1/2 scale People.... on the Cheap!!
I've been fiddling around with those $.25 cent yard sale people that are about 4 inches tall..... trying to make them 3 inches for ½ scale scenes.... Here's what I've found - for what it's worth:

Cut them on the band saw just below breast bone (use your imagination). Cut again just above hips... (leave the movable joint) [WARNING!! Some figures have a steel screw type of thing running down inside, plays havoc with your saw blade. Test this area with a cutting blade or pointed probe before sawing. ]

Then: Cut legs above the knee and take out another 1/2 inch below the knee. Drill or melt a hole and attach them closer with pipe cleaner (plastic cement). Try to preserve all moving joints.

When this is done and dry, attach body back together 1/2 inch shorter with plastic Cement and let dry overnight.

Now you have a 3 inch figure. It looks pretty odd until you do something with the hair and dress it. But the arms and hands are ok, feet and legs below the knee look ok, and the body will stand or sit whichever you prefer. . . I like sitting figures so those that have solid legs, can be cut and reattached after shortening with pipe cleaners or wire. Face can be carved, or melted with soldering iron to age and make wrinkles. Arms can be adjusted using same method if desired. Clothing can cover the cut and mended joints. A bit of very close work can cut fingers apart and a bit of boiling water can soften the hands to curve around objects.

Redo the hair, cutting existing hair and curling it around a straw, boil it then let it dry. Slip the curls off and reattach - you might be able to curl it in place then boil the whole head. (Sounds gross huh?) My husband watched me from the corner of his eye as I dismembered and reattached various body parts from a dozen of these small characters for three hours last weekend during the race. .His comment was (yuk!) This week I started to dress them and the result is very satisfactory. . . (surprised me too). I'm sure there are others out there that are quietly doing this rather strange butchery (in polite circles it's called 'bashing') It works pretty well for the larger figures too. 6 inches for men, 5 for women. I turned Wonder Woman, into Washer Woman in about two hours. cutting and reattaching with wire for bendable limbs. You can cut off armor, guns, sunglasses, belts, and other various bumpy items from the plastic bodies. Then dress over them.

Be Careful!! Strong hands and sharp heavy blades, coupled with tough plastic make a dangerous situation. Always use a cutting board and aim your blade away from tender human flesh. A lot of this plastic slices like cheese. Some is hard. Test away, and have a wonderful time Bashing!!!

Judie - Daytona Beach, FL

"cheap" garage sale dolls: Read about the chop job you are doing on the mini character dolls from the garage sales. Sounds very interesting, but I hope you have checked on the value of the some of the dolls you may be using. Did you know that some of these dolls are collector items and can be worth quite a bit of money? The Star War dolls for example, can go for almost $1000. Just to let you know. You mentioned Wonder Woman. The older ones are very collectable!

Ginny

Signing Your Doll: James wanted to know what to sign his original dolls with - most doll artists sign their dolls on the back of the head or shoulder plate. (In time, dolls may lose arms or legs, but the head is the most important part) If they don't inscribe it into the clay or sculpting medium itself, they use paint or a permanent ink. That way it can always be proven who made the doll, and that makes the doll more valuable in the future. Since the signature will be hidden by hair or clothing, it won't be seen, but does need to be there.

Paulette Stinson

Gollywogs: I had always known OF them but never knew anything about them. Half hour later I'm opening one of the back issues I just got from Dolls House and Miniature Scene and what do I see staring up at me but a gollywog - so popular during late Victorian times especially in Europe! He was a character in a book written by Florence Upton called "The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls" and is now over 100 years old. He originally had a blue jacket, red trousers, and a green tie. A pattern for a mini knitted gollywog was in the article if anyone is interested (about 2 dimes high). The issue was #16 and is still available as far as I know.

Ana

Golly's World: I checked with AltaVista.com and they have an incredible set of Golliwog sites: http://www.golliwogs.com

Seems they were characters in storybook from the 1890's by a mother daughter team. Cute little folks, they traveled around the world thus introducing children to a world bigger than their own.

Laurie Sisson

Draping curtains: If you want pleats to stay firm, cut the fabric on the straight of grain (up & down.) If you want it to drape, try cutting it on the bias. Only prob with bias is that it stretches, so is best hung at least 24 hours then trimmed to final length. I'm assuming you just want to drape it, not pleat it first. I also have Judy Williamson's (did I get that right?) book on making beds. She doesn't pleat the fabric, but gathers, then pins it to a board, then sprays it with starch. She must use a couple of hundred pins as she pins all the folds, top and bottom, exactly where she wants them. The finished bed drapes look real.

Heather in Toronto

Untwisting thread: The best way I know how to stop threads from twisting, is all in the preparation. As a previous judge of needlework, I saw many pieces that were exquisite, all but the twisted thread(Looked like thread had rolled over in the stitch, or you couldn't follow 1 strand through to the next stitch).

When you begin your project, only use a MAXIMUM of 18" of thread. Then separate each thread individually. Simply pinch firmly at the bottom of the bundle, and pull 1 thread from the top.

If you are getting a lot of tangles from this method, I would consider changing to a better quality thread. DMC is available in most places, lots of colors, and doesn't tangle easily. If it does, it might be an age factor for that thread. Even though you might have just purchased it, how long was in on the store shelf before you adopted it?

Lisa Lynn Vanzant

Tudor themed x-stitch patterns: Just came across a site specializing in Tudor themed patterns for counted cross stitch, http://www.tudorrosedesigns.com/. The designs are almost all detailed portraits of Tudor personalities based on actual paintings, mostly designed for 18 count canvas but of course would end up smaller done on finer canvas. There are also relevant heraldic devices. They sell the patterns as well as kits. The portraits are incredible, for example they have 5 different ones of Henry VIII and 9 of Elizabeth. Very inspiring but probably a real challenge to miniaturize.

Wendy in Clinton, NJ

Floor finishing: I finished my cherry wood floors with Tung Oil. I sanded between applications and put it on about 3 or 4 coats. They look beautiful.

Betty

Floor finishing: I have been using shoe polish on my wood floors. It looks great and there is NO warping. Comes in rich looking brown colors and polishes up to fine gleam.

Jan in Cincinnati