The Mystic Path

About nine years ago I had a dream to build a roombox.  This roombox would be two stories tall and tell a story. The lower floor would be a metaphysical shop full of candles, crystals, incense, herbs and other witchcraft items. It's the kind of old store you walk into and are immediately at peace. A sweet aroma of burning incense would be prominent and there would be more to see in that store than you could ever fully absorb in just one visit.  The second floor was to be the lair of the resident fortune teller, Madam Aspen.  When looking at the roombox, it would be obvious that the shop was closed for the night, perhaps the owner is out for the evening celebrating the upcoming Samhain.  The shop lights are dim and you can just make out the merchandise on the shelves.  Upstairs, she has left a couple candles burning and there is an eerie glow coming from her crystal ball.  Perhaps there is a restless spirit longing to make contact and share some important news, but alas....our witch is not there to receive the message.

Other than the dream, I never did anything more about this roombox than to build the box.  Soon after my time to work with minis dwindled to nearly nothing and everything was packed away into a closet, not to be touched for over 8 years. 

Now I'm back and the first project I took up was this roombox....now called "The Mystic Path".  I have gotten a good bit of the basic construction done and soon hope to be moving onto the fun part of actually accessorizing the shop and our fortune tellers room upstairs.  Over the few days or so, I'm going to share with you what I have done and then I'll pick up and start posting projects as they are completed.

First a few pics of the basic box and general layout of the rooms.

The basic box is constructed of plywood (in future boxes I'll use cabinet grade so there aren't knots to deal with) and measures 15.75" wide x 19.75" tall x 12" deep.  Each floor is just over 9" tall.  The small pieces of wood you see attached to the floors and ceiling are there to be a guide for the interior walls.

This is the shop floor with the interior foamcore walls in place and the wood floor installed.  The wood floor was put down one board at a time.  I used a thin wooden craft stick and each board was cut to length as it was glued in place.

The second floor will house the fortune teller's room.  In this picture you see the interior walls installed as well as a double-door in place to check the look.  On the floor is a strip of tapewire that will be used to light the crystal ball.  After this picture was taken, I also installed an additional strip of tapewire on the right wall near the door for a table lamp and there is also a strip on the ceiling to light the lamp above the table where Madam Aspen works her magick.

The final picture tonight shows the wooden floors in place on both levels.  You can see the hole cut in the upper floor. That will be hidden by a carpet. 

I hope you enjoy what you see so far.  There is much more to come.  On our next journey we will look at the finished floor as well as some wallpaper and trimwork. 

Till later!