Chinese: Well, I happen to love oriental decorative arts so I wanted to have some Chinese designs in the wallpaper of my house. Some time ago I bought a book called "Chinese patterns" which comes with a CDROM with hundreds of pictures that can be used for wallpaper, fabric, plates... It has been really useful for me, so here is the reference in case anybody finds it useful too:

Chinese patterns
Agile Rabbit Editions, 1999
ISBN 90 5768 006 8

It has no text, just the pictures and the CDROM. High resolution pictures, need to be re-dimensioned for minis.

Alicia from Spain

Egyptian Miniatures: The last information I have on Northern Lites Miniatures is the following email: northernlitesminis@libby.org She is in Libby Montana. The phone & fax # is 1-406-293-3566 I have ordered some Egyptian things from her and they're fabulous. I think her name is Teresa Dudley.

Cindy T.

Dentist Office: I make miniature dental tools, you can see a picture of them in Dollhouse Miniatures August 2000, in the Artisans showcase, and in the new products, page 62, of the same issue I have change since then the syringe. http://www.fay-vourite.com

Fay

Gloop: There is a product called Gloop which is good for attaching plastic to ceilings and floors. It does not eat away or rumple plastic coated flooring. For ceilings I try to put the building upside down and put a weight on it overnight or you can clamp it. I've use Quick Grab also, but you have to watch that it is not in puddles. Otherwise it eats through the plastic.

Deanna

Mini Iron: Check out http://www.patchworks.com/notions.htm?clkd=iwm if you can't find them near you.

Beth

Curtains: D. Anne Ruff did a how to article about swag valences in the April 1989 issue of Nutshell News. Also, in the book "The Decorated Dollhouse" by Jessica Ridley, she has a pattern for swags and jabots on page 59. Gail Vaughn might talk about them in her Mindstorm video, "Working with Fabric." (See http://www.mindstorm-inc.com/mm20.shtml for more info on that video.)

Alix in San Francisco

Curtains: if your library has Helen Ruthberg's books, she has a pattern and directions for swag & jabot curtains. There may also be one in Venus Dodge's Dollshouse Needlework book. Ruthberg is out of print but often available on eBay and through amazon, bn.com etc. if you decide it's worth owning.

Loretta Sniarowski

CURTAINS I have done all my curtains on graph paper, pinning the pleats with straight pins and then spraying with heavy duty spray starch. First I draw the window to size on the graph paper. then I tape the paper to an old macrame board (a ceiling tile would work) cover the paper with wax paper. ( I make my curtains just like big curtains with a heading and below that a place to thread the curtains on. I use a bent piece of hanger to make a curtain rod I----------------------I sort of like this I thread the curtains on and poke the pointed ends of the curtain rod in the drawing of the window just like I was putting it into the holes I'd drilled either side of the window pane in the doll house window. Then I pleat the curtain using the little squares in the graft paper as a guide. I hold each pleat in place with a straight pin. When all is to my satisfaction. I spray with heavy duty spray starch. I use several coats ,letting it dry between coats. Then I remove the pins and hang in the house . Since I live in a dry climate (New Mexico) this works very well and I have curtains that have been in place several years and have kept their shape. I hope I have made this understandable. Please feel free to write me at my AOL address with any questions, but do put doll house curtains on the subject line, as I do not open mail when I don't know what it is.

Patsy

Curtains: for the drapes, you will need a surface (like a rigid foam), stainless steel dress pins, graph paper, and a non smelly (odorless) mild hair spray and wax paper. Since you are working in quarter scale, make sure with a flexible glue like Ultimate to seal the edges of the fabric that should be the correct length and 2 1/2 times the width of the window you are covering. Put the graph paper on the foam and the wax paper on top of that. Start by pinning down one side (use the graph paper as a guide to keep it straight). Make your first bump from the top to the bottom of the material. Judge by the height of the bump what would look best for your scale. Then put a pin at the bottom and top of the fabric next to the bump. Continue until you use up the fabric and keep the bumps the same height. When you are done, spray the fabric with hair spray (test on a scrap before you do it on the main piece) You can spray with a mist of water also, but I've found the spray better. Some people have their favorite, so this is not written in stone.

Deanna

Curtains: Years before I got the Pretty Pleater, I did the most of the curtains in my big dollhouse using the graph paper on the ceiling tile method and pleating with straight pins. I sprayed the curtain with cheap hair spray a couple of times. Now, this was about 12-15 years ago and they are still just like they were when I finished them. One set was white batiste in my little girl's room, and they are still white. I sewed the header and hemmed the curtains before I put in the curtain rod and pleated them while they were on the rod. I used the same method as someone mentioned about using the wire angled on the ends and then drilled small holes in the wall of the dollhouse and the wire was pushed into the wall. Worked like a charm. You can see the result in my dollhouse section on my web site: http://fayzerplace.homestead.com. I'm still happy with all the window treatments I did using this method. I did use the Pretty Pleater when I made the vanity skirt in the powder room on the 1st floor and on the lace curtains in the Liv. Rm & Din Rm. Getting the lace (which was a polyester blend) to stay in the Pretty Pleater was tricky because it kept popping out. I think I ended up making an old-fashioned starch mixture and soaking the lace in it and then putting it in the pleater. Turned out very nice.

Fay in St. Louis