Cording: A couple of issues ago there was discussion on cording. For many years I have used DMC Pearl Cotton ... not the embroidery floss. It has a twist to it, a nice sheen (like real silk cording), is the perfect scale for 1/12th and comes in lots and lots of colors. It comes in a skein. I use it to finish off benches and stools that are not recessed into the furniture. It is a very nice touch. If you go to my web site ( http://www.micro-stitchery.com ) and click Go Shopping/Kits /Footstools, you can see what a nice finished look you get. You can usually buy it anywhere that sells DMC floss.

Bobbie Schoonmaker

Clothing: Oh... it's so easy! "Dolls and Miniatures" magazine has an issue that tells you how to make the dress, cape and hat. Please see my web page if you are interested: http://www.dollsminiatures.bigstep.com As to assembling the pieces.... easy! easy! easy! I'll try to explain here: I'm assuming that your doll has holes at the shoulders and that the torso is hollow (but porcelain to the waist or hips). Push a good quality pipe cleaner wire through the shoulder holes. Then push the ends of the wires into the hollow arms. The arms from shoulder to fingertip should measure approx. 2" each arm. Keep cutting the wire until you reach that measurement. Then glue the wires inside the arms. Now it's time to do the legs: Bend a pipe cleaner in half. That gives you two protruding wires (one for each leg). The bent portion fits inside the hollow torso. You'll see that the wire is too thin and will fall right out... so.... wrap strips of nylon stocking, cotton (or whatever) around the bent portion of the wire until it fits snugly inside the hollow torso. Then glue it inside. Now bend out the "leg wires" across the doll's hips and glue down. If she does not have porcelain hips, you will need to shape the remainder of her body by bending the wire. In other words, (I assume she is porcelain to the waist) so you will NOT need to shape a waist with the wire... but if she does not have porcelain hips, you will have to bend out both ends of the wire to shape the hips... then bend the remainder of the wire DOWN so those two pieces can be used for the legs. Slip the legs over the wires and measure. The doll should be approx. 5-1/2" tall. Cut the wire until you've reached that measurement; then glue the wire inside the legs. Dry over night. Then wrap strips of quilting filler, nylon stocking (anything that stretches) round and round the bare wires to "fatten them up" a bit. Be careful to not over-wrap unless you want a fat witch. After having done that, your doll is ready to dress.

Viola Williams

Cutting Roof Shingles: Here is the method for cutting them perfectly that I use. I make a pattern. I use a big sheet of white wrapping paper I got from U-Haul...any big sheet of paper will work, even newspaper if you can see the lines you draw. Lay the sheet over the roof where the two areas come together and crease it with a finger. Also make fold marks over the top and bottom roofline. Take the paper off, and draw lines so you can see them on the pattern creases along the top roof line and the crease that is the angle between the two surfaces that you are putting shingles on. I use a Sharpie. The house I built in the instructions it said to draw horizontal lines on the roof before it was assembled. You want to start at the bottom roofline on the pattern, or the top...whatever your directions say...and draw those lines on the pattern up to the crease that represents where the two roofs come together. These lines will come to a point where each side of the two roofs meet when the pattern is laid flat. To use the pattern, lay the shingles out along the line (or just put them on the house) from the outside edge of the roof towards the crease, starting at the bottom. When you get to the crease, part of the lower left side (or the lower right side depending on which side of the roof you started shingling first) of the last shingle will hang over the drawn line that represents where to two roofs meet: cut that part off. You should have a piece of shingle that is wider at the top than at the bottom, and should fit onto the roof and line up with the join in the two roof areas perfectly. It isn't really necessary to make a pattern of the whole roof or to draw lines on it. All you need is a pattern of where the two roof areas meet, and the top and bottom of the two rooflines. Start shingling at the edge of the bottom of one side. When you get to the crack where part of a shingle needs to be trimmed to fit, measure the width at the TOP of the shingle that you need for that last shingle. Lay it on the pattern lines with that much on the correct side of the pattern, and let the rest go over the line. Draw a line that parallels the vertical line on the pattern that is where the two roof panels meet on the shingle, and cut the shingle off along that line.

Memai

Faux Wood Floors on Foam Core: I have directions for making faux wood floors on foam core or mat board on my personal web site http://studio59.homestead.com on the DIY page.

Jennie in San Antonio TX

Wallpaper: Try this site: http://www.jlbminiatures.co.uk/
Sorry they don't have printables but their wallpaper is good quality and some is really cute - nursery print with a Noah's ark theme is my favorite - now I have to build a room to use it in....
By the way they also make great metal furniture - exercise equipment, hospital beds, stoves, deep fat fryers etc. They just came out with a complete set of hair salon furnishings - European style - but really detailed.

Susan from Gan

Paint Brushes and Water Picks: "I received a dozen roses for my birthday and they all had the nice little plastic flower "keepers" ....The water tubes on the end of your roses are a favorite of mine when I'm painting. I place a small amount of water in each tube, stick them in my famous Styrofoam work block. I remove the rubber lid and slide it over the end of my paintbrush. When I finish the work I'm doing with that brush, I place my brush in the tube then slide the rubber cap down and reattach it to the water pick. I use a different brush for each color and stroke. This even allows brushes to be left overnight. Such a joy to sit down at the worktable and pick up where I left off. I also love not having a jar of water to knock off my table. I also use these little gems when I'm painting at an outdoor location. They protect my brushes better than anything I've ever found.

Becky Holliday

Canopy Bed: I made a canopy bed for my girl's room. I just used a Styrofoam block for the mattress, glued mini posts that you can get from various mail ordered catalogs to each corner. The frame for the top is made of balsa wood that I cut with an X-Acto, the sides are kind of bell shaped and the top slats and front & back slats are straight pieces. A single piece of fabric was glued on top and lace was glued around the sides. I think it would be easy to modify for curtains.

Michelle

Realife Kits: I have made several of the Realife kits and found the easiest way of shaping the required curves is to wet the wood with some warm water until it is pliable, a plate will usually hold enough water to cover the piece. Then shape it and pin down to a wax paper covered work board to dry to shape.

Jo

Greenleaf Furniture Kits: Cherrytree has some of the 30 piece furniture kits,as well as others!!
http://www.cherrytree-online.com

Jo

FLOWER HOLDER DIY IDEAS:
(1) Once saw the rubber cap glued to a section of painted skewer used as a "plumber's helper" as part of a sanitary. Other bits were a wire and creamer cup scrub bucket and a potty scrub brush (pipe cleaner loop wrapped tothe end of another skewer bit).
(2) Cut down the pointy-end of the flower holder, glue a plastic bottom over the widest part (button, piece of salad box, etc.), glue a bead on the point and cover with some foil wrapped down the neck a ways, add a label cut from an ad, and you'd have one of those king-size New Year's champagne bottles. (Called a demi-john or jereboam, I think?)

Loretta Sniarowski