When my cousins come to down from the "left" coast, it's time to break out the grill and have a family reunion/cookout. Many times when we have these, we have games and prizes donated by various family members. A few years ago, I made a music box that contained a miniature scene of a parlor with miniature pictures of our parents and grandparents. My cousins put their names in for a drawing and one cousin took home my miniature scene. The winner was my cousin Gail from Portland OR.

The first project I tackled for my miniature cookout scene was the picnic table. I started out using directions from "The Family Picnic" by Joann Swanson in the Miniature Collector (August 2008). I cut the pieces and then realized each set of legs of the table were cut in one piece. This wasn't how I wanted to make my picnic table.

So, out came my past miniature magazine issues. Time to search for the perfect picnic table. In the August 2004 issue of Dollhouse Miniatures, I found an article on making a picnic scene. Using directions from both articles, I was able to make the picnic table pictured above.

NEXT: Tablecloth, Paper plates and cups, and the grill. Yes... I am going to make a grill.