(Erika Pitera – Backyard Cookout)
A Fourth of July Celebration
by Pam North
A July 4th cookout brings to mind all kinds of yummy picnic goodies, and Erika Pitera has done a marvelous job of crystallizing all those elements into a 1:12 scale outdoor scene celebrating the patriotic holiday. As Erika explained, “Every year, I try to create new grilled and barbecued foods, ranging from favorite picnic classics like hot dogs and hamburgers to steaks and side dishes like potato salad. This year, for my Backyard Cookout, I wanted to focus on bringing more realism to the backyard barbecue theme, so I recreated miniature versions of things used at a cookout: paper plates, aluminum foil, zip-top plastic bags, napkins, etc. I also made an assortment of sodas and beers to stow away in the cooler full of ice.”
Erika first became interested in miniatures about five years ago, when she decided to learn needle- felting, a sculpture technique packing wool fibers together with a barbed needle to form sculptured shapes. She created cute, fuzzy little mice, many of which were portrayed cooking, and in an effort to provide her characters with more realistic food and kitchen accessories, she began to explore the possibilities of polymer clay. She watched dozens of YouTube videos, and read tons of tutorials, and successfully developed her skills mostly through trial and error. Now she’s a full-time miniaturist and also a content editor for a popular food blog, which is why mini food items are her favorite things to make. She finds inspiration everywhere, and feels that working with miniatures has expanded her perception and awareness of the world around her.
Erika loves the limitless possibilities of miniatures, always challenging herself to try new things, to push the envelope, and to work with new media. “There’s never really a right or wrong way to do something; you can approach every project or idea from myriad different angles and always come up with something unique.”
Her most commonly used medium is polymer clay for sculpting her foods. She also works with paper printables, and has begun using waterslide decals as an addition to her repertoire. “I used them to create some of the packaging like the paper plates and napkins, as well as the soda and beer can labels,” she continued. “In the past, I’ve always printed labels for cans and bottles on sticker paper, but they would never stick properly, so that’s why I was excited to experiment with waterslide decals. The waterslide decal paper comes in white and clear for both inkjet and laser printers. To make a waterslide decal, you print your desired graphics onto the special decal paper, then apply several coats of clear coat to seal it (I use Krylon Crystal Clear). Once that’s thoroughly dried, you cut out the graphic and soak it in water. After a few moments, the paper backing comes loose, and you can gently slide the decal (hence the name) onto the surface you want to decorate. The reason I really like these is because they’re flexible and adhere to non-flat surfaces much better than other materials I’ve tried.”
Erika made almost everything in her cookout scene, except the purchased picnic table, grill, and ceramic serving pieces. For items like the soda and beer cans, she purchased blank cans and applied the labels, which she scaled down from real-life labels in Photoshop and printed on decal paper. She did use some pieces by other artists: the golden retrievers were made by Ines Angelone; the Reddi Wip and Cool Whip were made by Melissa Jackson; the Heinz 57 Sauce was made by Sue Ayers.
It was the often overlooked details that were so much fun for her to include. “I probably spent way more time on them than I should have, but the boxes of plastic cling wrap, foil, wax paper, and parchment paper were a blast. I created the template for each one in Photoshop before printing them out on my inkjet printer and assembling them, making sure to include little bits of real foil, plastic wrap, etc. I also enjoyed making plastic packaging for the disposable plates and napkins. For the paper plates, I punched out circles from white cardstock and used a ball stylus tool with a plastic circle template to shape them before stacking them up, wrapping them in plastic cling wrap and applying the label decal, which was printed on clear paper so the plates can be seen through the logo. The napkins were made from actual paper napkins, and I followed the same process as the plates for packaging them.”
Some aspects were more difficult, such as making the polymer clay canes for items such as the beef, pickle spears, and watermelon. “Canes are not my strong suit, so I spent time experimenting to get the right colors, translucency, shading, and details. Getting just the right amount of translucency is absolutely key to making food look real, and developing a cane that has subtle but important details, like the veining and marbling of meat or the seeds in a pickle, takes a lot of practice. One tip that really helps with this process is keeping a notebook handy and jotting down notes on color blends and amounts. Then, if you want to make the same things again, you’ll have good references. I learned so much just by experimenting.”
Erika sells many of her items on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/petiteprovisionsco, and on her personal website at https://www.petiteprovisionsco.com.
“The world of miniatures continues to excite me on a daily basis, and I love that the art form brings so much joy to so many. I think the future is very bright for the art of miniatures, especially since so many people got started in the hobby during quarantine. Technological advances like laser cutting and 3D printing also are opening up a whole new world of possibilities, which is very exciting. I can’t wait to see how things evolve!”

Contact Information:
Name:  Erika Pitera
Business name: The Petite Provisions Co.
Email: erika@petiteprovisionsco.com
Website: https://www.petiteprovisionsco.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/petiteprovisionsco/
Phone: (407) 318-4532Address: 2741 Matera Dr. - Saint Cloud, FL 34771-9129