Welcome to our General Store!

This year, Brent and I decided to put together one big mostly handmade gift for the girls: an old-fashioned general store playset. We were inspired by the awesome play area at Old Sturbridge Village (or Old Storage Village, as it is known in our house). Here is how it all came together:

First we had to find an appropriate sized cabinet with doors. We found this one at an unfinished pine outlet store. Brent painted it dark brown. At the outlet, we also found a half barrel container.

Then we needed a old-fashioned looking and sturdy cash register. We found this fun tin one made by Shylling. Then as it turns out, the girls received another awesome vintage Fisher Price cash register and a wooden scale from Auntie Amelia and uncle Lindell, the perfect addition to our store.


Then we needed goods to sell. We ordered some amber plastic bottles and tea tins and I printed out vintage labels (free from The Graphics Fairy) and applied them to the bottles and tins with clear contact paper.
 
The girls also each got a plastic three-legged iron kettle like Ma cooked with in Little House on the Prarie. And we bought one tiny cast-iron skillet to share. And they each got an enamel tin cup in their stocking.

The bean bags Brent made the girls a few years ago have been the most played-with toy we ever made them, so we made them more, this time bean bag logs to  build a fire, as well as bean bag sacks of  flour and sugar and some photo-realistic fruit and candy bean bags. We were hoping to find some corn or vegetables, but we found fruit and the girls were happy.

Of course, as soon as Ella saw the store, she said, we need costumes! Fortunately, we had bought those too in the form of sunbonnets from Ashley's Attic on Etsy. This shop is truly special, selling all kinds of historic costumes for kids from Little House on the Prairie to Colonial to Civil War. These sunbonnets were handmade and we got to choose the colors for only $10 (the same price as Old Sturbridge Village except that theirs were made in China).

We also bought two vintage looking tins on super sale at Michael's,  which we filled with index cards for them to write on (very popular). I would have bought Beatrix a tin too if I would have known how much she likes to open and close things. But she settles for the barrel, her favorite part of the set, which she fills with bean bags.

And sometimes we fill the barrel with Beatrix. It's tough being the smallest person in the house. 
 
That is our general store. I don't know if we will be quite some ambitious next year, but it was fun to put together for the girls and they have enjoyed it, especially Ella, who seems to be at the perfect age for this kind of toy.