Front Door Light: The placement of the front door light should be such that anyone who rings the door bell can be seen when he/she is viewed prior to opening he door. The light may be placed above the door; in that case the wire ribbon might come from the floor above and come down to the door from the wall at the front of the house. If the light is at the side of the doorway then the feed for the light can come also from the floor above or from below the 1st floor and up to its location.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Light on outside: If you are using non tape wiring .....I drilled a little hole where I wanted the light, I then fed the wire from the outside to the inside. I channeled a little grove down the inside of the wall, the wire sits snugly in it. Then the wire runs along the bottom and out at the side. I wallpapered over it an you wouldn't even know the wire was there.

Linnola, Northern Ireland

Light on outside: I've just come back from the BMW where I did a workshop on lighting. I was told to run the copper tape to where the hinge was, run copper tape from the other side of the hinge to the front door, attach the light, and then solder a small piece of round wire between the two connections, over the hinge. The wire forms the flexible link between the two runs of tape.

Lynne Connolly

Batteries for Lights: Batteries are very unsatisfactory for dollhouse lighting that is to be left on very long. I have a scene in a small can that is lit with one grain of wheat 1.5 volt bulb. An AA battery (largest I could hide) lights that bulb for about four hours at a show before I must replace it.

Years ago, a local club taught a day long activity that was an ice cream parlor in a Baskin Robbins container. A C-size battery was hidden behind the counter, but again, short life. We researched this a long time before doing the ice cream parlor and found no good solutions.

The GOOD news is that there are now white LEDs available, and they can last weeks on batteries. One of my committee members made up a demo box with 4 of them, plenty of life. Batteries were very successful. There are white LEDs with a blue tinge that are quite reasonable, and there are more natural colored white LEDs that are still expensive.

Barb Jones

Greenleaf splinters:   After I paint the wrong side of all the sheets with flat white paint, I cut out the pieces as needed with a jig saw. It goes wonderfully fast, as the cutting is half done, and it does eliminate a lot of splinters as well as damage to delicate parts. I do a quick swipe with a medium grade sandpaper, and if that doesn't solve the problem, I VERY carefully trim the pieces with a craft knife. My DH taught me to start at the "wrong" end of a splinter. Starting at the end that is sticking out will cause you to end up with an edge that is scalloped, rather than straight. Shave off a bit at a time, cutting toward the splinter, until you have smoothed the edge. Since I usually cover my houses with siding or stucco, I don't bother with a lot of sanding and such on the surface.

Dani

GLUE WARNING     I thought that with masking tape tightly holding the wood pieces together after we put glue in the grooves and closed all the walls together, that the stretched masking tape would keep the glue from running out.   What a shock when I took off the tape and found ugly glue had run out under the tape.   I also used a few strips of blue tape around the outside and left them on overnight.   RIK WAS RIGHT.   It pulled some paint off.   This evening I get to buzzzzz off the glue spots with my trusty Dremel and then do some painting.  

Bar Turner

Egyptian Room: Several people have written in telling about their Egyptian roomboxes.   I seem to be odd man out as my Egyptian room is not a re-creation of a tomb,   but is the bedroom of a devoted Egyptophile.   His (her?) bed is like the one   used for mummification, with leopard shapes as the sides of the bed, flanked by two torchieres.   There is a bas relief of Numbis on the wall, and columns (of course).   There is a chair from the Take a Seat line (boo-hoo, they are going away) that is also a leopard theme.   Other items in the room are a brightly colored chest done in metallic paints, parchment prints on the walls, some canopic jars (great for storage), a wicker desk, brightly colored rugs depicting gods and more leopards, a mummy case in the corner, a statue of Bast, the cat goddess, guarding all . I've even made some games that were used in Ancient Egypt.   The walls are "stone" blocks and the door facings are brightly printed with colored hieroglyphics.

I am using 1/2" foamcore so the walls are thick enough to look like "stone" aka adobe.   There is a window in the back the overlooks the Pyramids with a palm tree between the picture of the Pyramids and the window (with hidden lighting back there).   The floor is Paperclay with some brightly colored tiles inlaid around the platform for the bed.

I keep a big shopping bag for my up-coming projects and as I get the needed items, I put them in the bag.   I got some canopic jars (which they used for the innards :-)) on eBay and they are wonderful.   The mummy case is built from basswood and covered with some terrific pictures of Tut's case.   The real challenge, I think, is going to be the columns.   I recorded "The Mummy" the other night and know what I want-- the challenge may be in artistic ability.   I love a challenge........When I get done, I will post pics.

Phyllis

Wicker Carriage/pram: J. Glasser mentioned Peggy's Miniature Wicker as a source for a buggy with umbrella. She does make a buggy like that and her work is very good and she's not terribly expensive. Her email address is: peggyctaylor@webtv.net

Carol

Glass-eyed Dolls: Joan wanted to know where she might get a boy doll kit to use for Harry Potter - I can't make enough porcelain myself to be able to sell kits, but this lady does wonderful work for super good prices (she even has glassed-eyed dolls ready to dress for $35.)
Teresa Brown
6755 E. Greensburg Rd.
Franklin, IN 46131 Email: minidolls1@msn.com

I'm going to feature Teresa's lovely glass-eyed dolls in the Jan / Feb 2002 issue of my newsletter.

Paulette in IN

Landscaping: Today in the mail I received a Scenic Express catalog. It's full of all sorts of landscaping materials for those whose hobby is model railroads. One thing that caught my eye were the pages of ready made trees which would be perfect for 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch scale projects. The trees range in height from 2 inches to 12 inches or thereabouts. The trees look very realistic, and most of the prices are very reasonable. Their website is: http://www.scenicexpress.com

Mary in MS