Stove/hot plate: the burners on many commercial mini stoves are just plumbing washers available at any hardware store (metal rings with little spokes that point toward the center around the inner edge instead of rays that point outward). For a hot plate, pry the lid off a smaller-size Altoids tin, paint it brushed steel, white, black (or your preferred color), turn upside down and glue on the washer "burners", glue a couple of beads for controls, and if you want, a snip of bunka with a bead plug on the end for the cord.

Loretta.Sniarowski

17th C Dutch stuff: Currently in London is a show that has just been on in New York for months - Jan Vermeer & colleagues working in Delft. What a visual feast - and I learned some new things about 17thC Dutch houses.
- The houses appear not to have had chimney pots.
- Swan pies were eaten, which I associate with medieval times in GB, these pies set on a large pewter platter.
- A wine cooler would be a very large, deep flat based oval bowl made from brass, with rotund bottles (not modern wine bottles) set in water - left sitting on the floor.
- Tablecloths HA! after all those efforts to make a drape-able rug, well good old hand woven cloth was also used, usually with stripes, so give yourself a break
- SHAPES of things - this is the most important thing to emulate. The British professional miniaturist Andrea Barnham says copy the shape rather than try for an exact replica, and by George she's right.
- A deer's head, hung on a wall
- Cheeses on a tray suspended from the rafters
- A coat rack made from fat, round ebonised knobs set into cherry wood - see these in paintings by 2 different artists
Probably other stuff, if anyone is interested. This whole odyssey has been so shocking, so wonderful - and it must be true of every period, just scan the pictures of every day life, and be prepared to be amazed.

Helen from York, England

Halloween wallpaper: I made a witch's house for two grandchildren a few years ago, and, typically, waited until the middle of October to look for wallpaper. The nearby shops didn't have anything for Halloween and time was too short to order it from anywhere. But a trip to Joann's Fabric solved the problem - lots of small Halloween prints, tiny black and orange checks and plaids - and cheaper than dollhouse wallpaper, too. They also had some black and orange braids and trims on sale that worked well for ceiling trim and chair rails.

Nancy in Indiana

Halloween wallpaper: In my Halloween house I painted the walls a dull gray. Glued on strips of wallpaper and then torn those strips even more. Painted over the wallpaper remaining with a darker gray and wiped off the excess. Looks like an old house - haunted of course.

Pauline

Arts & Crafts Stencils; all the stencils I've seen at shops and shows seem to be Colonial style. However, I've seen plenty of Art Nouveau style rubber stamps with organic forms that would be compatible with Arts & Crafts. You could treat them like "reverse stencils" like the life-size wall stamps in craft shops, and paint different acrylic colors on the flowers, leaves, etc., to stamp on the wallpaper. Colors are generally very, very earthy, almost drab. Also check with shopowners; Broadnax Prints wallpaper carries an extensive line and may have what you need. Have you researched A&C style books?

Have borrowed several from my local library, and as somebody else mentioned re wainscoting, frequently the style had wooden paneling over most of the wall, with a wide frieze border at the top, between 2 and 3 feet wide.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Trellis: I bought a roll of "gutterguard" at the shop. It is a black plastic, diagonal mesh ,6" wide and I think it was 6' long. A piece of it looked really good fixed to the wall of a garden roombox I made and gave as a gift.

I made vines out of the finest brown paper-covered florist's wire and made leaves and blossoms out of fimo, using sugarcraft punches, which I keep just for use with fimo. There is enough to make a lot of pieces of trellis or it would make great chain-link fencing.

Dee

Beach Foam: " I'd like to know if anyone has any ideas for foam as the water hits the beach."

I use two part resin mix, such as Envirotex and actually whip it as I mix it. I whip it HARD. I prefer a wooden popcycle stick or tongue depressor for this process. Metal cuts through the resin too sharply. Plastic tends to get soft as the heat in the resin develops. I continue whipping the mix until I feel the heat beginning to develop as the chemicals work together,I do not stop working the material until the cup becomes hot - then and only then do I apply the resin froth to the water. This traps bubbles that do not break as the resin hardens. I mix small quantities in a small paper cup- never more than 2 ounces. Larger quantities will not froth well.

When I'm ready to apply the mixture, I pinch a spout in the side of the paper cup to make application easier. Once you begin to pour, handle the resin as little as possible. Every movement will break a few of the precious bubbles. When dry, I repeat the process either adding to the existing height of the foam I just made or creating another wave breaking behind the first wave. I also use this technique in my waterfalls where the fall hits the pond.

Another tip for water that is a lot of fun will make wonderful ripples and small waves. Simply add more hardener to the mix. The chemical reaction creates ripples in the thin layer you have just poured. I prefer pouring in several thin layers and I alter the color and texture with each layer. The illusion of depth is astonishing.

Becky Holliday

Beach Foam: I just saw the question about making the foam on the beach as the waves roll in. With the new Scenic Water, it is very easy to do. Just melt down the SW and pour it where you want it and then take one of the syringe applicators and inject air into the liquid SW while it sets up. No beating, no hard work. If you desire more foam, with smaller bubbles, just mix a bit of shampoo or dish detergent with water, and suck up the bubbles with one of the applicators and push them into the cooling SW and tah-dah you have foam. You can contact me offline if you are in the eastern part of the US or Deanna atminitqs@execpc.com if you are in the mid west to get it supplied to a shop or order it from either one of us as an individual and we will be happy to oblige.

Dolly

Faux stonework: When I used to make model airplanes, there was a terrific product called balsa foam that was commonly used to make faux architectural ruins for dioramas. It can be purchased in sheets or blocks. It is soft enough to cut with a craft knife and can be sculpted or textured with a variety of objects, including a dull pencil, plastic knife, or my kids Playdough prodding tools. You can paint it with regular acrylic paints to look like any finished surface you want. It should still be available at stores selling model airplanes/cars.

Kim in Las Vegas

Faux stonework: I have done some stage set painting (for church productions and such) where I just painted a flat surface light grey or cream (for mortar) and then rock or brick shapes in medium grey or light brown, then used dabs of a lighter shade on the top portion of the rock and a darker shade on the bottom portion of the rock to create light and shadow. In full-size I actually had people come up and feel them - they didn't believe it was a flat wall. I've been thinking of using this technique on my languishing dollhouse on the front tower with "stucco" for the flat walls on either side. Just play around with the light and dark paint to get a 3-d effect (this would probably work best if the stonework is to be background of your mini scene)

Catherine in Toronto