Making Tiana’s Café

Following the Frozen Doll Room I’ve made another doll room, this time my favourite Disney Princess is getting a new café.

The second doll room I made was Tiana’s Café. In the movie Tiana opened a restaurant – not a café – but with a little creative license I decided to make a café instead. It was a nice little set when I made it but I know that now I could do much better. I also felt like Tiana needed to move to larger premises.

The first thing I made for Tiana’s Café was a kitchen, the plan was to make this outside of the usual cereal box I make doll rooms in and has it rest alongside the box. For this I took a piece of card from a calendar insert which I cut to size and then covered with paper. Using a hot glue gun I secured a shelf onto the wall, there’s also a small bottle cap glued to provide extra support for the shelf. I then used items I’d either previously made or collected to furnish the kitchen for Tiana.

As with many of doll rooms, the main part of the café started out as a cereal box. I cut it to open up one side and then covered the edges and the outside of the box with white paper to neaten it up. This step is taken from My Froggy Stuff on YouTube.

With the box prepared I worked on the exterior of the café. I used a green check scrapbook paper which I thought looked like tiles along the front of the box. I stuck on a piece of wood print scrapbook paper with a picture of a frame and a small handle added on for a door. For the sign I used black paper and a white chalk marker.

For the interior walls I found this green patterned scrapbook paper at a local craft store. I thought this would be perfect for Tiana. Green is one of the core colours Disney use to market her, the pattern reminded me of one of the patterns Disney sometimes uses for Tiana, and I also felt that it had a bit of a 1920s feel to it.

The main walls have been completed so I could add in a little extra detail. I glued in a picture from a Disneyland Paris travel brochure which has been trimmed with white paper for a window. I used a complimentary strip of scrapbook paper to give the room a skirting board and I used a light wood print scrapbook paper for the flooring.

These pictures were on the wall in the old version of Tiana’s Café but I decided that they were still useable and so I glued them into the new one.

I wanted a little stand to display cakes on. I covered a small box with gingham fabric and then hot glued a stand of bunting around it to create a unit to display cakes that is inspired by the ‘Gingham Alter’ from the Great British Bake Off.

The room was pretty much complete so I placed the café next to the kitchen and then added in some furniture.

And that was how I made a new café for (one of) my Tiana dolls. I’m pleased with how this project turned out, I feel like it is a massive improvement from the more basic previous version.

Frozen Doll Room

The Forest of Enchantment got Frozen in my latest craft project…

The very first doll room I made was The Forest of Enchantment living room. It was inspired by a stage show I had seen at Disneyland Paris which featured Rapunzel, Merida and Pocahontas. I loved the show and made the room as a little tribute to it and as a way to display those dolls. However over time this room feel out of use and strayed away from its intended purpose. Rather than just put it in the recycling I decided to retheme it into a Frozen doll room.

First step was to strip back the room to just a paper covered box. I chose to keep the green floral wall as it reminds me a little of Frozen Fever. I recovered the other wall with a snowflake patterned scrapbook paper. I used a dark wood scrapbook paper on the floor and a lighter wood scrapbook paper as a skirting board.

I mounted a picture of the Arendelle castle onto another piece of wood print scrapbook paper for a window and then glued it into the box.

Using a hot glue gun, I glued a piece of sequin fabric to the box as a curtain and to help soften the divide between the two wall papers. I also glued a string of silver beads to the box, these were part of the old Forest of Enchantment room but I think they sort of look like lights and I felt they fit the general feel of the Frozen room. A selection of pictures has also been glued onto the wall, I initially considered adding more but decided not to so that I have the option to add more at a later date.

The basic room was compete so I could move the furniture into the room.

This mini drawer had been a part of the Forest of Enchantment room previously. I bought it cheap from The Works (I think it was meant to be a jewlery box), previously I had painted it light blue. To make it feel like a better fit for the Frozen room I used a chalk marker to add some Frozen inspired details.

