~ Baking in the Cottage Kitchen ~

Hello friends! First I'd like to thank you so much for all your kind and sweet words on my last post, It's so nice to have such wonderful gals who are so supportive and encouraging , always! So thank you! Now it's on to a little bit of what I've been baking up in the cottage kitchen lately....The miniature one that is :) As most of you know, Cottage Style is what I love most, it's in my real kitchen and it's evident in all my miniature creations too. To me, "Cottage" is that eclectic mix of: Vintage, classic country , bits of shabby chic and farmhouse style all mixed together in a pretty cream-wear bowl :) And I couldn't love any style more than I love cottage! Especially in a kitchen, the heart of every home...

I'll let the pictures of the new miniatures speak for themselves and then I'll let you in on a little secret too because I need your feedback! :) So relax, grab some tea , coffee, a fancy glass of wine or whatever you love and imagine you're in my kitchen helping me bake today!


Blueberry cobbler is such a pretty dessert {no matter how messy or crumbly it gets}, it just says "warm , cozy , delicious and fresh" no matter what shape it's in! Don't you think?


Fresh whites, hints of color and vintage accessories are always a part of cottage style!




In between baking, I've found time to keep up with my miniature collecting too, and I adore these dish towels from France, aren't they just so vintagey beautiful ?

I love the attention to details, it's so important when it comes to minis, they've got to be spot on and then it creates such a feeling of coming to life....I adore the monogram, isn't it precious!?

Here are some more items I baked over the last couple of weeks in my cottage kitchen :)



I think cupcakes are definitely a favorite of mine to make...

I love creating shabby chic pieces to use for my baked goods too!


A little tea party anyone? With pale pink shabby distressed chairs , of course :)


And last but not least, a mini cherry pie for you! I've made a lot of these this month, so I can share this one with you! :) Thank you for coming on a little tour of my cottage kitchen style and baking this week! You are welcome any time!!

Before I go, yes , I have a little secret :) Long story short: First, miniature baking and creating items for my shop {and collecting}is always going to be my favorite thing to do as far as my love of miniatures goes. I'm always thinking of new creations for my collectors and love that process so much and feel so blessed to be able to do that! So that will always be my first priority! With that said, I've been asked to create a line of items for a manufacturer with the "Cottage Style" in mind. It would include items and accessories for the miniature kitchen. { Ps: My baked goods, kitchen islands and creations will still be in my favorite place: Etsy!} But with this new venture, I have lots of ideas for mixers, bowls, tea sets, dish sets, bake-ware etc. Soooooo, if you have any ideas of what you think is "missing" in the miniature world, I would love to hear what you would want to see available! I for one , am wishing there was a miniature 1:12 scale pyrex collection, in the vintage style and the glass line too! I'm not sure that will be as easy as I imagine to develop, but that's one I'm adding to my wish list! As a side note: I've been hunting down a miniature 1:12 scale Pyrex looking glass baking dish {like the 13 x 9's we use for real baking} for a while now and cannot find one, if you know of any, please let me know! :) So I will keep you updated on this process for sure! It's very exciting to me and even though I know it will take a long time, I am thrilled with the opportunity to be involved in this! It's possible the collection will be named "The Summer Rose Collection" , after my own little mini cottage, but we'll see! I'm hoping for that! :)

Well, it's off to go finish baking for my Etsy shop, and run a few errands today too. I hope you all have a lovely day and thanks for being such sweet friends always!!

Hugs and love!

Cynthia xo

~ Romantic Homes Magazine ~

Hi Friends! Well its been a heck of a week here for me, I honestly don't know what words to use except O M G! First {as I wrote in my last post} I found out my blog and miniatures were in Spring issue of Romantic Country magazine. Then at about the same time, I found out my kitchen was featured in the Ta-Da section of Romantic Homes February issue too! I think somebody should come and peel me off the kitchen floor! Or actually more like it lol, take me off cloud nine :) Thank you so much Romantic Homes! I never would have dreamt when I was a young homemaker reading and day dreaming over my favorite publications, that someday I would be in them!!

