HAPPY HALLOWEEN from everyone at the Cauldron Cafe

Happy Halloween everyone! The Cauldron Café is ready just in time for tonight's festivities! Everyone has turned up for the grand opening!

Even the Devil and Dracula have met up for a bite or 2! You can also have your fortune told if you dare!

There are lots of lovely gruesome things on the menu including spooky pizza, extra matured mouldy sandwiches and lots of cake made with real brains for a perfect sponge texture!! To drink there is pond slime tea, vintage blood and crushed spider shake! Griselda is pretty happy with the turn out as she's been baking cupcakes for weeks so they were as stale as possible! There is just one rule in this café, the Brooms stay at the door!

My friend Celias wonderful cupcakes on display!! I had to improvise with the stand as the leg would just not glue back on! It was a bit wide with the legs anyway so I took the other one off and just used some black beads for feet instead! The brass goblet set was 99p from Ebay and is perfect filled with blood!

                                                         HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! :-) xx

New improved Crabpot cafe

We had a lovely week at the van last week sadly our last break of the year as its now too dark and too cold so this weekend it will be shut down for the winter. Always a bit of a sad time we do miss our trips to the seaside....roll on Easter!

Not much fun at home either as our boiler is broken so no heating or hot water and still no Sky tv!! Its a good excuse to be doing DH things instead though :-)

I have moved all the café interior into its new home. I wasn't sure the blue was just a tiny bit bright, but I like the colour so much I have decided to keep it. All it needs now is a new sign!

As I had a bit more space I added the server unit on the left with some scones and goodies!

The red aga was stolen from Forget me not cottage so now I need to get another one!

Jocelyn looks very pleased with her new working environment!

By moving everything out of the old café that left it empty ready for the new Post Office to open! I have just pooped a few bits in there for now but I think it will work quite well. The counter I made and the unit is a thimble stand which I need to fill with lots of parcels and letters. I imagine it to look like the mail room in the movie The Grinch lol.

I finally decided the pink market cart has been empty long enough! I had such fun making the straw hat I bought lots of straw to make some more. These lovely ones are a few I bought from Kat the Hat lady to start me off! They were a great price and I love all the different styles. The felt ones are from the DH shop and think were mostly free as the lady there just pops them in my bag and they are never on the receipt! They all need decorated and I have a nice stash of ribbons and trims at the ready so that will be a fun job when I get round to it!

I have had a bit of a move around! As I bought Pumpkin cottage I decided to add a shelf upstairs and put that along with my little original witchy shop displayed on it. I was still really tight for space as taking that out still didn't give me enough room to add the new café as it was so much bigger. I didn't really want to extend the shelf much more as it would come over the light switch and I just felt it would look too much. In the end we decided a small curved shelf at the end on either side would give me a little bit more space without really making it look much different!

It has actually worked really well! Its really given the shelf a finished look and added a bit more room than I expected!

I have a space!! Yay just enough room for one more little property!

You can see in the pic what I mean about the light switch! I could have gone a teeny bit further with a slightly longer shelf but I really like how the curved ones look!

I had to juggle the big houses around a bit as Lobster was a bit too tall and was in the way of the bracket. I moved that into the middle although it had to lose its chimney pots! I actually really like the new layout it makes it look more villagey with the different shapes and sizes!

I also moved Sea Shanty Cottage out of the corner as it was the only house on that side with a lifting roof. It was really awkward to access where it was so now its at the opposite end and I can get into it and start on the homewares shop on the ground floor!

I did get a quick trip to the dolls house shop on Tuesday when we picked Bethany up from the airport. It was my last chance til next year as its a good 2 hours from the house but only 45 mins from the van!

I really didn't need much just a few odds and ends. I was pleased to get some more of the tiny furniture for the dolls house shop! I hadn't spent much money which was just as well lol but then I blew the budget! I treated myself to a Hearth and Home aga for the homewares shop. I have been lusting after it for a long time and I got it for the bargain price of £30! I didn't think I would ever be able to afford one so I am chuffed to bits with it. I love how the doors open and it has lovely shiny hotplates that also lift up!

 

 

Now I really must get my witchy café done its almost Halloween and I am running out of time!

Cauldron Cottage and Honeysuckle cottage!

Just back from a nice few days at our caravan! Its half term up here so 2 weeks off and then it will all be shut down for the winter! We are always sad to do it as we do love our little escape to the seaside! Its def getting colder so will soon be time to snuggle up by the fire as the nights get darker. I have made sure I have lots of nice mini projects to keep me going over the winter!

Last week I was making plans for my new little cottage. I decided it will go upstairs with my other 2 witchy properties and will be a witchy café. It was painted in a lovely powder blue but I felt that wasn't very witchy so I repainted it in a nice soft sage green. It was the colour I did the walls in Dollyland! I am really pleased with it the colour def suits it!

Next I decided to make a kitchen unit. Julie had a lovely one for sale and I was very tempted but resisted and had a go at making on myself! The sink I already had and also the wood burner so that was a good start! The wood burner was grey so first job was repaint that black. I then cut a piece of plywood and glued on the sink. The little tiles are from Hobbycraft and I started at the top and worked my way down adding the shelves in-between. I was very lucky the spacing fitted 3 rows so exactly I can assure you that was def luck not skill ha ha!! They were them all grouted to finish it off! The stove does light up when in place too which gives a lovely glow!

I added a small shelf to the side of the sink to join the 2 and made a little curtain for underneath

I have used scenic water on jars before but this was my first attempt at a filled sink! I arranged the dishes in the sink dabbed with some acrylic paint to make them look dirty. Next I poured in the water with a couple of drops of green food colouring as it is for a witches kitchen after all!

Have to say I am quite chuffed with it and didn't cost me anything as I had everything I needed already!

My café needed an owner of course! I thought she looked like a witch who liked a cake!

 

Then there needed to be some customers! I went with more witches but tried to go for slightly different ones.

The white witch glows in the dark and is great fun!!!

The old hag is a witch in disguise with her poison apples!

I got this wonderful cake stand from a great seller in the USA! Sadly it arrived with a broken leg but I have just bought some proper glue to fix it. Its really lovely even better than I hoped and the seller very kindly refunded me which was very nice as I do love it and it will soon take pride of place in the café!

It will be needing some cakes for it so my friend Celia who makes brilliant food and very cheaply make me some cupcakes and mouldy sandwiches and even some cups of pond slime tea!

I was also a bit naughty when I got the witches and ended up with a new WI lady as she looked different to my other ladies!

Plus I liked her purple ensemble!

Then I got Vera who has joined Walter to make up a duet in the village hall! I love these fun characters they just make me smile!

I do have news of a new house soon to be arriving! "But you have no more room" I hear you all shout! and well no I don't so something had to be sacrificed! I did have the Barn sitting between the 2 little cottages which fitted fine but seemed a little awkward to access. It needed to be a little higher up to see into it better. After much deliberation I decided to sell the Barn and get another little tall cottage instead. the Barn is going to my good friend Carol and I have bought a new little shop with the proceeds! I am so lucky my friends take on my excess properties as it makes it so much easier to part with then as I still get to see them!

I was a bit worried about losing too much light but it actually works well as the new one is also narrow there's plenty of room between they let the light through. I like adding the little gardens in between so may be able to make another one!

I am thinking the new shop may well be the post office as I haven't found a home for that yet but I never decide til they arrive as it will tell me what it will be lol! I love that it has a shop front making it a little different to the other two and its a different colour so it seems it was meant for this space! It should be here tomorrow I am really excited as always!!!

Just one more little thing I got from Ebay that is one of my new favourite minis! They are just the cutest little bookends and I had to have them!!