Miniature Retro '50's Style Diner Room Box

Completed on November 9, 2008
The idea for the room box came from a large, square picture frame I found on clearance at a local craft store. It seemed like the perfect lid for a diner room box. The walls and floor are 1/2" foam core. I built up the floor and added foam stairs under the front door.
I used a stone look spray paint on the outer walls. The inside walls are covered in light grey scrapbook paper. The floor is colored with Sharpie and edges defined using a ball stylus. I used bubble-shaped packaging plastic to make the bubble windows, and an electronic packaging plastic for the third window.
The counters and checkout are made from Illustration board. I used a lot of foil tape to cover the counters, checkout area, and as trim on the jukebox, around the windows and the pass-through shutter. 
I covered the exposed areas of wall with printies of signs, decals, and more depicting the 1950's. All of the food items were purchased. The diner door was also purchased.
The sign is Illustration board and balsa covered with foil tape. The sign's graphics were printed on transparency film. Dollar store battery operated lights were placed inside. The second photo shows the sign with the lights on. The back of the sign is decorated with various printies.
The battery pack for the lighted sign is hidden in the roof of the box. The jukebox is made from Illustration board and balsa. I researched and discovered the Seeburg Jukebox was the most popular jukebox in the 50's. So I fashioned this one after that style.
I used colored velum in the front of the jukebox and put battery operated flashing lights behind the velum.
I used a scanner belt ribbon to mimic a row of records in the jukebox. I also created a slide out ledge and placed the "guts" of a musical greeting card that plays "Rock Around the Clock".
I cut out part of the flooring to fit the jukebox in, because the box was too tall with the battery pack in the bottom. This made the jukebox the correct height in the space.
The ketchup and mustard bottles were made with dowels, toothpicks and beads. The napkin dispensers are card stock boxes covered in foil tape. Pieces of folded toilet paper were placed in the boxes to look like napkins.
The drink dispenser was made from Illustration board covered with foil tape and a battery cover from an electronic piece as the lid. The sink was part of a AAA battery package with a grommet for the drain. The faucet is earring backs, beads and wire. The bag of ice is silica from the packets used to keep moisture out of purses, etc. The pass-through is made from a piece of dollar store wooden place mat covered with foil tape.
The stools are metal beads containers. I replaced the glass with cardboard covered with batting and upholstery fabric. The table is made of foam core and edged with foil tape. I stippled it with various grey paints, then covered with matte mod podge. The chair back is corrugated cardboard covered with foil tape. The chair seat is covered with upholstery fabric.
The menu and newspaper are printies. The bench table was made the same way the freestanding table was made. The benches are illustration board and foamcore covered with upholstery fabric. 
​The pay phone is illustration board, foam core and foil tape. The rotary dial of the phone was a piece from a diabetes test strip container. The cash register is made of trim pieces of wood and a broken calculator. Printies were added and a piece of paper was glued in place to look like a receipt. The nut dispenser and candy jar were obtained in a mini swap.
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