Paper Leaves: Best suggestion for realistic paper leaves.... paint regular rice paper, tracing paper or typing paper even (if you must make do) with acrylic color washes.... then punch the leaves.... you get the colors you want without paying preemo dollars for "it'll do" paper....

Bob Francis

Paper Leaves: I made fake mini Fall leaves by painting both sides of white tissue paper different colors of browns, oranges, golds, and reds, (I used water colors) and then cut leaves out of that. Looked pretty realistic. You could probably punch several layers at a time, using the tissue paper.

Paulette in IN

Fall Leaves: buy a package of preserved REAL leaves at the craft store. You may even have these around from some fall project. Use your tiny maple leaf punch, lining the veins in the leaves up naturally where possible. These are very realistic because they are made from the real thing, and because they are preserved, they will last.

Bonnie Gibson

Trellis: DIY trellis can be hard or easy, depending on the style you want. Easiest, cut plastic needlepoint canvas to shape, apply vines, and glue in place (floppy if it's too tall and not supported on a porch or house side). Slightly harder, cut plastic canvas on bias so trellis is diamond-shaped, not square-holed, gluing coffee stirrers or other wood strips along edges and painting to match. Or cut up a plastic berry or tomato basket to size and paint the color you want. Hardest, glue wood strips together to the size and geometric pattern you want -- use a grid to space them (example: graph paper taped to cardboard under plastic wrap) before painting. Another easy one -- the smallest size of bamboo rake from craft shops looks like a natural-finish fan-shaped trellis in 1:12 scale.

Loretta Sniarowski

Trellis: Your garden trellis shouldn't be too hard to make, after all, I made one! Do you want the fan kind? Here's how I made mine.

Material used:
1/8" wide bass/balsa wood
Cut 5 pieces of 1/8" wide bass/balsa wood 7" long.(long stems)
1 piece 3 1/8" long (horizontal top cross)
1 piece 2" long (mid section cross piece)
4 pieces 1/2" long (vertical separators at the bottom, between long pieces))
4 pieces 5/8" long (horizontal separators behind the top cross piece)

1. glue the 1/2 pieces in between the 5 long pieces(stems), at the bottom, all going the same way and thickness same way. I used spring clamps to hold them together overnight.
2. When dry I laid it out onto a thick piece of Styrofoam. This will allow you to poke nails or pins to hold in place while building. Lay flat on Styrofoam, pin between the long rungs to hold in place. (Pins at an angle will hold in place better.
3. spread the top of the long stems out evenly, and glue the 5/8" separator pieces in between the stems (approx. 1 15/16 down from top).
4. Glue the 3 1/8" horizontal cross piece on top of the separators, this hides your construction.
5. Glue the 2" mid section cross piece approx. 4" down from the top

When completely dry I added to ends of bamboo skewers to the back side for ease in poking it into my base. If your base is wood you could drill holes then secure with glue. For vines, drag thread through tacky glue then RR landscape material(looks best if colors are mixed). Lay it onto trellis, make sure trellis is on wax paper! For flowers, you may use bits of colored sponges or very small roses you can get in bunches through Wal-Mart or others.

LISA (LYNN) VANZANT

Lighting: In choosing lighting fixtures with glass shades, take into account whether the glass is frosted or clear. Frosted glass will give a diffuse, flat, general light. This would be appropriate for kitchens, bathrooms, etc. Clear glass allows the interior to sparkle (if you have anything that shines: glass, gold or silver finishes, etc.) It is also more dramatic, creating more light and shadow. This also applies to unshielded lights, such as electric candelabras. Caution: too much "clear light" can cause glare. Also take into account whether or not the light will be reflected in a mirror. (Old designer's trick to reflect light in a mirror to increase light in a room.) If you are lighting the interior from a dollhouse or room box frame, for example putting a row of lights hidden by the front aspect of the frame in a room box- light that is not part of the mini scene but light that allows you to see into the box, then be careful about placement of mirrors or it will reflect the fixtures you are trying to hide.

I have see mini track lights and surface mounted cans. On some, the light bulb is allowed to extend past the can. If you choose these directional lights for accent lighting, the can, which is supposed to surround the light and punch it out in a given direction, will not do the job. The light will be distributed in all directions just as in general lighting. Other designs have the light bulb recessed into the can where it should be, but the inside of the can is painted black and absorbs most of the light, so little light is allowed to get out. Do not paint the interior of any existing cans that you may have. The paint has to be special heat resistant paint! If you use a picture light on a picture frame- use it with matte finished pictures. Glass framed pictures will reflect the light source. Stained glass: Whether is on doors, skylights or table lamps, be aware that whatever colors are in the stained glass will be cast onto the interior. Be sure it doesn't alter your interior color scheme.

Kathy from Tustin

Foam Core vs. Gatorboard: When I decided to start flying to shows, I needed to come up with a light-weight display that could be broken down and nested into a trunk for flying. I designed a two-tiered display and made the whole thing out of Gatorboard. Gatorboard is made the same as Foamcore and is the same weight and also comes in different thickness'. Foamcore dents easily, where Gatorboard is about 4 times stronger (guessing here folks) and doesn't dent. It's only slightly harder to cut, meaning you have to take an extra stroke or two with the X-Acto knife to cut through it. The only drawback is, it's about 4-5 times more expensive. When it came time to making my display, there really wasn't a question of using Foamcore or Gatorboard for it. Foamcore wouldn't have lasted near as long as Gatorboard does for heavy usage. The airlines do their darndest to break the display and the only thing that has happened is that a couple joints have come apart, which are easily glued back together. For my display, once the Gatorboard pieces were all glued together, I ironed on Wonder-Under fusible on to my black fabric then I just ironed the fabric to each piece of the display. The whole thing has lasted about 6 years now. Gatorboard can probably be ordered from the same place where Foamcore is found, like a picture framing store or art store.

Connie Sauve

Cutting Foamcore: In my experience the easiest method of cutting Foamcore is using the X-Acto Foamcore cutter. It not only cuts straight lines, but also beveled lines and Foamcore strips. I got mine from Dick Blick, so I assume that you can find it at art supply stores and anywhere where they sell supplies for print framing (they use Foamcore to mount prints and posters). If one plans to use Foamcore regularly in dh construction then it is worth the investment (I paid around $10 for mine). http://www.dickblick.com/

Martha

Turntables: Hobby Builders Supply carries turntables in two sizes, I believe. Check http://www.miniatures.com

Mary in MS

Transferring Prints:
You need:
- -thinner
- -cotton balls
- -a nice print in a magazine
- -a piece of cotton or paper where you want the print to be on.

Beware:
- -The print will be a mirror-image!
- -The thinner is a very bad stinking stuff, so work in a well-ventilated area!
- -Very well printed, glossy magazines will not give a good print.

How to do it:
1. Lay your cotton or paper on a flat surface.
2. Cover it with the original print, faced down.
3. Wet the cotton ball with the thinner.
4. Then put this ball onto the back of the paper and make it all wet.
5. Then add some power to it by 'pushing' the ball onto the paper and move it over the whole back of the original print.
6. You can peep under it, but don't take it away, for it will never fit.
7. When you think the print is OK, you can lift the original off. It has lost a lot of ink and this ink is all on your cotton or paper. (So, the original print will be in a bad condition.)
8. Let dry.

I really don't know the English equivalent for 'thinner'. It is this bad smelling stuff which is also used in the printing business. We worked with it at artschool when we made screenprints. We cleaned our screens and hands with it.

Marjon de Haas