Last Job Done....Bertie Botts Display and Honeydukes is Finished!!

I have had a little blog break for a number of reasons: there are only so many posts you can do on the real donkey work of sweet making and displays, summer gardening and the return of my youngest from places far away in time for the departure of my daughter for a place even further away. I have had time to achieve what I had long despaired would ever happen........I have finished Honeydukes!!

The last job was completed today, the Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans display.

 I started with a standard white wood bookcase, removed one shelf (after softening the glue) and painted it white. 

 Using Word table function I created the red and white striped tent to cover the bookcase.

 For the bean dispensers I have used plastic test tubes bought from Ebay and cut to size. Each end sealed with jewellery findings from Etsy.

 The bottom of each tube obviously needs a dispensing funnel of some sort and I have used bead caps and spacers collected from various fairs and shows.

 The test tubes have been filled with 2mm beads, I hate that you can see the holes but this display will sit on the back wall so I can live with it.

 I cut the striped tent to size, my second attempt, and strengthened it by sticking it to card. The columns are ones I found on Google search and the lettering has been taken from the original boxes of beans. I was a little concerned that the test tubes wouldn't stick well enough so I left them over night to dry completely.

 On returning to the work shop this morning I was very happy not to find a couple of hundred beads on the floor!!

I tried out various ideas for handles and eventually settled on the one on the left.

 One of the reasons I have been dreading making this display were the number of boxes of beans I needed to fill the bottom shelves. The cutting and shaping of twenty tiny boxes filled me with dread. Then, while walking the dogs, I had a 'Eureka' moment. These two shelves will be at the back of the shop and not hugely visible so a cheat is perfectly acceptable.

I cut two pieces of scrap wood and stuck them to the shelves.

 I then cut off all the tabs and bottoms from the box templates I had already printed out and filled in the windows with fake beans. I scored the boxes as if they were indeed being stuck together and then glued the fakes onto the wood strips.

Ta Dah!! Not a bad effort if I do say so myself. At the next fair I attend I will look for some shallow glass bowls to put under the dispensers but all in all it's done. 

This is the one in the Universal shop.

Of course mine is a lot less complicated but I think it will do the job nicely.

More to come tomorrow with the grand opening of my Honeydukes sweetshop.