1/144 Amusement park: How about making food stands that look like giant food (only they are tiny to scale) A Hamburger or hot dog with an opening where the counter is, an ice cream cone for the frozen treats., balloon man, a fun house made from a tiny castle.... Wish I worked in that scale. Check out the dollar store for toys for rides. And please keep us posted

Gail in Orlando

Mini Bows for Presents: I made a bunch of Christmas packages for a mini scene a long time ago, and used several methods to get bows on the packages:
1. I bought them and glued them on. I was lucky enough to find someone that made bows like those stick-on bows you see in stores. I gave her my packages, and she put bows on them for me. I've seen other dealers sell those big fluffy bows you can glue on your own packages.
2. (and probably what you're really looking for) I made my own simple bows. The thing I found was that I needed to glue on the ribbons first. Then, with a completely separate piece of ribbon, make the bow, cut it off, and glue it on the package. It's darn near impossible to try to tie a bow with the package dangling there--there just isn't enough room! There are a couple of different kinds of "bow makers"--I keep wishing you could just feed in the ribbon and push a button, but really they're stands that hold the loops you make when tying a bow. To make the simple, shoestring types, you just need a couple of small nails or pins securely fastened to a piece of wood or whatever. Then you tie the bow, slip it off the nails/pins, and cut the ends. I find that I can pull the ends a bit to make the bow even smaller, and then cut the ends. The dab of glue to put the bow on the package also prevents it from becoming untied. Actual silk ribbon is probably easier to work with, but I've also taken regular curling ribbon and tore it to the tiny width's I wanted.

Trish in Sunnyvale CA

Mini Bow Maker: There is a mini bow maker you can get. Then you need 2 mm silk ribbon, as it is the best for staying glued. I don't remember where I got my mini bow maker--maybe E-bay. But they should be available at a mini shop or maybe HBS has them. It is really just basically a ring of pins on a wood block. You loop ribbon around the pins in a certain pattern. I made bows for a Christmas swag and they turn out very well. Some people can do this using a pattern--maybe another SSer will tell you how. You can get 2 mm silk ribbon through some mini suppliers online and at shows, or there are a number of thread sites that have it. Here is Knights Thread Express, which was going out of business (50% off now!), so I don't know what they have left. Just make sure you get silk; synthetics don't always stay glued. Though I've gotten some nice pre-made bows using 'real' gift ribbon material (the shiny nylon-y stuff). http://www.threadexpress.com/Default.asp

Lynette in WNC

Bow Makers: This may be old news to some of you, but was a revelation to me. I have directions on my web site, under *Projects* for making silk ribbon bows with a bow maker, and the bow maker that I use is a hair pick with steel teeth. However, these are almost impossible to get nowadays. One of the students in the class I taught last weekend, (Cindy Adams) suggested that a fork could be used instead! So, before the class I went to the local Zellars store and found a whole box of odd forks. Picked out 12, one for each student, and had them try them out in the class. They worked!!!!!! What a lovely simple solution, and you can hold the handle between your knees (the really important part *g*) so that both hands are free to make the bows. Thanks Cindy!

Joy in Midland, Ontario

Mini Bow Making: I learned to make bows from an illustration in DH magazine, though I altered it a little. I use a block of foam rubber and four straight pins. I set a pin into the end of the ribbon on one side. Then I set two pins at angles where the heads point away from each other. I lay a 1-2" piece of cut ribbon across the gap between the two pins. Then I take the ribbon whose end is pinned down and wind it in a figure eight pattern three or four times around the two center pins. Then I pin the end of that ribbon down on the opposite side of the bow. I pull up the ends of the cut ribbon and tie them around the center of the figure eight. Clip it off and trim the loose ends at an angle or into a 'v'. Voila, a pretty bow.

Linda

Book Ends: Bookends are about the easiest thing you can create! Either cut two pieces of wood (or buy some of those precut "Woodsies" shapes) and glue them together at right angles. You can also cut squares or rectangles (or other shapes if you are feeling creative) out of Sculpey. The fun part is decorating them. You can stain them, paint them (plain or fancy), add a pair of buttons (with the back part cut off) with something that works in your setting (like dogs for a vet's office, anchors in a nautical setting, etc.), and add findings.

Alice Zinn

Sunbonnet for log cabin ladies: Go here: http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/godey/fashion/di.html and scroll down to the "September, 1857: Sun-Bonnet" entry. If you click on the images, you will get larger ones. The pattern gives you both full pattern pieces and half pattern pieces (for placing on folds, presumably), and that's a total of six pieces. Only use the three full pieces. You will have to use the illustration of the finished bonnet as a guide for putting it together, as there are rather cryptic instructions, really meant for making a full-size bonnet in 1857, given at the bottom. To scale the pattern page down appropriately, the image print size should be about 2" wide by 3" high. You can do this in MS Word (by importing the image and scaling it to those proportions) or any image editor (by setting the print size). I would do a paper mockup first, and then use heavy paper to reinforce the front of the bonnet when I made it (instead of the cording, unless you want to be very, very precise!). Alternately, instead of paper, use heavyweight stitch witch to bond the outer and lining fabric together for the front, as that will stiffen it enough that it will hold its shape and not ravel. The crown and cape need to be gathered slightly to fit, which can be done while you are gluing if you are using a quick-drying fabric glue. I'd actually cut the cape a bit fuller than is shown so that it can be draped a bit more prettily, but I don't know how utilitarian your ladies are! :) I really love this page for its patterns. I've used them for dolls and some for full-size costume reproductions as well

Maura Bass

Height of Dollhouse Ceilings: If you're doing your own design, why let the dollhouse manufacturer's decisions affect yours? When I toured the Garth Mansion in Hannibal, Missouri, I asked what the ceiling heights were. They told me it went as follows:
Bottom floor - 14', Second Floor - 12, Third Floor - 10', and the ceiling in the tower room was 8'. (Really big house!) However, I've been in other Victorian houses where the ceilings are 10' or 12' on the first floor. The taller the rooms, the more spacious they'll feel, unless you're going to make the rooms quite narrow, in which case the higher ceilings would look a bit odd.

George Held

Ceiling Height: There is no standard height. Every manufacturer believes he knows best. They range from about 7 ft. up to around 13 ft. Most are in the 8 1/2 to 10 foot range.

Tom Berkner

Finishing Stair Openings: I thought you'd like to see some pictures of how stair openings can be finished. I remembered some from Carol of S P Miniatures' site: http://www.spminiatures.com/house/hallup.html shows from above, and http://www.spminiatures.com/house/halldown.html and http://www.spminiatures.com/house/entryway.html show from below.

Anne Gerdes