It is such an honor and I feel very blessed!

{Forgive my picture quality of the picture below}

I love the entire issue! Valentines Day, Love , and decorating in the romantic style is something I love and the issue is packed with it! Congratulations to Elyse from Tinkered Treasures too, her articles are fabulous and she's always such a sweetie and a wonderful friend and is featured in the issue as well! Here's a little peek of my kitchen in the Ta-Da section...

This was such a thrill!!

I will stop gushing and blushing now :)

Back to reality.... which I love too :)

I also found plenty of time this week to create some new miniatures. After all, that's what I love most!!

This cottage styled kitchen set was designed and made by me. I had been searching for a cottage/shabby chic butcher block island for some time and never found one that quite fit the casual cottage look I was going for. Sooooo, I decided to get out the tools and find the perfect wood for the top and ta-da, just like in my Romantic Homes article about creating a look, I did it again, in mini this time :) My kitchen island in the magazine article was designed and built by me because I also couldn't "find the perfect one"...So it's true: Necessity is the mother of invention :)

I love how it turned out and I'm making a couple of them in other colors coming up!
Sometimes a shabby chic island needs a shabby chic shelf too :) So.... after a little soft romantic white paint and distressing , this french cottage shelf was ready to become part of the set! {This is available in my Etsy shop as of this typing}.

I hope you love it as much as I do! I have added one to the "must make" list for myself and Summer Rose.

I also made a pink shabby chic kitchen cupboard this week. I adore pink :) and this was a perfect little cabinet for a sweet cottage kitchen. It was a smaller version in style of my larger miniature pantry I made a couple of last summer. I even added the little spoon for a handle and knob on the door. Something I still want to make for my real cottage!


Well I hope you enjoyed my new miniature pieces and thank you so much for your kind and sweet words on my last post too! Your friendship and support means soooo much to me!

I'll leave you with a little peek at the Romantic Country Spring issue that featured my blog. I don't know which I was excited about more? 1. Seeing my blog there, or 2. The fact that miniatures and a blog about them were being chosen! I've always wanted to see articles on the wonderful and beautiful hobby I love, in every magazine! I hope everyone falls in love with them , like I did :)

Have a happy and blessed week friends!

Love you all!

Hugs, Cynthia

~ Romantic Country ~

Hello sweet friends! I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful 2012 so far! I'm so excited to share that my little blog was featured in the Spring 2012 edition of Romantic Country magazine! To have a blog about miniatures and design featured in a such a large publication is such an honor to me!! Thank you Romantic Country for making my year start off with a huge smile and a blush!! I actually haven't seen it yet , lol, but I hear it looks great :) I'm anxiously awaiting the shipment to Barnes and Noble to see it for myself! I guess my B&N gets them later than you all! Boo-hoo, hurry up! :)

In between calling B&N 24 - 7 lol , I have enjoyed getting back to work after the busy holidays, and for me that's always about creating new miniatures. So in honor of the Romantic Country style, I put together a table setting of fresh baked delicious little miniatures to celebrate bringing in the new year....ever so sweetly .... I hope you enjoy a dollop of eye candy , literally :)


Some of these miniatures are featured in smaller groupings and are available in my Etsy shop (as of this typing ).



I made my first batch of cinnamon rolls this week, and I'm hoping that with 15 degrees approaching on our outdoor thermometer, these will give me that cozy feeling enough and keep away from making them for "real". :)




A romantic country dining room...


A little sunshine on your sweets is a pretty thing :)

I hope you have a delicious and sunny week ahead! Thank you for popping in for a visit, your friendship and comments mean so much to me and I wish you all a fabulous and blessed week! And Thank you to Romantic Country! Now I'm off to go do a little visiting myself, I've been so busy and I love seeing what you all are up to also! Btw, if you are new here, please see the link at the top of the page on the right if you have a Facebook, I'd love for you to join me there too!

Hugs and love,

Cynthia xo