Last day open TODAY as the Play Emporium will be permanently closed from tomorrow. Got the tunes on, disco lights, lots of toys everywhere (and you can buy them regardless of size for £1 each) and hot dogs cooking. Feeling the vibes 😁😁😁😁😁😁
How will you get across? #thefloorislava #familyplay #devonattractions #kidsplaycentre
Made a quick reel to cheer myself up. It's been quite an emotional time this past week or so. I've had moments of happiness sorting through preloved craft supplies, donations, house clearance boxes, my craft collection and carboot sale fines. Then I've also had big moments of stress and panic thinking about the enormity of this task and my deadline next month. I've also had some unnecessary comments on social media which have made me feel completely misunderstood. They have mostly said two things 1) Exeter already has a scrap store and 2) You're not a charity
So please can I explain. Firstly we are working in collaboration with @exeterscrapstore so our preloved craft shop will directly benefit them too. Also why are people of the mindset you can only have one secondhand specialist creative shop in a town? Surely the more shops we have selling secondhand the better? It's like saying "sorry this town already has a charity shop/bakery/ect so we can't have another"...seriously!? Plus ours is set up completely differently selling a totally different concept of mostly prepackaged craft supplies and craft kits.
Secondly, you don't need to be a charity to ask for help in your time of need. I've done so much for the community even while we've been struggling the last 4 years. Just these past few months we've given away 700 free tickets for Play Emporium to 125 school PTAs, the first week we opened I gave away 1000 free entries to local families. I now (regrettably) gave away ££££s of craft supplies myself a few months ago. I've given away props, clothes, tools, paint and so much more and only 2 of all the 100s of people who have come and taken free stuff has anyone ever messaged me after to say thank you or sent me a picture of what they've done with the stuff I've given away.
I know we've created a valuable asset to the community with our play center and I just want it to continue. My plan to help us stay afloat is to create my preloved craft shop which I can't affo
I did a thing! Creating this was my little treat for myself amidst an intense few weeks of planning and ideas....I have a plan now though! I'm going to open a reclaimed craft supply shop open to the community. I am in need of supply donations to get the shop up and running. I'll write another post about the craft shop later in the week but I'm looking for any unwanted craft items:
- Haberdashery, beads, sequins, buttons, ribbon
- Offcuts of interesting/decorative fabric
- A4 paper colourful/decorative
- Stickers
- Old clothes that you can't give to charity because they are damaged but the fabric is too go to throw away
- Unused craft kits
- Stamps
- Paint brushes
- Other craft supplies that can be used for small projects
My other two plans include running a Christmas Grotto and then building a room escape. Potentially I might run some craft workshops too.
THANK YOU so much to everyone who sent messages, comments and ideas after my last post. And to all the people who have visited - we've been fully booked for most sessions since Sunday and we're nearly full tomorrow and Friday too. I've spoken to so many lovely people who have come in, although the last two days I've been in hiding because I've been feeling poorly but I managed to sit at work sorting out my own craft supplies. I still have messages to reply to, so please don't think I'm being rude I'm just waiting until I have the time to sit down and properly reply but my days seem to disappear!
The floor is larva! This is what I've been working on... So we'll have a spinning wheel and it tells you what colour cobbles to step on and how, to get to the other side 😀😀😀 Should be ready at some point next week hopefully 🤞🤞🤞#thingstodowithkids #devonattractions #familydaysout
A 3 minute video of me talking about painting a brick...
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It's not my normal video style, feels a bit early 2000s YouTube and incredibly slow, but it's pretty useful if your looking to paint cobbles on the floor. I couldn't find a single tutorial when researching it so I've made one for all the cobble painters of the future!
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I used emulsion paint, which is not floor paint but I plan to use floor varnish on top and deliberately let the cobbles wear and fade
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I used 3 colours
- original colour
- original colour and 2/3 white
- original colour and a dash of black
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Three paint brushes
Short, soft wide bristle brush for blending and main colour
Small brush for dark shade
Long and thin brush for light shade
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Step 1. Paint whole cobble, nearly up to the edge in main colour. Use paint generously
Step 2. Then paint the dark shade on the top and left sides
Step 3. Blend colours
Step 4. Most important part - move the brush around where the paint has been blended following the contours of the cobble
Step 5. Add lighter shade to bottom and right edges. Then repeat steps 3 and 4 but for the lighter shade
#scenerypainter #paintingtutorial
It's giving The Range...it's giving Zelda...it's medieval patio
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#familydaysout #devonattractions #thingstodo #summerholidays
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Ps felt I had to credit my partner for drawing half of the grid lines as he didn't have fun doing it!
Free therapy sessions!!...sort of....
Hiiii! I thought I'd upload this video as I often chat to people who visit us at @play.emporium and I explain that it all began about 18 months ago when I decorated my house like a giant gingerbread house and it went viral. Often people haven't heard of my gingerbread house so I normally show them this video from my personal social media @clashcreativehome so it makes sense to add it to our new Play Emporium social media profiles so I can just direct people to our social media not mine :)
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A year after my house went viral we turned our warehouse into Christmas Selfieland (which I'll add a video about it to another post) then 6 months later we opened Play Emporium. We have been open for two months now and we still have at least another year of building and creating an immersive maze of themed family play areas. So if you like my house decorating content then follow this account too for lots of videos documenting its creation!
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Also just a note I've lived at my rented house for 3 years now so this video is 18 months old 😁
I'm sooo excited to be making the odditorium! I feel like my inner collector is ready to shine! Turns out there really was a reason I needed all these things...🤭 😵💫 to make an Odditorium in a family play centre in a warehouse in Exeter at the age of 36.7 years old 👏👏👏👏
Calling all collectors of strange things! Does anyone have anything interesting/curious/odd but also that I could buy or you would like to donate to my odditorium please? Tagging my personal account as it's where my nero spicy buddies hang out...and they might just have the oddities I'm in need of!
**NEW** Mini funfair themed party venue and family play centre opening in Marsh Barton, Exeter.
