Memories of Portugal

My husband and I recently traveled to Portugal and we loved it! I ran across a jewelry supply shop in Lisbon and they were selling these little blue and white Portuguese tile cabochons for setting into pendants. I was inspired to go a different way with them.


They were set onto a mini display table that features a few of my favorite things we saw and tried - tinned fish (we brought home lots), blue and white pottery, pastel de nata (their famous custard tarts) and, of course port! The tins of fish are made from painted dollhouse bricks with printed labels. The tarts are made from polymer clay. The little bottle of port is a porcelain feve (kingā€™s cake trinket). If you are not familiar with them and love miniatures, do a search. Fair warningā€¦ they are addictive!

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I love gawking at your miniature creations!
Love that you were able to incorporate the cabochons into your workā€¦this is such a precious keepsake.
Oh, the Portuguese custard tarts!

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This is the most tasteful, fitting and delightful vacation memento!

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Thanks L2E! The guy kept trying to sell me bezel settings to go with them and I was like nah, I got something else in mindā€¦ :smile:

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And I keep meaning to askā€¦where did you get those tiny plates? Did you make them as well?

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I love these, you are so very clever

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This is wonderful!

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Thanks all! L2E the blue and white dishes are another find from our travels. The white ones are available on amazon, they are made by Wonder Miniatures.

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It is inspiring to see memories captured in such a different way to make it meaningful to oneself!

Seems you have captured the ā€œessenceā€ of your trip with your beautiful sceneā€¦a reminder of the sights and smells and tastes of Portugalā€¦and mmm pastel de nataā€¦they look good enough to eatā€¦

Thanks for sharing in this clever and interesting way!

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What a great keepsake! It looks like a very cool piece of art even if you donā€™t know the background too. Iā€™m impressed with your little miniature tablescape.

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I love those cabochons. Great way to use them!
And why did I have to google porcelain feve? You did warn us.

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Youā€™re in trouble now, @geekgirl!

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I LOVE pasteis de nata!

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This Rocks! I love all the blue, and tiny details! My mom recently visited Portugal and the tiled background reminds me of some of the pictures she showed me. This is absolutely beautiful :smile: I love that you incorporated pieces from Portugal, what a great way to feature them!

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Just STOP! This is so lovely!

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There is something about miniature scenes that just feels magical and this is no exception. So beautiful and I am always astounded at what people find to use within their miniature worlds. I am captivated! Plus, what a fantastic idea to keep the memories of Portugal nearby! Lovely.

Oh, I love feves! We used to live in France and I should have bought up a ton while I was there! Now I go to Michaels for little ceramic beads to put in our Kingā€™s Cake (it was a pink owl this year). But I ought to order some. It never occurred to me to use feves for something like this! Iā€™ve been trying to outfit my daughterā€™s dollhouse and that just might be the ticket!

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Brilliant idea to showcase your favorite parts of the trip - I like this so much more than a photo album that you have to take out to enjoy, or even a photo collage that may not capture the ā€œfeelingā€ as well as this little scene.

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Itā€™s so, so, so, incredibly tiny. Yet immediately identifiable. Of course the rabbit is my favorite.

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This is just so beautiful. I love how personal this little piece is.

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This is perfection. All that blue and white are so spot on, and the fish! The pasteis de nata are my manā€™s fave dessert, I havenā€™t seen it spelled the way you have before, I wonder if that is regional. Delicious either way. And I adore how youā€™ve used the cabochon, that vendor would be astonished Iā€™m sure!

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