Quick Christmas present for miniers. Take a metal washer that would suit for a door or window wreath size. Marble 2 color green polymer clays together. Roll into snake and press onto one side of washer. "FLUFF" clay with a toothpick to look like holly. Add tiny red beads or tiny red beads made with clay. Roll out a snake of red clay and fashion into a bow. Press to bottom of wreath.Bake as directed. TADA! A polymer clay wreath just the right size for those drab Christmas doors and windows

Jennifer Spray

Gravel walkways/cat litter: I discovered that this is a great train layout secret...it's what they use for railroad beds and works like a champ.   Put Elmer's glue in the area you want your walk, then sprinkle the kitty litter on it.    I'd cover the edges with tape or whatever so you can contain your walk if you   want it to be fairly precise in width.   When it's completely dry, I'd brush on a   bit more Elmer's and carefully fill in the bald spots...it really looks great...be   sure to get the grayish/brownish kind - probably the cheapest will be the   best.

Molly Cromwell

Kitty Litter Gravel(using the Self-Clumping type):   I think it's great.   I spread some thin glue on my surface, sprinkled the litter and then "spritzed" it with water.   It sets up rock hard.   I've also put it in planter containers, inserted the plants or whatever, and then dribbled in a little water to set it.  Almost instant concrete -- only with texture.   Any self clumping litter will do -- although your cats might be a little confused.

Leigh Hill in Delaware

Chandelier: There are no hard and fast rules in making miniatures and the same applies to electrification. If you use tape wire, you will find that your installation will probably be easier using chandelier adapters. .Personally, I recommend the Cir-kit Canopy Adapters.

Warren Flaks

Chandelier: You do not need to use the canopy attachment for your light fixture, but it makes it easier to take it out if you have to for bulb replacement or to transport the   room or house without damaging the chandelier.

Jackie

Hanging chandeliers: Anita asked: [I was looking at the chandeliers I picked out and, to my horror, noticed that these Americana swag lamps actually have a white plug and cord just like a table lamp would.   I thought they would have something like two prongs at the   top that you would just plug into the tape wire itself on the ceiling    How the heck do you hang these things?] You have to wrap the wire around 2 prongs in the ceiling canopy.   Since the chandelier wire is too long, you will have to cut the wire.   I suggest that play with the canopy and wires a bit to see how they work before cutting the wire.  

One caution (learned from experience) make sure that the exposed wire from each side in the canopy   are not touching each other even a little bit or you will have a short.

Carol S P Miniatures

Chandelier wiring:   When you see a chandelier with several bulbs and only two wires at the top, joints have been made inside somewhere to combine wires. If you have 2 bulbs, for instance, you can solder one wire from each bulb to an outgoing wire, and the other wire from each bulb to another outgoing wire, and that takes it from 4 wires to 2. The joints have to be insulated with something, which adds bulk.

Another trick sometimes used is to attach one wire from a bulb to the brass fittings around it, and only run one wire up to the top, and attaching a wire to the brass there for the other wire out. That assumes that the brass is continuous from start to finish.

Barb Jones

Making electrified chandeliers: Just starting to electrify my own house and looking at possible resources. Many miniaturists have recommended the excellent advice they had received from Copper Connections in the UK.  I had a look at their site and saw that the bulbs/ candles come with different thickness wires. They have a micro flame bulb 8" wires with the term 40 ma after it, the other bulbs have wires 50 ma and 60 ma. So presume that is the wire thickness. Their site is http://www.copperconnection.co.uk /trolleyed/5/13/index.htm

Teepee crafts , a magical supplier of findings etc. have chandelier kits and makings. In their list of bulbs is shrink wrap tubes. They might be for passing your wires through to keep them tidy. They have a wonderful on-line catalogue for findings, silk ribbon and tiny braid. http://www.teepeecrafts.co.uk/html/catalogue/text/l.htm

The Blackberry Patch sells 'How to books'   DB1 =A310 GBP includes patterns for chandeliers, lights and accessories. I have never seen it, but her own chandeliers are beautiful.

Pauline   in Mansfield UK

Bulbs/Transformers: [They have a micro flame bulb 8" wires with the term 40 ma after it, the other bulbs have wires 50 ma and 60 ma. So presume that is the wire thickness.] ma stands for milleamperes.   This is a measure of the electrical current that flows through the bulb.    This is useful for calculating the number of bulbs that can be used with a transformer. The equation to find the current output of a transformer is: current (in ma) = (Watts / Volts )*1000   (e.g. 1667ma = 20watts/12volts) add up the total of all the bulbs, and don't exceed the 1667ma.   approx 40 of your 40ma bulbs, or 13 if the 120ma flourettes.

Typically, the more power an incandescent bulb consumes, the more light it gives.

Tom Berkner

Flower Tip: Here's a tip for anyone experimenting with flower making: I seal all of my flowers. I coat them with a sealer...usually using a tiny paint brush and matte sealer. Just get a tiny bit of sealer on your brush and barely touch the petals with the tip of the brush.....The paper absorbs the sealer, so there's no reason to actually "brush" it on.  The sealer makes your flowers sturdier and allows you to dust them lightly as they need it.

Sloan