To make real edible miniature food, you would of course need real tiny food (cut into small pieces) and a real working fire or functioning mini kitchen (see videos below).
To make ‘fake’ miniature food you would need:
– Paint brushes ( these are mainly used for glazing/varnishing/shading), and acrylic paint.
– Wet wipes come in handy to clean your tools and hands while you are working with polymer clay
– glue (don’t mind the fairy garden title of that blog post, these are suitable for any miniatures), the best would be to use PVA glue. Because PVA glue has the same composition as polymer clay and is thus the most useful to attach pieces together.
– Talcum powder can be handy when using really sticky clay.
– A crafting knife is very much needed. Make sure to have spare blades available.
– Sculpting tools! With an exclamation mark, because yes of course you need those, D’oh!
– Some say that they use a “clay conditioning machine” to roll out even sheets of clay, but I think that an ordinary pasta machine does the same.
– Get some round and square cutters, they are useful to make round cheese and pies, etc.. ( no need to spend a lot of money on those)
– last but not least: liquid sculpey. This liquid polymer clay can be squeezed into molds, and can be used as a grout for clay mosaics, the possibilities are endless!
In this video below by Julie Warren (she has an Etsy shop), she is showing you exactly all the materials that she uses for her polymer clay miniature food.
There Are Two Types Of Mini Food: Edible And Unedibale.
So to be clear, I am not talking about fake hamburgers made of candy or little fake vegetables from a toy store, but real meat, bread, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. In a real pot or pan on a real little stove. Yes, really!
The other day I was watching all the video’s from a particular Youtube account called “Miniature Space” and I was hooked!
This latest video shows how he sets up a miniature tent, makes a real fire, and cooks a tiny portion of pasta. Watch till the end, it’s funny!
In the next video, you can see him cutting up real chicken, marinating it, putting the dish back in the mini-fridge, to fry it later in a real mini bowl. Just like you would for a big size dinner 🙂
I do wonder though, if this kitchen stays ‘clean’ for a very long time, seeing the backside of it.
You might wonder what kind of mini eggs are used in these videos? Well, they are seen as a delicacy in many parts of the world: quail eggs and they are tiny winy in size :-).
Another question that you might have is: how the h*ll do these people make a completely functioning miniature kitchen? The answer to that is in another video below:
How To Make Unedible miniature food from clay?
Although I have made some miniature food myself, like the pumpkins from my backyard shed, cauliflowers, carrots, etc, I don’t exactly remember how I made those, to be honest. Because I just followed instructions from a dollhouse magazine, and it was a long time ago.
Also, besides magazines, I still prefer books as well, because they are more in detail than any Youtube videos out there, but I will mention a few for you below. I will also talk about miniature food books in a future blog post.
So this article is based on research, just so you know 😉
My DIY miniature pumpkins.
Before we start, I would like to add that miniaturists specialize in making mini food, and don’t use a lot of clay, so it tends to dry out pretty quickly.
You can solve this problem by using Sculpey clay softener, but do try to warm up the clay with your hands first and see if that works!
A complete walkthrough on how to make miniature food.
1. The easiest way of making miniature food would be to buy and use molds. They save you time and let you copy something really quickly and on top of that, these are reusable.
You can then fill them up with liquid polymer clay, shape your miniatures and just finish them up by painting them.
2. Or you could make your own molds, if there is a line of certain miniature food types that you DIY craft a lot. (some miniaturists specialize in cakes or cheese, for example).
The video below, is an example of how someone makes her own miniature silicone molds.
3. Now, for the making of miniature food in clay, make sure to collect some texturing materials (as seen in the first video in this blog post), like:
– poppy seeds/sesame seeds, etc – cotton wool – pieces of lace – tin foil – (harsh) sandpaper – different kinds of needles and pins (to create a crumb effect in bread and cakes)
During the years, you will get ‘the eye’ for collecting things from trash or everyday items that can help you to shape and texture miniature food. Like for example with the first bread that I made, if I remember correctly, I used sandpaper.
A List Of Tips.
Use several ceramic tiles to craft your miniatures on and too then place them on another tile when they are ready, so you can put them straight into the oven just like that.
Polymer clay will stick to wooden rollers, so make sure to get a nylon one or use a glass bottle. You can also use plain flour to stop the clay from sticking to the roller.
If you use chalk pastels, put them on the miniature piece before you bake it.
Once its baked, use a varnish or a liquid gel (this one from Fimo also works as a glue). It will look nice for icing on cakes, etc, and to get a more realistic look.
Always keep your hands and tools clean by keeping wet wipes nearby, because it is important to not get dirt on your clay while working in such a small size.
There is no need to rush to the stores to get a pasta machine to make miniature food, as long as you are not really completely involved in making them.
Beware do NOT use the same pasta machine to make real pasta, because polymer clay can be toxic!
Showing you a few videos on how to make miniature food.
Now that the basics are out of the way, let’s switch to the actual making of miniature food. There is no better way than showing you lots and lots of Youtube videos really.
So let’s go (if you’re ready) :-).
