Old time kitchens: Been reading about old turn of the century Canadian kitchens and since my grand parents lived in the "boonies" their house was turn of the century.

Wood stove in the huge kitchen. Out house off the back steps. The smart thing was that the seat to the outhouse was kept on a nail behind the wood stove. That served 2 purposes. If you had to use the sanitary facilities all you had to do was look behind the stove and see if it was in use or not. Also, if the seat was behind the stove in the winter time and you grabbed it, you were assured of having a warm seat when you got to the out house. There were a few other things that these old timers did that was real smart and practical.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

18th century kitchens: You can find kitchen goods for 18th century kitchens at these two sites. http://209.158.24.7/~villageblksmith/  http://www.smallscale.co.uk

Lynn in Cahokia

Starting a club: Years ago I started a club by posting a sign on my show table that said something like: "If you would be interested in joining a mini club in this area, please leave your phone number with me" Then I called the people who expressed an interest, and had them meet at my house.We talked about what they wanted in a club, and explained that each person would have to take a turn teaching something. Could be something from their own imagination, or something from a project they read in a book or magazine. The teachers had their turns in alphabetical order. It was also the teacher's responsibility to call all members to remind them of the meeting and to tell them what supplies (not included in the kit the teacher provided) to bring for that project.

I remember that one lady was convinced she could not teach, but we didn't let her off the hook! After having done it for the first time, she not only found it was not difficult, but it turned out that she LOVED teaching and was an eager teacher when her turn came around again.

Our group took turns bringing a dessert and we, at first, had access to a free conference room with free coffee.

We also bought show-and-tell items we made or bought. And for those who wanted to participate, we had a grab bag of gifts donated by participating members. This was done by setting out the donated gifts and placing a paper with a number next to each one. Then matching numbers were put into a 'hat' and participants pulled out a number and found the corresponding number next to the gift to learn what they had won.

It would not be difficult to start a club..and if you don't have a show table to advertise it, you could ask a local mini or craft shop if you could put out your sign. Or you could ask a show promoter if you could put up a 'sandwich' sign at the entry of the show.

Viola

Old Store Roomboxes: There was an old cave like store on Alameda (Jerry Callison's Five and Ten) where we used to prowl when my children were small.  It dated back to a time when it was on the fringe of a cotton and farming area, and even in the 60's and early 70's a few remaining cotton fields were still intermixed with businesses and apartment complexes. 

His customers were a diverse lot; the store smelled of baby chicks, metal, old cardboard and dust, and held everything from galvanized wash tubs and blades for windmills to garden equipment and tools of all kinds.  I bought a small metal toolbox there to use for my sewing supplies that would probably survive an explosion today.

Instead of a stairway, there was an aisle that sloped rather steeply up to the dry goods section.   It was lined with row after row of every kind and size of old-fashioned crockery - from huge round jars like the ones my grandfather used to make hominy and sauerkraut, to little lidded ones for matches, as well as all sizes of pitchers and jugs.

The owner was always dabbling in politics and running for one office or another, and never seemed too interested in bringing his stock up to date.  On the upper level, I bought a box of Margaret O'Brien (remember the child star of the 40's?) dusting powder and bubble bath that had never been opened; found it at the back of a shelf between Midnight in Paris cologne and Coty face powder.   Still have it. 

Along with some current clothing, fabrics and notions, he had original sewing   patterns for suits with peplums and Joan Crawford-type shoulders.   Many of the dresses hanging nearby had the faded-at-the-shoulder look of something that's hung in the closet for too long; I swear many were carbons of dresses my mother wore when I was a little girl.

My kids were always finding interesting little trinkets there.  My daughter ran over to me in great excitement once.  "Oh, Mama," she said. "Come look at the jewels!"    There was a shallow tray of rings that glittered in the dim light - an eerie likeness of the rings that I lusted after in the Woolworth's in Oklahoma when I was her age.  We each got our birthstone that day.  They turned our fingers green, but we loved them anyway.  My son bought a bag of marbles that he played with for years; I still have them in a glass jar on the shelf next to some of their other old toys.

Wanna in El Paso

Future Floor Wax for Fimo: Yes, Future Wax works beautifully for getting a shiny coat on Fimo items. I learned this from Judy Kafka, renown for her Fimo Candy Castles and trains. No stickiness whatsoever. Future is made by Johnson Wax Co. of Racine, Wisconsin and is still available as far as I know. I've used it on my no-wax floors, too, to enhance them.

Jeanette in Wisconsin

English doll kits: Someone asked the other day for an English doll kit maker. My favorite is Sue Harrington, unfortunately I can't find a web site or address for her perhaps someone out there knows if she can be contacted on the internet?

Her snail mail is: Sue Harrington, 51 Old Fort Road, Shoreham Beach, Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex BN43 5RL Tel 01273 464670. She has a catalogue and her dolls are lovely.

Col

Carol

Mini flames: I'm not sure that this is what someone really meant when they asked about mini flames but this really does work extremely well to make a candle light or even fireplace flames look realistic. You use clear silicone, put a dab of it on the tip of the bulb, and pull it up to make a flame shape.   When the bulb is lit, the entire silicone flame lights and looks real. This even works in real size on those inexpensive plastic candle thingies for your windows. I use the same method to make flames for cauldron flames, fireplaces, lit torches, anywhere I want an open flame. I think that if you embed pieces of colored tissue, it would look even more colorfully on fire. It is important to use clear silicone; it must be 100% silicone and not be the paintable kind. You can get it in discount stores as tile and tub sealer or in the automotive dept. as windshield sealer.

Cat

Dressing table trays. The jewelry findings work great. I also paint a piece of lace with gold or silver spray paint, let it dry-doesn't take long. Then I glue it around a piece of craft mirror, usually found in the mosaic tile sections of craft stores. Stiffen a bit more by brushing a little clear nail polish over the lace. You can also bend the edges down a bit for a ridge.   They look great.

RPURPLEMOPAR

Virus Protection: I have been out of circulation thanks to that virus - and when I installed the brand new out-of-the-box Norton's, presumed all was well.   Went to clear out my 139 e mails waiting for me (121 of them saying -you've got a VIRUS!!!) and couldn't understand why Norton kept popping up a message saying "Checking your outgoing mail", when I knew I hadn't sent anything. When it dawned on me...... aaarrrggghhhh.. OMIGOD.   It's still sending out virus laden messages. Because, of course, the out-of-the-box Norton's did not have the latest virus definitions - did it? Duh.   So be warned. Get the latest and then go and fetch the latest on line.!!!   Enough on the V word.

Barbara B from South Africa