Welcome to my life . . . .

This is a blog about my passion: dollhouses and miniatures. This particular blog was started to follow my miniature dream: to create a Victorian Mansion. But work on my Mansion is slow. Very slow. Sloth slow. Ice Age glacier movement slow. Why? Because I am easily distracted by other personal miniature projects (I have 50+ roomboxes and 15 dollhouses in various stages of incompletion) and because I work for a miniature shop and am often up to my elbows in miniature projects that aren't mine! So, I thought, some artists work in a particular medium (woods, watercolors, clay, oils, etc.), I work in progress . . . .

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Beachy.

I'm so excited!  I'm putting (some of) my miniatures on display at the Friends of Green Spring (or FROGS) Holiday Open House in Alexandria in December.  This has motivated me to finish up some of my displays that were needing attention.  Like my Barefoot Barista beach stall (First post about Beach Stall).
Lonely little undecorated Barefoot Barista Beach Stall

I love coffee so I knew this stall would sell coffees (hot and iced) and it might as well do teas and smoothies too.  Cups were holding me up.  I couldn't find any that were empty and looked realistic.  Until last month when one of my distributors got in a new product that were exactly what I wanted! (Where to buy the Super Cool Cups with Lids).  So my cups issue was solved!  Then came straws and stir sticks.  While I was trying to decide how I'd arrange everything and where I'd find straws, my daughters started pestering me to remove the tags off their new pajamas we had bought.  And presto: there's my straws!  And the red tag ties could be cut into stir sticks!

Cutting my drinking straws.
So I arranged my coffee maker, urn, blender, various coffee and tea boxes, cups, and various smoothie accouterments onto the shelves.  I still needed the "Starbucks Condiments" though.  You know, the numerous things you can add to the coffees: milk, creamers, spices, sugar, and stir sticks!  So I set out to make those silver thermos bottles and spice shakers...
Baby bottles and perfume bottles painted gray

Painting caps black

Adding labels
I'm not completely satisfied with them (although I am tickled by the little holes on the top of the spice shakers: that turned out cute) but as a small detail on the counter I think they'll work fine.

Next up, the small fridge.  I ran into this issue before: I wanted a small dorm sized fridge for my hunting cabin, but could never find one.  Hunting cabin eventually got a full size fridge and my search ended.  But there was no way this little Beach Stall could handle a full size one.  So, what was I gonna do?  I could use a cooler.  But this stall is close enough to the boardwalk that plumbing and electrical sources have been brought to it (hence the coffee makers work).  So they would have a small fridge.  Toy box!  Turn a toy box on it's side and I've got a small fridge!

My small toy box
Removed applique
Spray paint it white in my ever-so-professional Spray Painting Station (i.e. cardboard box)
Now the Barista can not only keep the milk and creamers in the fridge, but s/he can sell sodas and bottled water now too! But how would customers know the stall sells sodas/waters?  The barista needs to advertise and create some impulse buying! So I spray painted a flower box and added some "ice", soda cans, and water bottle:
Drink trough for the side counter of the stall

Now came my next bug-a-boo.  I wanted a small sink in this space.  Just something for the proprietor to wash the blender out with and wash their hands in.  But it really bugged my friend that the counter was shorter than any sink I put on it.  Even the smallest sinks hung over the counter edge.  Thanks a lot, Julie!  Now that's all I see when I look at the stall.  So, I had to expand the first shelf...
Extra support wood with a thin veneer on top to cover the old counter

It slides right in perfectly!

Painted to match and no one will know (except for you who read about it here)
Now it's all together and ready for display!
Shelves are filled! And someone missed the trashcan when making the last banana smoothie.

And the counter is wide enough for the coffee maker and sink!



Open and ready for business!
Now to fix up my kitchen roomboxes so they can be on display at the Open House too!

3 comments:

  1. Hi, Lori - I'm very late with this comment - I hope you have a chance to see it. Various things have wreaked havoc with my computer time! But I want to tell you how very impressed I am with this coffee stall. I can understand how the project could come to a standstill without the cups - I'm so glad that you were able to find them. And my favorite thing - the tag ties - are ingenious! Isn't it great to suddenly come upon an unexpected thing that turns out to be the perfect thing? I also love the solution you came up with to enlarge the shelf and make room for the sink. This is such an interesting, unique project, and it turned out beautifully. Enjoy the Holiday Open House!

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  2. Love the banana on the floor!
    Must be a man working the shop.

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