Mini chocolates box for Cris' sister

I finished yesterday Cris' sister gift.  I know she collects, but I have no idea of her personal tastes.  So I made her something that always has a place in any dollhouse: a chocolates box, and a gift bag:

I know she has a store, so maybe she wants to display the bag with some goodies inside, or in the arm of one of the customers.  I hope she likes them.

It surprised me how fast I was able to do everything.  It has been a while that I have been working only with papers and cardboard, and I had forgotten how fun was to assemble a tiny multi-medium project like this one.

I got today a package of stuff that I bought to refine my technique with papers: distress ink and some stamps to work with them.  I can't wait to try them out on the mini books!  More on that very soon :)

Crafting an edible treasure chest

My aunt's birthday was 2 days ago, but we are celebrating it tomorrow.  I have never baked a birthday cake, but when I saw a lovely tutorial to make a pirate or mermaid treasure chest I knew I had to make one for her:

Picture from the Etsy Blog entry

This is what I used:

Kit-Kat bars

Wilton Candy Melts (chocolate flavor)

Nesquik powder

A strip of black licorice

Brown sugar

Chocolate coins

A seashell candy mold

An artist brush

Wooden skewers

I followed the instructions provided in the tutorial.  I used the Wilton candy melts as "glue" to attach all the sides of the crate, and I extended it with the skewer - looked a lot simpler and cleaner to me.  Also, since I could not find jewels or edible pearls, I adorned the sand with a sea star and 2 seashells that I made with the seashell mold and the candy melts:

In the making process.  My Kit-Kat bars came in pieces of 2 instead of 4, so I had to attach 2 of them together to make each side of the crate.

Detail of the "handle"

Finished!

So, things that I learned while doing this:

- Work with chocolate in the Winter rather than in the Summer.  Seriously.

If you really have to make this during Summer:

- Work in an air-conditioned room if at all possible.

- If the air-conditioned room is not available, do it at first hour in the morning, while it is still fresh outside.

If you cannot do any of the above:

- Work with your hands as cold as possible.

- Stop the work every 5 minutes and put everything in the fridge for a while (except the melted chocolate) so it can cool and the chocolate of the bars does not melt.  Also, it will help the "glueing" process so the crate sides do not come apart.

I know this from my sad experience; my crate came apart (all parts of it!) when I had just finished it and was putting on the coins.  So I had to redo it all again.  That's why there is visible chocolate in the bars in the last pic.

I just hope my aunt likes it!