas. As you can see, the utensils here are a bit gargantuan for Freya. Even Mama Chocolate was a little taken aback at the size of her daughter’s fork, teehee!

The bottle is only a little oversized but if you consider how big 2L bottles are, then this would only be a little off scale.

Again, the spoon is almost half Kitty’s size and will probably not fit into her mouth. Oops, I forgot! Hello Kitty has no mouth! (How does she eat? By osmosis?)

Same problem with utensil and juice bottle. The plate is too big for one person so we can all pretend it’s a serving platter.

And who wouldn’t want a bento box as big as this? I know I didn’t complain when my mom sent me to school with above-average portions for my healthy appetite!

Ooh, I love this! The tea looks almost real. And I am a sucker for crepes, waffles, and pancakes, whatever this is.

Rather big portions for individual eating but it looks yummy!

Birthday cake! Birthday cake! I’d trade a fork for a shovel anytime for this cake.

Since I’ve unboxed them, I have to organize them in small organizer boxes (available at Saizen/Japan Home) to make clean-up easy. It’s easy to lose small bits and pieces too so organizing makes it easier to spot any missing pieces.

I don’t have pictures of all the Re-Ment x Hello Kitty sets that I have but I do hope to do more scenes with them in the future. The local stores do not carry HK Re-Ment sets yet but they do have a large assortment available in toy stores these days. It’ll be worth the time to do some research before you purchase some for your Sylvanian Families, but even if they don’t fit all the time, I’m sure you’ll have fun with them anyway.

For Re-Ment in the Philippines, please visit their Facebook page: Re-Ment Philippines. Right now, Re-Ment sets are on sale (10% off) until the end of the month so check them out!

For A♥

For all the years of love and friendship-

Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.

 

PH♥SF Photo Contest

Who doesn’t like free Sylvanians?

Prizes for local winners will come from the official distributor of Sylvanian Families in the Philippines, Ban Kee Trading. A special section for international submissions (Friends of PH♥SF) will award a special prize, courtesy of PH Sylvanian Families, to the best picture in this category.  So, please come and join!

 

 

Suitcase Dollhouse

The universe must be attuned to my thoughts these days. I’ve been working on the Hello Kitty suitcase dollhouse for the most part of the week now, just stopping long enough to squeeze in chores at home and postings on the PH♥Sylvanian Families page. The more I worked on it, the more obsessed I got with making more of the same; it truly is an enjoyable project to work on.

So, I was really surprised Friday morning, when on my way to a shopping date with my Sylvanian ”sisters,”  I came across these:

And they were on sale too! *shrieks in delight*

I picked up the one on the bottom right. It was way cheaper than the rest at half price, and I liked the shape. The suitcase itself is made of light wood covered in glossy laminate, unlike the rectangular suitcase, which was a bit heavier. The regularly-shaped suitcase is trimmed with leather and covered in a heavy matte laminate. I guess the extra trimmings account for the cost differences.

I had my heart set on both but alas, I could only get one. I’m still hedging on whether I should go back to get the other one.

In the meantime, I have had fun making plans for the new suitcase dollhouse. Maybe if I start working on it, I’ll have less time to think about the other one I left behind. Maybe…

 

 

The Suitcase Dollhouse Project

When I was a child, I had a Fisher Price dollhouse that I played with for hours. We had the whole village, actually- with the house, the farmhouse and granary, parking garage, the hospital and ambulance, airport and jumbo jet, village shops, boathouse, ferris wheel, castle, and school and schoolbus- and all five of us, from eldest to the littlest squirt, would commandeer one or two buildings and their occupants. The boys always got the garage, airport, vehicles, and castle- predictable! My younger sister would choose the village shops and hospital; she would diagnose patients in the hospital and then require them to buy their scripts at the village stores (today, she is a doctor, haha). The youngest, ever imperious and demanding, would always pick up the school, shove all our little kids inside it, and hold them hostage till the bell rang (or till she rang the bell, which sometimes took forever). I would only choose one building- and that was the house. As you can see, I’ve been in love with dollhouses for forever.

The toys eventually gave in to much wear and tear. Between that and splitting the sets among five of us, we had to say goodbye to them and give them their rest. I sometimes wonder if my siblings took care of their share better than I did because I literally loved mine to bits. I will always have great memories of that bright yellow house.

I suppose it’s easy enough to understand how I developed my fascination for Sylvanian Families. A part of me will always be that little girl holding on to her first dollhouse, transporting it everywhere (once, even to the bath, where I pretended it was raining!) by its yellow handle.

This was where the inspiration took root- the idea that I can bring along a house and carry it by a handle, instead of transporting it in a box. Of course, there are ready-to-buy alternatives in the SF/CC world. Calico Critters has a carry case made entirely of laminated cardboard, but at USD25, I’d rather spend my money on figures. Add to that that this has gone on sale a few times already (once as low as USD10), you’d wonder why they don’t sell it any cheaper. The only other real option is the Sylvanian Families Carry Cottage, currently retailing at £19.95, and this, I am seriously thinking of buying (I’ve already asked a good friend to look into this for me).

It was a ligthbulb moment, to say the least, to decide to create a dollhouse suitcase from something I had lying around in the house. I’ve had the cardboard suitcase for a couple of years, stashed away in the piles of unsorted Hello Kitty collectibles I still had. And with more decorating stuff on hand, just collecting, dust, it was time to get down and dirty and transform the suitcase into something…ehrm… functional (to justify the makeover) and playable (real reason, ahhh).

Here are photos I took of the process of transformation, some taken by phone camera (Instagram”s artsy shots) and others by my digicam.

This is what the cardboard suitcase looks like from the outside. It is made of  a sturdy  laminated board on the outside. (The shape of Kitty’s head will give me a heaadache in the process.)

I started out with patterns for the head using manila paper. I did the same for the other side, doing measurements for width, length, and depth.

Using a cold-pressed illustration board (stiffer than regular illustration board, more expensive, harder to cut, but less likely to warp). I measured and cut rectangular boards which would serve as floors.

And then I wrapped the whole thing in self-adhesive, matte contact paper. I made a few mistakes in this part which I had to redo and correct. It’s best to put in the sides first before the back walls are covered, I learned the hard way. A few dabs of hot glue and small, discreet pieces of masking tape secured the covered floors into place.

The second-storey floor turned out to be a little wobbly. I feared it would sag when I add the furniture so I made a horizontal wall to buttress the top floor. The first floor is also held up by two short pieces of board attached securely by hot glue.

I took a shot to preview the house on one side. Hmmm…. not bad, especially with furniture! I don’t even mind too much the clumsiness evident in some areas.

On the other side, the side that lays face down, I created two spaces, an indoor space and an outdoor space. I wrapped the sides with themed paper to unite the spaces. Then I laid down felt cloth to mark off the areas.

I built a wall with a door to put up between the areas from a second illustration board. The wall is removable, held upright by two very small board pieces on each side. The wall that faces outdoors has a fake fence made of cupboard/dresser dividers..

And this is the indoors area, with “wall to wall carpeting.”

Seen from another angle, the front part of the suitcase completes the house.

So what do you think, folks? I still have to finish the house and smoothen the edges so they don’t peel out. I’ll post finished and furnished pictures as soon as I am done.

I think it’s always a great idea to make over and re-purpose old, unused things in our lives. Why don’t you try it?