Slug and Jiggers......Sanding, Staining and Potion Making.

The upper floor furniture for Slug & Jiggers will all be dark wood, a combination of wood stains on unfinished white wood furniture. Plus a lot of sanding and elbow grease. I really wanted an apothecary cabinet with lots of little drawers all neatly labelled, obviously inspired by vintage cabinets and the wonderful miniatures by Jennifer Hatt of Looking Glass Miniatures.

 I had a long think about how I could create a piece myself and dug out this bookcase that was stained for another project and then never used. 

 Using my brilliant new table saw I first blocked up the bottom three shelves.....

 ......then cut out lots of small pieces for false drawer fronts, they are 1.5cm wide.

 I have lined them all up and simply glued the whole panel to the front of the bookcase.

Now I have given the false front a first stain to match the whole bookcase and I think it will work out quite well. I will finish the staining and sanding then add tiny drawer handles and labels. In an ideal world I would have loved to have opening drawers stuffed full of potion ingredients and aged scrolls but a table saw a carpenter does not make!!

 Lots of shelving obviously means lots of potion jars and I have also been busy with these. I had thought I had made quite a few last time around but this project is eating them up at an alarming rate.

They are all different sizes to try and add some variety and filled with a mixture of herbs, beads, scenic  and solid water plus anything else I found lying around my workshop. They will all have a black lid and label......eventually!!

Even More Potions and Thank Yous.........

What a wonderful place Blogland is and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who left ideas, tips and advice for me following my last post. I will definitely be off to buy quilling paper, cornstarch, a sharp blade and beads.

Today I tinkered with my lids. I gave them a coat of black acrylic paint which definitely gave them more depth.

 As you can see they are still a little rough around the edges so I will give them another light sanding, then paint again and finish off with a coat of PVA. They are time consuming but I want to get them right to make Nikki proud!! 

 Allison left me a great tip recommending brass two prong paper holders which will be great for smaller jars and while I was looking for some in my local shop I saw drawing pins which also sit perfectly. 

 I have also been playing with the smaller jars today most of which I filled quite a while ago. They are 20mmx10mm and are quite a lot smaller than the others. For these I tried an idea I saw on A Fanciful Twist using Baking Parchment. I have this stuff in my kitchen drawer, not quite sure why, and it looks absolutely great for all types of witchy projects and has a great feel and texture. 

I cut out circles and glued one circle to the top of the jar. This single layer looked a bit thin to me so I ended up sticking three circles to each jar.

 I have kept them quite short and flat as these jars are small but on larger jars you could have a longer, fuller skirt. 

 Not one to leave things alone I then decided to top the paper with this netting just to add a little more texture and interest. 

 The netting I bought in small packs at a dolls house fair a few weeks ago from a lovely couple running Thimblemins. Perfect colours for my projects and in small packages. I have been looking for this type of netting for ages and have not been able to find anything suitable at the right sort of price.

Back to labels tomorrow and finishing off the netting tops. Getting there slowly but surely, then back to the upper bedroom of The Leaky Cauldron.

Big Thank You to Nikki Plus Even More Potions......

In my last post I showed a photograph of Snape's office that I took at the Studio tour with all the lines of black capped potion jars. I asked for help and Nikki Rowe came up trumps in her usual way, with a simple but perfect solution. Now Nikki is a superbly talented artisan with a hugely generous spirit and I am so grateful not only for her help but for the time she set aside to think about my lids.

I hope she won't die laughing at my clumsy efforts....I have tried Nikki, honest!!

 Nikki came up with the idea of using card and this was my first effort, except I used back paper, not sure why, and although it looked ok.....

 ......the two pieces did not quite connect! The paper was too thin to join and not sturdy enough but the look was perfect. 

 I decided to stick on the labels first as my cutting and gluing is a little bit suspect. As you can see the circle tops sit on top of the rim band. I will let them dry and then cut the edges and carefully sand off the rough edges. These labels are from Etsy seller Angie and they are perfectly made for miniature potion jars.

 Still a work in progress, don't laugh Nikki!!

 These "mob cap" potions are ready to be placed on their shelf. These are 30mmx30mm and are part of the Witch E.T. Grubb range of potions exclusive to Slug and Jiggers. 

 The purple is repeated in the ties and on the label, as purple is the signature colour of this renowned brand. 

 The mob caps are made with the cheapest dish cloths stained with tea and small piece of purple netting that just about peeps through.

 These jars just need the corks grunged up as little before stacking on the top shelf. These are quite tall at 35mmx20mm, a little large perhaps but I do want a variety of sizes and Snape's office did have small and huge.

More from Witch E.Grubb and ingredients from Harry Potter. The labels are computer made using Word's Table formatting. The fonts are size 6 and 8. I decided not to age or burn these labels to keep the clean and ordered look in the shop as I want the top floor to be in complete contrast.

Very sleek apothecary downstairs. Mad, crazy potion mixing upstairs.

Well that's the plan!