Beach Shop and a Bead Curtain

I have tried not to make too many new miniatures that I don't need and have been quite successful, although I did make some new cushions because I'm really a cushion fan as they can change a scene dramatically. Naturally, I made beach related things because it's that time of year again and I love summer!

I made some new signs for the beach shop. The little 'Beach House' is new. I can see I have serious amounts of space on the shelves of the Beach Shop, I need to make new stock!

This big sign was going to be fixed to the side of my Beach Hut but I actually like it here, for now, anyway.

And the most exciting of all for me is the bead curtain I had pondered over for a few years.
I finally sat outside, feet in a bowl of cold water to stop my brain from boiling in the heat, and made one. I love this selection of beads, they are the colours of the sea, sparkling wet seaweed and sand.

The beads were a necklace I bought in Accessorise last year for £10. I felt guilty while the girl carefully wrapped them in a protective layer of tissue, knowing that when I got them home I intended to cut them up!
It took two weeks to thread the beads, make them all the same length and fix them to a wooden strip without them falling off. The hardest part was to fix the first bead well enough to take the weight of all the other beads. I tried jewellery cement but actually found white glue easier in the end.
I made a pelmet to hide the fixing bar and glued a door behind it to make it look realistic enough for a rear exit from the shop, straight to the beach!

The glass beads hang beautifully and are heavy enough to swing realistically. All it needs is a gentle breeze......
I hung them up yesterday and they stayed up overnight! So far so good.....