Getting Personal . . .

I was so certain that I would struggle on a customer's dollhouse recently and when I encountered no difficulties with the job, I felt empowered and ready to tackle the world. Well, my tiny corner of it anyway.
 I know that I should be working on my Mansion.  It sits right here behind me as I type; a figurative elephant in the room. (Okay, it's not really as big as an elephant but to hear my spouse complain about it still sitting in our family room corner you'd think it was larger than a pachyderm).  Yet I went and brought a different project up out of the basement . . . .


My unfinished but still respectable structure



A local lady is trying to coordinate a Bill Lankford class here in Loudoun County.  It's his Leaky Cauldron/Diagon Alley class. On the pamphlet I made and posted at work, I used a photo of my own (unfinished but still presentable) Leaky Cauldron/Diagon Alley that I made in a Bill Lankford class 10 years ago. I never completed this project for a very stupid reason: The pub floor.



My Leaky Cauldron Pub Floor



I had never used wall spackle to create flooring so I wanted to make sure I had completed this part in class that way Mr. Lankford was right there if I ran into problems.  Unfortunately we were rushing at the end of class and I hastily created this stone floor in the last 1/2 hour before leaving.  And I hate it.  And I know I need to destroy it, chip it out, sand it, do whatever it takes to remove it!  Because I really want a wood floor in there.  So for 10 years I have avoided completing this project because I know I have a messy and labor intensive job ahead of me to undo my poorly done floor.

There are some minor other issues, but they are either quick fixes or decorating issues.  A window needs to be repaired and installed:

This window needed to be installed . . .

. . . but it broke before I got to install it.  So I have to fix it first.

Stones under the moving part of the structure need to be glued down with a special formula of soap and water (a special formula that is written on a tiny scrap of paper that may never be found in the "safe spot" I put it somewhere in my basement):

This collection of aquarium pebbles need to be glued down -- it's
amazing I haven't lost any of them over the years
as they just rattle around down there under the pub.

And, the part I am really looking forward to: various shop windows in Diagon Alley need to be filled.

I have cauldrons and owls for these two shops, but the shop just out of frame on the right
is a robe shop.  Not too thrilled about filling that shop, and am debating about changing it to a different shop all together.

There is also an exterior shop window that needs to be filled with some merchandise.  It is a muggle shop.  There is already one other exterior shop window that has Harry Potter books in it for sale.  Any ideas of what should be for sale in the other muggle shop's window?