Oh Dear a Little Deviation from The Cauldron.......

Having spent some time filling bottles lately I then made the mistake of speculating about my stash of potion jars and bottles. I seemed to use quite a lot of bottles for the bar and the trays in which I keep my filled jars and glass ware were looking pretty empty. 

This got me speculating about the apothecary shelves.........

 ......and such speculation quickly led to getting out one of the shelving units, which led to sorting through the jars, which led to sorting through labels and a whole week has come and gone!!

I went through all the filled jars I had not used in the witch house many moons ago and soaked off labels and cut off old lids and string.

I want each of the shelves to have matching labels and lids as I think Apothecary's should be very organised and I am totally OCD about tidy matching jars!!

This then led to a session on the computer planning matching labels for each shelf and looking up all the Harry Potter ingredients and potions. How can this take sooooo long!!

 As you can see each shelf has has the same bottle but I have broken them up with a corner crate in which I will put special jars from artists like Nikki Rowe. I discovered, however, that this one unit used up most of my stash of jars so I have also spent time sourcing jars in quantity and for a reasonable price. In truth I would have loved to have been able to buy all hand blown with gorgeous glass lids but they all seem to be at least £3-4 each and I need a lot.

 I found a couple of UK companies selling lovely jars in a variety of sizes: My Tiny World and TumDee Miniatures. Much cheaper ones are available on both Etsy: clothcampDIY and MixnMatch and Ebay: Goodthing4sell. Unfortunately these are outside Europe so if you live in the UK you will be at the mercy of the Post Offices's arbitrary £8.00 charge if your parcel gets pulled at customs.

So now I am thinking about lids for all these jars. I don't want them all to be cork or cloth. I tried today to make some plain black lids out of fimo like those in Snape's office....

....but I think my fimo was off as they all crumbled during making and baking. I am pretty rubbish with clay but I will buy some fresh as well as having a go with paperclay.  My main problem seems to be once I get the clay thin enough I can never get it off the glass tile! Oh well, what's another week!!

Any lid inspiration will be gratefully received I have a few to go yet.

I Have Taken To The Bottle........At The Leaky Cauldron

After my little journey into all things shabby and chic I have returned to the cluttered and grungy world of Diagon Alley. The bar of The Leaky Cauldron needs all its bottles and crates filled and sorted ready to open its doors.

I have taken over the dining room table as my work room seems to be overflowing at the moment with all the pieces waiting to either go in the Cauldron or be finished off.

Here are a few of the necessary supplies for this messy and tricky operation: tacky wax for holding the bottles in place when filling, cocktail sticks for slow dripping, fine tipped syringes, a large glass tile for a work mat ( very easy to clean ), glass and creamic paints for tinting, and lots of tiny botttles and phials.

 These are a few that I have filled with Solid Water by Deluxe Materials. This is a resin product that you mix together to make a clear solution. The solution can be coloured with very small amounts of glass paint, oil paint and I even used tiny amounts of ceramic paint. It cannot be mixed with any water based paints. This product hardens off completely as long as you follow the mixing instructions. The more colour you add the darker the mixture. 

 I have been collecting bottles and decanters in all different shapes and sizes for a long time now intending to fill them with all different coloured wizarding liquids. I have now discovered that filling teeny, tiny bottles is not easy and in some cases totally impossible as the necks are just too thin. If I couldn't fill them, even with drips off a cocktail stick, I decided to simply paint them with glass paints. 

 I have filled the bar shelves with a mixture of shapes and sizes. Some of the bottles are the cheap acrylic types you can buy anywhere that I have simply re-labelled and dirtied up a little. 

 Some I have purchased at fairs and soaked off the labels and then added my own, Shepherd Miniatures have a really good glass range in a variety of shapes and colours.

I also printed off any witchy label I could find and stuck them to the back of the shelves and along the side to exaggerate the sense of clutter.

This was stage one of getting the bar together and today I had a full dress rehearsal......

I have lots of photos of all the different nooks and crannies to post tomorrow.

A Little Bit of Interior Planning.......

A few years ago I went to my first Miniatura and discovered just how many talented miniaturists there are and became totally hooked on this wonderful hobby. The Spring show is in a couple of weeks and being a list person I thought I would get the contents of The Leaky Cauldron together for a 'dress rehearsal'.

Then I would know what to look out for when I attend the show.

 The ground floor bar area looks busy! All my fabulous characters are by the wonderful Jain Squires and they look very comfortable.

 Mad Eyed Moody is enjoying his retirement propping up the bar.

 Ladies that Lunch? They certainly have a full spread with tasty treats from Mags Magnificent Miniatures, Linsminis and Kiva. 

 I hope to have a few baskets of groceries and fresh produce eventually for my Diagon Alley shoppers. This basket of apples is by After Dark Miniatures as is the produce board on the pub counter.

 I have tried the shelves out for size with some of the bottles I have collected. Not sure if I will use Nikki's coloured bottles here, maybe have one shelf full. I also want to have a small collection of pewter plates and bowls ( Miniatura List! ) on the shelves plus a few more tankards.

 These bottles are from Le Petit Monde d'Oiseau. They are perfectly scaled and come in a range of colours and shaped. I have also been collecting other glass bottles and flasks from Ray Storey which are hand blown and beautifully made. I will have another go with the scenic water and see what concoctions I can come up with.....

 In the bedroom my Hogwarts student is quietly dreaming of Gilderoy Lockhart! Exhausted after a day's shopping. This lovely piece was made by Julie of Bellabella Dolls and as soon as I saw her I knew she was perfect for this scene.

 I have a passion for the cats of Sarah Hendry and this little family are on their way to Hogwarts despite the one pet rule.

 The books are made by a company called A Novel Idea and they do a whole range of fabulous book sets. I bought these from a company in the US but for the life of me I can't remember what they were called. I will try and look them up and add the link later.

 Ahhhh! So sweet.

And like all good Hogwarts pupils she has been shopping for goodies to take back with her to school. A witch in the box by J.Dunn, sweeties by the lovely Silke and a tin of Halloween biscuits from Alliesminis.

There are quite a few things still needed for in here. All the kit for a Hogwarts student, a bookcase maybe, a wash stand or cupboard, a Hogwarts cloak and scarf, few bits of clothes etc, etc, etc!!!

A long list, but if I don't have a good idea of what I need when I go I get a bit "headless" and end up buying things willy nilly.....attic of the Cauldron springs to mind!