I had a lot of fun making this general store. It was the first time I had the financial means to start
a project and finish it within a relatively short period of time. My online business helps me do
that and I am grateful to everyone who has patronized my site in the past and to those who may
in the future.
This began as the General Store from Real Good Toys.
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 I used a very basic aging technique of a grayish brown acrylic wash to make all the surfaces of my store, both inside and out, look less pristine and
more like the premises of a hard working
merchant couple. It is all well swept and tidy, but
there is very little time for touch up painting or
money for a new awning.
I made the awning using both a combination of the kits directions and an awning tutorial by Pat & Noel Thomas in an old issue of Nutshell News. The fabric
I used was a plain, white and green striped cotton that I first coated with a layer of Stiff Stuff before aging.
The planks on the porch were made from inexpensive craft sticks (popsicle sticks).
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 The sides of the building have been used as advertising space as you see here. The Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus is soon
coming to town!
I found most of these images online or in magazines and just glued them up and aged them along with
the building.
The General Store sign was made by printing out the basic black type in a large and appropriate font onto plain white copy paper. I then cut it out and glued it to
a piece of wood the size of the the finished sign.
I sanded the lettering very lightly until some of the lettering wore off and looked worn. I then sprayed
the paper several times with a matt fixitive. Next, I framed the sign with very thin wood moulding I
had previously stained to match the building. Last,
I used the same aging wash I used on all the other surfaces on the building.
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 The advertising on the left side of the building.
Notice the moss growing along the bottom of the building? Eventually I will place the store on a
small base and landscape it to fit the scene.
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 This is a view through the front door of the shop to
the counter. The flooring inside was also made
from inexpensive craft sticks (popsicle sticks).
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 This is the view from on top looking back
out the front door.
There is plenty of space left for collecting more miniature merchandise to be displayed.
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 Here is the inside left side of the interior. The
building is wired for lighting, but the lights have not been installed yet. They will go in the two empty spaces on the upper left and back walls.
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 This is the hardware section of the store. I had
alot of fun making displays to hang and place
on the shelves.
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 This is an old fashioned display for the
original Hershey Chocolate Bar.
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 I made this hardware display in honor of my
husband who is THE Handy Andy. I designed
the labels for the display on my computer.
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 This is another display I made for the shop
using old victorian seed catalog images.
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That's the end of the tour of my General Store! I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how I did something. I'm happy to share.
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