1. How to make miniature biscuits and cookies
Another fantastic video from Julie Warren, this time on the making of biscuits and cookies with polymer clay. She has plenty more videos to watch with food tutorials, so go and subscribe to her channel 😉
2. How To Make A Mini Pizza.
In the next video, you can find out how to make miniature pizza from polymer clay. The video is made by “This Charming Stuff“.
3. How To Make Kentucky Fried Chicken ”original recipe” And One Of Their sandwiches; Doublicious.
“Sugarcharmshop” made a video on how to make these 2 KFC-inspired miniatures. Isn’t it fantastic?
4. How To Make Miniature Avocado Brownies.
Stephanie Kilgast has made some delicious-looking vegan avocado brownies with Fimo clay.
Are you up for one more?
5. How to make miniature oranges?
In the next tutorial, “Sweetsofmyown” shows you how to craft tiny oranges and what tools you need to do that.
How to make miniature food with paper and printables.
Next on the list of miniature food making is just using paper and/or cardboard.
To make miniature food “boxes”, for cereal for example or “canned food” minis, there are hundreds of tutorials online as well. Plus the printables that you would need to make those.
I have a few miniature printables already on my website. Also if you prescribe to my newsletter, once in a while there will be food printables included as well.
For more, please use these 3 words in Google: “miniature + food + printables” and you will see tons of examples!
To create food boxes, you just need to print the printables (what a pun lol), assemble the paper or cardboard, and glue it all together.
There are several ways to create miniature food cans, but one of them is as seen in the video below.
My Final Conclusion
Tutorials on how to make miniature food are everywhere: in dollhouse magazines, (E)-books and online on Youtube, etc.
So I could have made this tutorial endless and long, which I haven’t, but I do hope that I have put you on your way with different methods and all the tools that you would need.
If you have any more questions or would you just like to chat then please leave a message below or join me on my Facebook group or other social media.
I wish you happy crafting!
Best regards,
Lizzy
Have you seen all of my other tutorials? How about the one that I’m kind of proud of because I asked around a lot and did a lot of research: ” What to choose for your dollhouse: dolls, mice, or others?”. I really had some fun with that one!
6 thoughts on “How To Make Miniature Food – A New Tutorial”
I thought that image was of a real chicken and it was making me hungry. lol I now see that it is a miniature and I have to say, it’s flawless. I’m assuming it isn’t one of the real miniature edible foods you mentioned in your article, as unlike a hamburger, you can’t form a small chicken out of chicken. I did find it so interesting that people actually create working miniature kitchens and cook miniature foods.
Haha, I know,right? I was amazed by her work,it looks so real! True though, you can’t form a mini chicken out of a real chicken,think that would be impossible. But who knows who can create wonders out there in the mini world!
When I first saw the title of this post, I thought “no way"! I thought it was real at first! Then found out that it was! How intriguing. I have seen some pretty realistic looking food used as props in a theatre setting, but these miniature artists take it to another level. Especially considering that you are meant to view the foodstuffs and settings up close, the fact that they were able to capture so much convincing detail is stunning and highly amusing.
There sure are some amazing miniature food makers out there, aren’t they? It surprises me every time how good they are at their work, it is Art with a big A ! 🙂
When I saw the header photo, I thought it was a real chicken! Miniaturists never cease to amaze me! Sometimes I think they have shrinking machines! I’m learning how to make miniature food from tutorials from Rina Vellichor on YouTube too. But, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to repeat this chicken! Thanks for the great collection of tutorials and tips!
Hi Batty!
I totally agree, these miniaturists are wizards haha! I’m nothing when I compare my Youtube channel with theirs, but I’m learning 🙂
You are welcome!
Lizzy
I thought that image was of a real chicken and it was making me hungry. lol I now see that it is a miniature and I have to say, it’s flawless. I’m assuming it isn’t one of the real miniature edible foods you mentioned in your article, as unlike a hamburger, you can’t form a small chicken out of chicken. I did find it so interesting that people actually create working miniature kitchens and cook miniature foods.
Haha, I know,right? I was amazed by her work,it looks so real! True though, you can’t form a mini chicken out of a real chicken,think that would be impossible. But who knows who can create wonders out there in the mini world!
When I first saw the title of this post, I thought “no way"! I thought it was real at first! Then found out that it was! How intriguing. I have seen some pretty realistic looking food used as props in a theatre setting, but these miniature artists take it to another level. Especially considering that you are meant to view the foodstuffs and settings up close, the fact that they were able to capture so much convincing detail is stunning and highly amusing.
Hi Dbrae,
There sure are some amazing miniature food makers out there, aren’t they? It surprises me every time how good they are at their work, it is Art with a big A ! 🙂
I wish you happy crafting and amusement 🙂
Best regards,
Lizzy
When I saw the header photo, I thought it was a real chicken! Miniaturists never cease to amaze me! Sometimes I think they have shrinking machines! I’m learning how to make miniature food from tutorials from Rina Vellichor on YouTube too. But, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to repeat this chicken! Thanks for the great collection of tutorials and tips!
Hi Batty!
I totally agree, these miniaturists are wizards haha! I’m nothing when I compare my Youtube channel with theirs, but I’m learning 🙂
You are welcome!
Lizzy