1912 Pike Place

Some of you may know that the first Starbucks store was opened in 1971 along the cobblestone streets of Seattle's historic Pike Place Market. The name was inspired by the classic tale Moby Dick, evoking the seafaring tradition of early coffee traders. I wasn't even aware of Starbucks until the early 90's, when my mom introduced me to her ritual of getting a "mocha" every morning. From then and for over twenty years, going to Starbucks became a ritual for almost everyone I knew. A meeting place, a reward for hard work, a hug in a mug when life got hard. It was just a part of everyday life, especially because it seemed there was a store on every corner. And though I can't drink coffee much anymore, it still holds a special place in my memories. That is why finishing this project, which pays homage to that place and those memories, feels so good!

In an effort to keep this post to a reasonable length, I'll make the details short and sweet. To read all about this project from the beginning, just click the Starbucks At Pike Place blog topic. For the exterior cladding, I used a combination of egg cartons for the bricks, a Lucky Charms cereal box for the siding, Onetime spackling tinted with alcohol ink for the grout, Asphaltum brown and Ceramcoat hunter green paint.

Egg carton brick before grout. Space left for siding.

With cereal box siding strips added and bricks grouted.

By the time I had reached the back of the shop I was pretty much board with brick work. I opted for a simple paneled siding. I used a wide length of cereal box at the top for fascia (to cover the exiting wires) and some wood trims. It looks inelegant where the wires exit the shop, so I came up with an idea to distract the viewers eyes...

A dumpster! I found this model on Thingiverse. Thanks tanner3d!

I remodeled it a bit in Tinkercad, adjusting the depth and height to fit my limited space. I also added casters for the bottom to raise it up off the ground.

And while the wires don't completely disappear, they're not as intrusive.

For the front trash receptacle, I came up with my own design in Tinkercad to fit the 1-1/8" square space.

There is nothing like a custom fit!

In an effort to add about 50 years of age to the building, I added layer upon layer of dirty water washes (4 parts Raw Umber, 1 part black and 10 parts water) to everything, including the trash cans. Then I came back over some areas with a combination of green and brown chalk shavings, mixed with a little water, and painted mold and moss on the building, sidewalks, trash receptacles and planters. You may have also noticed that I made vinyl letters and address numbers with the Cricut, signs on my printer (not Cricut Print Then Cut because... LONG story) and sign holders/planters with the 3D printer.

Signs, planters with shrubs, outdoor seating and...

A grungy dumpster... But not too grungy!

The drive thru side of the building...

A peek through the front door...

And peeks through the top plexi covers...

Look! Rose and Roxanne popped by for a refreshing coffee beverage and baked goods?

And now, at long last, I can officially call Starbucks at Pike Place... Done...

Open for business and conveniently located in the neighborhood!

Now that another abandoned project has been finished this year, I have to decide what's next. Something old? Something new? While I'm pondering, my real house could use a good cleaning!

Have a great June, my friends! Hope to be back soon with something fun and interesting!

xo xo,

Jodi