The China Cup tea room and a place relieve yourself afterwards!

Been another busy week in the village. I made a start on the new tea room in Butterfly Cottage. I decided on a tea room as I was really trying to do something that would make use of things I already have, so I could save a bit of money to go towards some new projects for the village. I have a cafe but this is much more a place for tea and cake.

The dresser was 'stolen' from the china shop. You would never know lol theres was so much in there I just spread everything out a bit! I wanted to go with the blue and white theme with a splash of yellow.

The wall unit was from the fisherman's cottage but was no longer needed as I moved him back into Anchor and there wasn't room for it in there. The kitchen units are from the staff room in Wishes and Dishes and just put a spare sink and fridge in there instead. I also managed to find two matching tables and chairs just by swapping things around a bit! The table clothes are just circles of fabric wetted and then put in place. When they dry they hang perfectly!

Martha has popped in from a spot of shopping for her favourite cream tea!

Betsy is very friendly and loves her customers!

The cakes are all ones I already had! Mostly from the bistro bakery which will now become more of a deli with bakery!

 

Sandwiches, salads and a slice of cake what more could you want! The counters are blue as I had already painted one blue that was originally for the sweet shop. It would have been a pain to repaint so I just decided to paint the other one to match.

 

It needs lots more added its far to bare for me! It needs more things on the wall, some bunting and lots more on the shelves! Pleased with how its coming along though and I haven't spent a penny!

I also have a nice little building soon to arrive in the village but couldn't wait that long to show you! I asked Julie Quaysides premier property developer if she could make me some public toilets. I had enough shops and fancied something a little different. I just gave her a rough idea and she came up with all the rest. These are her pics of the completed thing and its just wonderful! She made the little cubicles with opening doors and its really just brilliant! I cannot wait to get Arthur settled in he will never want to leave......good job he can't then really lol!!

I love how they have the gap at the bottom and the top they look just like the real thing I love them!!!

Who knew public toilets could be so exciting lol But I am very excited for them to arrive!

Of curse there will need to be an attendant and I thought who better than Edna! She cleans the holiday lets but is happy to take on more work for some extra pennies for bingo!! Shes all ready to start!

 

New ideas!

Been moving things around in Dollyland again! I kind of enjoy doing it but don't even get me started on the lighting!! I was trying to make everything a bit more accessible as there were a couple that weren't so easy to access. I also didn't like the Barn up on the Upper Quayside shelf. I did try but whenever I looked at it up there I just didn't think it looked right!

I started by moving the Barn onto the windowsill next to Cockleshell. It looks just right there so I moved the flats off and will be getting another little house the same size as Cockleshell to go the other side. It makes it feel like a little street so this will be East Quayside!

I must have moved every house yesterday trying to get the layout right but however I did it I had one house too many!! I really wanted to make the flats into a dept store but I just can't fit them in! It would mean losing another house which I just can't do! For now they are emptied out awaiting their fate!

I love this shot it looks like you are looking down the street! I toyed with the idea of making Butterfly (the lilac one on the end) into a Christmas house and putting the dept store there instead but in the end I couldn't take it out its too much part of the village!

I made a nice little area behind the Bistro. I moved the pergola sideways so I could open the door of Butterfly properly. I laid some mosaic stone style lino down and created a little plaza so now Ernie has somewhere nice to sleep. I will eventually make some little steps to link the 2 levels together.

As I took the flats out I had to empty them all out. I moved the ground floor into the lower floor of Barnacle so now it has 2 holiday lets!

It worked quite well as it was the same colour scheme.

Stacey and Fred have moved back into Anchor cottage. Stacey is secretly pleased she wasn't getting much business over the other side of town!

The village also has a new arrival! This is Arthur! He's actually for my next project but I couldn't leave him out on the street like that! Rose was kind enough to lend him a seat. I hope she doesn't regret it!

 

New sweetie shop and Babs expands!

Its been a busy weekend in Quayside! We didn't go to the van so I took advantage and had some fun in the village! As you know I moved the quilt shop into the new Barn so that left the little pink shop empty. I couldn't help but think it would make a great sweet shop! I tried the counters to see it they fitted and they did, quite nicely!

Bethany of course made the sign which were not the easiest! I could not get them right! I got the size wrong then the colour then the outline and after about 3 reprints and far too much wasted paper we finally got there! I love them they look so pretty, the writing is like swirly bits of candy!

Bert is very happy with his new little shop! He needs a bit more stock and some little extra details but its looking ok so far!

 

He has lots of samples of his homemade sweets for the customers to try!

I bought these little boxes of sweets from Ebay ages ago and they are so cute! the little sugar mice are fab!

Moving the sweet shop meant that Rose Cottage was now empty again. Poor Rose its been about 5 different businesses it just doesn't seem to have found its identity! I had an idea to move Babs Boutique from the bottom of Butterfly Cottage as it was very crowded in there you couldn't really see anything. I also had lots more bags and stock to easily fill 2 floors. The signs were reprinted but I kept the colour as its nice and bright!

We now hove clothes on the upper floor and bags, shoes and accessories downstairs.

I don't even know how it all fitted before in now its spread it!

The Bratz bags are still such fun they are like mini real life funky bags!

The shoes were a good find on a 50p Barbie doll at a boot sale!

I picked this little stand up from the doll house shop a while ago. It was only £1.75 and I was sure I would find a use for it somewhere! Its now a shoes display along with the chair another bargain find from the DH shop which has been waiting for the right home!

I love these Barbie shoes which were from Ebay in America. They weren't the cheapest of buys but they just looked so like the type of shoe a vintage clothes shop would have!

John looks like hes hiding behind the counter, maybe she's a fussy customer lol!

Trying a new hat for style!

The upstairs is the clothing department. I was going to have the floors the other way round but it didn't fit because of the stairs!

The wall rack has all the jackets and tops and the circular stand has the dresses. Again these are all Bratz items.

I needed a bigger fitting room so I made this one from bits of wood and the remains of a 50p cushion cover I used for the village hall curtains. The lips light was a lip gloss I found in the forest when walking the dogs! I cleaned it out and added an LED bulb and it made a great wall light!

Now I have an empty floor in Butterfly Cottage which will be a tea room. I have the café but this will be a proper old fashioned tearoom. It will be called the China Cup and have a blue and white china theme! I have already managed to find some tables and chairs by swapping a few things around and I have the spare counters from the sweet shop so I should be able to do this one on a budget!

I also came to decision over the weekend about my Manor house. My lovely friend Audrey was going to buy it from me but when the thought of it actually not being there anymore started to sink in I really got a bit upset! I don't know where it came from I really thought I was ok with it going but when it became real the thought of not having it anymore was awful. For now I decided to hang onto it as selling it just doesn't feel right! I feel awful for letting my friend down but I guess I was much more attached to it that I convinced myself I was! It was my very first house and has all my first purchases inside and without it there would be no village so I guess it will always be special!