Testor's DullCote: I have found Testor's DullCote Spray to be a wonderful product to "undercoat" plastic/ceramic etc. minis before painting. It also takes the shine off of an item, so if you want to use the piece "as is" but don't want the shine, just spray it. I have spray-painted over it, and also used acrylics over it, and it has done the trick for me.

Deena in Miami

Painting shingles: When I needed just the right color asbestos shingles for my recent project I unrolled the strips of shingles onto newspaper to paint them. First I spray painted the base coat using a flat, quick drying paint. I used light grey as the base coat. After that was dry I used a very quick sweeping spray of the "granite" textured paint in grey with a few black and white specs. The result was perfect!

Karen Golomb

Cutting shingles: For the person trying to do shingles where two surfaces meet - cut some shingle sized pieces of paper or scrap matboard and test fit before cutting the real ones. Easier to experiment with paper and if you mess up you don't waste materials. I'd cut them to butt up against one another rather than overlapping them. But I'm sure there are several ways to do it! I think some people even add a decorative strip of wood.

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Cutting shingles I'll try to explain your shingling question .... where the 2 roof panels meet, forming that odd angle....take a few shingles, and cut them to fit the angle...it'll take a few to get the angle 'right'...then put some masking tape over the shingle ...mark it with a pen as your 'master'...
Use this 'master' shingle to cut all the rest which will butt up against that angle....the masking tape will help prevent your 'master' piece from splitting. don't forget to stagger where the shingles line up over each other in rows.... I always goof once or twice on that part :)

Laura in OKC

House façade and slate shingles: Wanted to share something I did yesterday that came out really well. Not long ago, I made a garden room in a Joann garden 'birdcage'. I wanted a slate floor and to make it, I used inexpensive, slate-like peel and press flooring tiles. I cut them up and mounted the slates on the underside (sticky side) of another tile. Put spackle in between and then did color washes in green and brown to take away the gloss. Sprinkled on landscape moss while it was wet, etc. Came out great. So, I decided to do something similar with the facade of my dollhouse. I bought a 3/8 plywood shell on eBay. The lady I bought from said it is the American Craft Maplehill; it looks just like the RGT farmhouse. I'm doing it colonial. (I know that's 'wrong'. Don't care. I love that house style and that time period, so I'm mixing them :).)
For the stone facade, I cut up mostly gray tile, but also some browns and beiges, and stuck it right on the primed surface. Stuck really well and looks just as I wanted it to. WAHOO!! When I get a new photo-hosting site, I will post pictures of that, the garden room, my lilies, and some Michael's hutches I've been playing with.

Linda in Leroy, OH

Chrysnbon plates: I've seen clear Chrysnbon plates done with lovely acrylic painted flowers and you really didn't need to know how to paint flowers! The suggestion of flowers using dots to represent the petals and leaves were all that it took. They really were charming.

Marilyn, MI

To whomever mentioned Rub & Buff as a way to make metallic minis---THANK YOU!! I have been looking for a way to make "silver" dishes, and though I have a great chrome spray paint from Krylon, it reacts badly with the plasticizer in polymer clay. But Rub & buff works wonderfully, is cheap, and works on just about any kind of surface. I was so excited I went a little nuts and colored MANY things silver, from wires to carved wood to random plastic pieces.

This was a good mini day. I went to Michaels and got the Rub & buff mentioned above, plus LOTS of 28 gauge wire for making mini flower stems and wire whisks, etc. I made 2 kinds of whisks and a potato masher... I'll post pictures soon. AND I found iron on transfers on clearance at the computer store... so I am going to try a mini quilt.

Celeste in Boston

Jello: You can also make Jiggly jellos from Scenic Water and color them with dyes that you order extra. It's a lot safer than working with an open flame like with gel candles; you heat it in hot water. And because you use as much as you need you cut costs of buying several candles if you want only a couple jellos. The rest of the Scenic Water can be used on other projects as needed.

Deanna

Mini 'Jello' molds:
- Candy molds, for small drop-size candies. Look in the candy-making supplies at a craft or specialty cooking supply store. You might have to hunt a bit.
- Push molds for polyclay in fun shapes.
- Or paint the inside of a mini bundt pan with mold release and use that to make a tiny Jello ring. I have had several and seen them several times in shops, so I'm pretty sure they are still around.

Maura Bass

Tip for Attaching Drawer Pulls: I've never found an easy way to do this, considering how small the nails are, until last night. I tried Movable Miniatures Glue and it worked great. I dabbed just a little bit onto the pull, allowed the glue to partially dry, then after positioning it, I punched the nail holes using one of my most favorite tools (the wooden stick that looks like a cuticle remover with one large needle at one end and slanted at the other) and pushed in the nails after dipping the tips in the glue.

Theresa Thomas