Completing the Town Square Shops

Dickens' Books

At around the 25th of each month another of these these darling little shops arrives.  It doesn’t take long to make them up. Then comes the fun part of filling them with goodies.  

While I was visiting my darling daughter and grandsons in Queensland (turned out to be a 5 week visit, which was great to spend so long with them) I did the Dickens Book shop,  which arrived the day I left. This is one of my very most favourite shops, with its timbered front and aged look. Here is what it looked like when it was done ( I wrote about it in September):

Front view - shop completed in September

Interior view in September, ready to fill with goodies

As you can see I did the furniture that came with the kit as well. The bookcases and counter came as kits, the desk and chair are the ubiquitious brown plastic furniture just sanded, painted and aged. I decided that one cat would be on the chair up in the office, and a naughty one on the bookshelves downstairs. Here’s the interior with the furniture just sitting in place – not glued in so the bookshelf downstairs isn’t sitting straight.

I also made a whole lot of little books to fill the shelves. Once I arrived home I couldn’t find most of them! So I made a whole lot more. These are mainly covers folded around layers of paper or around card of different thickness, and cut to size. I ended up with far too many books so I am well supplied for other projects vbg. I had even made two piles of books glued together but didn’t use them. Snowy is upstairs on the office chair keeping it warm while Mr Dickens steps ououtside for a moment, and Tiger is up to his usual tricks, climbing the bookcase downstairs and knocking books down onto the floor. Mr Dickens won't be happy at all!  Here it is, completed:
 

View of interior overall, finished

Interior finished showing left side - and that naughty Tiger!

View of right side interior - Snowy looks comfy.

And somehow Patch has gone walkabout from the front. If you see him, please send him home. Mr Dickens has put a ‘lost dog’ sign outside, in the hope that he will turn up again. It was made in a text box in an Office doc so I can’t import it here, but it has a picture of Patch and says “Lost. Brown and white spaniel. Reward for information leading to his return.’ .Tiger and Snowy are really missing Patch too. Perhaps that's where Mr Dickens is, out looking for that wandering pooch?  I do hope he finds him!