The background for this vignette consists of 3 flats, similar to the panels used in stage sets. The base and the two sides are bolted together, so it can be easily dismantled if necessary.

Here is Lloyd airbrushing the buildings and other background. The building on the right has some dimension to it with balconies overhanging the street. The little orange rectangles are marking where the shutters will go. It doesn't matter if some paint gets behind them, as the shutters are made of foamcore board and will be pasted in place.

Additional buildings were masked off and airbrushed.

Details were added with chalk, and oversprayed with the airbrush.

Kathie painted the shutter boards green, cut a stencil from acetate, and then stenciled the louvres for a New Orleans look.

Adding the shutters and balconies gave dimension to the building, and details were added. The pickup truck was built to pull the float before we got our hands on the tractor. It's made of foamcore and has headlights that are wired to light up. I expect it will eventually find a home outside one of the farmhouses.

Many other details were added, including some ferns, without which this would not be New Orleans!

The windows in the ground floor restaurant at right are a combination of 3-D and painted. The two rectangular windows are framed with foamcore. The curtains are glued in place behind acetate window panes. The door and the two windows adjacent to it are painted on foamcore.

Somehow we didn't get a picture of putting the tree in place, but that can be seen in the Finished segment. To make the cobblestones, Kathie sponge painted a sheet of paper and cut enough "stones" to make a segment about 3"x4". That was scanned and repeated on 11x14" paper to make one original. The original was then taken to the copy center, where additional sheets were made. The sheets were stuck down and finished with matte finish Modge Podge.