Discover Top Posts Tagged with #apricot candy

Selfie from the garden with one of my favorite roses. 🧡💛🩷

I adopted her from a local gardener who was struggling to keep her root rot at bay, but after some TLC, she's doing great, and her clones have been a lovely adition to the garden ever since.^^

She smells a bit like apricots, which is fitting since I was told she's an Apricot Candy. 🍑

#rose #garden #selfie #apricot candy #pink

#flowers #trees #plants #roses #Rosa Meibidull #Apricot Candy #花 #木 #植物 #バラ #薔薇 #アプリコットキャンディ

some flowers that caught my eye yesterday- 'apricot candy' rose, semi-swarf golden delicious apple, iris

#flower #flowers #floral #rose #apple #iris #apricot candy #dwarf apple #apple tree #apple blossoms #roses #irises #spring #pretty

Japanese Summer Festival, part 1

(PART 1 due to a limit on number of photos per post)

Wow, more than a month since my last post! I'm slacking! But I have a good excuse - I was working on a HUGE project. This is my biggest scene to date. It's so large it won't fit in my usual diorama cube box. This was on my coffee table, and for an example of scale, that table measures 48" wide by 26" deep. And it was all covered LOL

It's still technically summer, and in Japan, summer festivals are a very popular pastime. I've wanted to create an actual festival scene for a while, and I finally took the plunge this year. My husband used his Glow Forge to create the little food stalls, and I created the rest. The awnings, booth covers, prices, signs, posters, floor, walls, etc. are all made by me. I also painted the silver on the booths. They're technically still a bit under scale compared to real life stalls, but I was basing my measurements off actual props I had, most of which are Re-Ment. There are even a few Re-Ment festival sets, so I had to use those! And next year I plan to add even more stalls - but I'll have to alternate what's on display since I think I'm at my limit of what will fit on that table LOL.

So here we go, a 1/6 scale Japanese summer festival! We've got lots of food street stalls (yotai) and a few popular games, and all the girls are wearing kimonos (a popular tradition).

Looking down the street toward the stairs leading to more fun (through a real torii gate!):

Overview:

Looking down the street toward the shrine:

Cold drinks are important to beat the heat!

Miwa is watching Kiku try her hand at yo-yo fishing:

Kiku is yo-yo fishing. In this game, you're meant to use a hook attached to a paper rope to pick up a water balloon. The balloons are filled with air and water, and they're called yo-yos because of the bouncing effect they have. This game can be difficult due to the rope being made of paper and the balloons are in the water.

Miwa has a popular snack - a tornado potato - along with the popular Ramune drink:

She got one! Any balloons that you successfully pick up with the hook can be kept.

Goldfish scooping. This game requires you to use a small wand called a poi to try to catch goldfish. The poi's net is made of paper, which makes the game tricky because of the water. The game is over once the paper in the poi breaks. However, people will often get to take one of each fish home after trying even if they don't actually catch them.

Aika is watching the goldfish scooping game, carrying a bag of cotton candy:

Superball fishing. This game is like the goldfish scooping game, only the prize is super balls. I made these little tubs myself. The Re-Ment sets had the yo-yo fishing and goldfish scooping, but no superballs. So I took the measurements of those tubs, used TinkerCAD to create two boxes made to the same size, and 3D printed them. I then used some of the Miniverse resin (the recalled stuff, lol) to fill the tubs in layers, and I used beads without holes (they exist!) to make the super balls. I'm very pleased with how they turned out!

Takoyaki stand. Takoyaki is a bite-sized, ball-shaped dumpling made from batter and grilled, then filled with octopus, tempura, pickled ginger, and green onion:

A definite favorite in the summer - the shaved ice stand (kakigori). Similar to shaved ice in the U.S., with the Japanese variant, blocks of ice are shaved into fine flakes using special machines, then topped with flavorings like strawberry or melon syrup, sweet matcha (strong green tea) sauce, sweetened beans, or condensed milk.

Fuka got a variety of flavors on her kakigori! Yum! Meanwhile, Lycee is preparing to make some more - she'll use the little machine to grind that block of ice to shave it down into edible pieces:

Look closely at the lady below in the blue kimono and you'll see that she's tucked in a traditional uchiwa (hand fan) into the obi (belt) of her kimono. These fans are a must for summer festivals to help beat the heat, as well as add a more traditional look to the yukata (kimono).

Choco banana and candy apple stand. These treats are also popular - they're your traditional candy apple on a stick, and also chocolate-covered bananas on a stick covered in sprinkles.

Cotton candy stand. Another popular treat for festival-goers of all ages. The container on the counter features fortune sticks inside, and you're meant to reach in and pull one out. You then tell the miko (shrine priestess) what fortune you got on the stick, and she will give you a paper that explains your fortune.

Japanese cotton candy bags frequently feature popular anime or pop culture characters on them. I made these bags by using small jewelry bags, cutting off the Ziploc sealer, placing cotton balls inside (almost all festival cotton candy I've seen has been white), then sized down pictures of characters, printed them out on clear sticker paper, and stuck them on the bags. I'm very pleased with how they turned out!