Nancy Rodriguez

Movie Inspiration for Room Boxes

by Pam North

As a child, Nancy Rodriguez had the good fortune to see Colleen Moore’s iconic Fairy Castle, at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. “That was the start of my love of miniatures,” Nancy stated. “Later, when I had three daughters in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was the perfect hobby until life changes forced me to pack away my miniatures. In 2014, my mother was turning 97, so I surprised her by making a miniature forever birthday party for her. My gift to her opened the door for me to get back into miniatures.”
Nancy went back to college in 1994, graduating with a fine arts degree, and specializing in painting and making 3D art projects. Since 2016, she has been retired, giving her more time to devote to miniatures. 
Her family all share her interest. “My husband builds model airplanes and ships, so he totally understands my creative process, and we learn tricks from each other. Our favorite trip is to a major hobby store where we both head in our own directions to buy our treasures. Hobbies keep our minds sharp and and provide relief from stress, and the pandemic has given us the excuse to work on them exclusively and non-stop!”
While Nancy has a few dollhouses, she prefers room boxes because they are easier to showcase. Her latest piece is right out of one of her favorite movies, the 2003 romantic comedy film, Something’s Gotta Give. It is two stacked room boxes, done in 1:24 scale; the bottom box is the dining room, and the top is a bedroom.
“In reading a summary about the furnishings used in the movie, the pieces were important in design and placement to enhance the ambience, and to be noticed by the viewers,” Nancy explained. “The dining room table and dish display I have wanted to create for several years. The bedroom/writing suite was spectacular, but making it 1:12 scale would have been too big.”
Materials used to make it included: foam core board, matboard, KraftBoard, cotton material, card stock. She reprinted images from the actual film for the paintings on the walls; and used images from the Internet for the paintings, dishes, lampshades, books, and the paper on the dining room chairs.
“The hardest piece to make was the little round table next to the chaise longue; I had to reduce the size of the table top. The most difficult to design were the little scroll pieces; it took five tries to get them just right. They are my favorite part, along with the notched trim around the bottom of the table top. It also was fun using layered KraftBoard and layered card stock to create a piece that looks like painted wood. Since both matboard and KraftBoard take stain so well, one would never know that the pieces are not wood.”
Examples of stained pieces are the wood flooring and the dining room table. The shake shingles are strips of KraftBoard cut in three different patterns, with debossing applied before the strips were cut out. “I whitewashed after the shake shingles were glued down to the outside of the box,” Nancy continued. “The fencing on the top of the box created a widow’s walk, and the small structure holds the batteries for the lighting.”
Everything in her project was made by hand. She used bits and pieces of findings and dried flowers that she already had, and she bought fairy lights with timers at Walmart for the lighting of the scenery behind the windows and the room. The dining room chairs are based on a Cricut pattern for a living room French chair provided by Kitty de Leeuw, which she modified for a dining room chair. She made the flooring, siding, roof shingles, wood trim, furniture, windows, doors, and even the picture frames, using her Cricut Maker.
“My purchase of the Cricut Maker has expanded my creativity with no limits of what I can make by hand. There is a learning curve to learn how to design furniture in Cricut’s Design Space or other vector drawing software. A friend and I started a Facebook page called Miniatures Made by Cricuters Beginners. We share our latest builds, explaining the materials, what color mat, blade, and settings were used. We have photo tutorials and video tutorials for those just starting. I now can base my miniatures on photos such as the ones I used for the movie’s dining room and bedroom, or others, such as Yves Saint Laurent’s Marrakech living room; Harry Potter’s Griffindor Common Room; the famous Art Nouveau door in Brussels, Belgium; a French cafe to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary; my father’s garage workshop; and my parent’s first home.”
Nancy got the Cricut Maker to make miniatures just like others are using 3D printers and laser cutters. “All have improved the miniatures we create, making our final projects look real.” she said. “My Cricut Maker is my favorite tool, hands down. It cuts wood, matboard, KraftBoard, 2mm chipboard, and many other materials with perfectly straight lines or intricate designs. I design furniture on my iPad Pro, using the pen in Cricut’s Design Space in 1:12 scale. If I am making a 1:24 scale scene, I can size it down in less than 5 minutes. Once a design is made, I can make multiple copies at the push of a button. I can cut shingles, siding, and flooring. If I run out halfway through, I just print more. My suggestion is to be open about learning and sharing new technology and techniques.”
The biggest challenge with working in miniature is making sure items are true to scale. Nancy takes a photo of the scene, and if it looks real, she knows her scale is perfect. “What I love most about miniatures is their ability to take you to anywhere in the world to escape and let your imagination go wild. We had a saying back in the 1970s, that miniatures were cheaper than going to a ‘shrink’. Whenever I am stressed, I retreat back to my studio and get creative.”
Nancy’s workroom is modest; her studio is in a spare bedroom of her house. “I have a U-shaped area with drawers, counters, my iMac, and my Cricut Maker, all within arm’s reach, and a walk-in closet full of supplies.”
She already has new projects. “I currently am working on a Christmas dollhouse set in the Midwest in the 1950s. It even has a miniature of the leg lamp from A Christmas Story. I had 10 different Christmas scenes that I had made over the last four years. I took all of them apart and I’ve consolidated them into a lantern and a small house. The lantern is finished, and I am about halfway through with the house. I used the debossing tip on the Cricut to make a tin ceiling, and the knife blade to make a coffered ceiling. I even have made real walnut veneer paneling for one of the rooms. The joys of modern technology!”

Contact information:
Name:  Nancy Pierz Rodriguez
Email:  texaspierz@icloud.com
Website:  https://www.facebook.com/blanchesminis
Phone:  (972) 333-5514
Address:  2717 Kingston Drive - Plano, Texas
Instagram:  texaspierz/