The shop counter…
I have bought a ‘glass’ fronted mahogany coloured shop counter but wanted to personalise it. It has 2 internal shelves with a clear Perspex front & open back for easy access.
I had some left over green Dollshouse carpet (which I used to cover my fruit & veg display) & thought it would make nice lining for the interior shelves. I made a rough template from a piece of scrap cardboard, then used this to cut 4 pieces of carpet to size.
The carpet has shelf adhesive backing but this makes it difficult to position correctly in such a confined space. I used PVA glue instead so I could manoeuvre the pieces into the correct position before leaving them to dry.
Cake display…
I found some pretty little oval plastic plates on EBay which were perfect as trays for displaying a selection of small cakes and biscuits. It was a quick & easy job to arrange the items and then glue them into place.
The finished cake display/shop counter.
Paper dispenser…
When we visited a grocery store in a Victorian museum, I noticed that they had a large roll of brown paper in a dispenser on the counter for wrapping customer purchases. I wanted something similar & was shocked to see one for sale online for £15 without postage 🤦🏻♀️.
However, kitchen roll dispensers are widely available for less than £2! Cue, a mini make!
I bought this kitchen roll holder for £1.85. I unravelled & removed the tissue then gave the metal holder a few coats of black acrylic using an all purpose paint pen. There are still a few spots of red peeking through but it will do. I then cut a long strip of brown packing paper the width of of the central roll (if you have any sense, you will use the removed tissue as a template. Mine was already in the bin so I had to get the ruler out! 😂)
I looped this around the central roll and folded the piece in half before gluing the two halves together using a glue stick. You then carefully and as tightly as possible roll up the brown paper. Every centimetre or so, I added a bit more glue stick so that the roll doesn’t unravel & stays tightly rolled.
Next steps…
- Working how to use tacky wax (the messy bit)
- stocking the shelves with produce (the fun bit)
Lindsay & Sons General Store 