Ialou Grocery

Ialou grocery ( ialou) was created to update the little market and to create another room where  active players can visit and have adventures.

Of course Hubby and Fabil helped a lot. Fabil had plenty of idea, and wanted "His" grocery to have an Egyptian flair, not the first idea in mind when seeing this empty shell.

This box was originally a  TV / VCR / and some other apparatus unit, given to me when of no more use. 

The sizes: length 72 cm /  width 42 cm / height 41 cm

We removed the center shelf and the base. I created a "step" to hold the future shelving

To ornate the base  (fake storage units )I used strips of strong paper intertwined to create the relief then painted them

 We used wooden planks from mandarin boxes to create the shelving, living an empty space for a fridge

 I painted the floor brown, the walls and shelving white with acrylics paint.

The ceiling was a bit tricky. It was supposed to look like sculpted  wood .  I cut a piece of wall paper the size of the full ceiling.  I created stencil with thick cardboard, I drew my shapes and painted  them with several shade of brown. Using a gold marker , I highlighted the  shape. then varnished the all piece. when dry, it looked a bit more  leather than wood but it was OK.

The brown  strips of paper were cut with scrapbook scissor for an irregular edge. at the crossing I glued (glue gun) little metallic bead caps.

I finished the  ceiling  using a left over wood molding  painted the dark brown shade.

 I found some nice ¨vent" pictures in the web, printed them to the scale, glued them on craft foam and glued them on the wall.

Fabil took the cleaning very seriously.

Here are some photos montage showing my way  to create the antique scale( using air dry clay).  

A cash register (recycling and old calculator) .

A  the little fridge (recycling various packaging).

Close-up of the scale and Fabil checking if everything is functioning properly 

I covered the counter . On a miniature magazine, I've  found some ceramic tiles representation. I enlarged the picture, printed it, covered it with transparent vinyls, glued it on a thin craft foam sheet  then glued it on the counter .

When the essential  building was done, I made some paper bags and some storage boxes.  

While traveling I found those adorable little Terracotta oil jars, they had a perfect scale and found their right place in the shop.

Then it was time to check the shelves, nothing was to be missing or misplaced, to  the last details attended by the owner himself.

Some of the grocery stuff/drinks/cans /candies etc... are  created with paper, wood dowel  or from key-chain elements, and of course I still displayed my little magnets depicting fruits and veggies, and my cross stitched seed bags. 

The Ialou grocery today, with details of some inspired Egyptian elements so dear to Fabil.

Then finally the day arrived for the "Grand Opening" Fabil was very happy and proud to welcome his friends into his own Ialou grocery.