This couch was from a pack of doll sized IKEA furniture. I used a piece of white fabric with a black print as a blanket thrown on the couch, I chose this fabric as it’s relatively neutral in contrast to a lot of the pattern throughout the room. I also placed some mini cushions I had made previously onto the couch. In front of the couch is a brown faux fur rug which was just cut out from a piece of faux fur that I’d used in a previous craft project.

Every room always needs just a few little extra items to help finish it off and bring the set to life. I like adding things like this to add a little more detail into a doll room. The digital clock and the box of tissues are both from the Disney Happy Places blind boxes I collected.

With the Frozen doll room now complete all that was left to do was move in some dolls. So here’s Anna and Kristoff on the couch with Sven.

Ranking My Top 3 Disney Princesses

It’s the Royal Wedding today. I thought this might be a fun occasion to do a post about Disney Princesses. The ranking in this list is just my current top 3 princesses, I am also only going off characters who are included in current the official Disney Princess line-up.

3 – Pocahontas

First off, I know Pocahontas has problematic parts. I also know that a lot of people dismiss the movie out of hand because of that. However I think that Pocahontas has a lot of positive aspects that people often don’t acknowledge.

Personally I think Pocahontas is a great character. (She also has the best animal sidekick in Meeko!) Pocahontas tries to fight for what she believes in, she fights for love and understanding, and she aims to bring people together. I think some of her lines like, “This is where the path of hatred has brought us. This is the path I choose.” have a lot of resonance.

2 – Merida

Merida is determined, opinionated, stubborn, and resourceful. She really broke with what is expected of a Disney Princess and it worked well. I feel like Merida is also one of a limited number of princesses who actually has to deal with her actions having consequences in terms of the rule of her kingdom.

Whilst Brave is not one of my favourite Pixar movies or one of favourite Disney Princess movies, Merida is utterly one of my absolute favourite Disney Princesses. I recently re-watched Brave and it reminded me of just how great Merida is.

1 – Tiana

I love Tiana. A self-motivated, hardworking, young woman who wants to start her own business. Tiana doesn’t just wait around for something to happen, she knows what she wants and she strives to get it.

Tiana really is a great character and for me she is absolutely the very best Disney Princess.

A Quick May Life Update

Just a quick life update post to make up for the lack of recent blog posts…

First off, sorry for not blogging much this month. With being on holiday, returning to England, and sorting out various admin stuff, I haven’t really had the time or the inspiration to write a blog post recently. Hopefully that is going to change soon.

As always it feels slightly strange to be back in my home town after the end of another academic year. I live in a small seaside town and there’s a definite contrast when I return there from university. Particularly when I’m returning from another country!

Despite the fact that I have left behind Canada and I’m now in England again I haven’t really experienced any major feelings of cultural displacement or culture shock or anything like that. I think that doing a year abroad definitely proved to myself just how adaptable I can actually be.

I recently bought myself a sewing machine! I love sewing and making things so it was about time I finally bought a sewing machine so I can take my craft projects to the next level. As a test I made a couple of basic doll dresses for my Elena and Megara dolls which I think came out well. Future projects with my sewing machine include more doll crafts and starting to make my own cosplays!

The Final Post About My Year On Exchange

It’s all over now. My year on exchange in Canada has reached its conclusion and I am now back in England. This is (probably) my final post about my year on exchange.

Going to Canada for a full academic year was initially fairly daunting but I am really glad that I did it. There were some really good moments both semesters and overall it was a fantastic experience. The experience I had living and learning in Canada was definitely different from what I am used to in the UK. I did have to confront unfamiliar situations but to be honest I never got really homesick and never experienced culture shock. If anyone reading my blog is considering doing a year abroad I would wholeheartedly recommend that you do one.

Whilst I liked the university where I studied in Ontario, I am looking forward to returning to university back in England this September. I think the place that I miss the most is Toronto. I just had a wonderful time every single time that I went to Toronto. In my mind I am going to go back to Toronto at some point.

So what’s next for me? Well I have a long summer break ahead of me. I already have some plans to keep myself busy, I’m sure I will end up writing multiple blog posts about what I do over this summer holiday.