Roofs for round and oblong houses: When you asked about suggestions for roofs for round and oblong houses, I remembered a book I have with a whole section on round barns - This Old Barn, published by Roy J. Reiman (can tell you where to purchase one). It has wonderful photos of barns from all around the country. Anyway, checked the round barn section for roofs. There are a variety from domed to conical & from sectioned to smoothly rounded.

The most prevalent type would not be hard to make from cardboard. I'll try to describe it. It consists of two main sections which are both derived from cone shapes. The bottom is like a cone with the top cut off & takes up about 2/3 of the height of the roof. The top section is then a flatter cone that sits on top of that & makes the top 1/3 of the roof's height. They do not overlap, rather meet at a seam. Many then have the tip of the top section cut off & a narrow (in depth) cylinder on top of that with a baby flat conical hat. This makes a cupola (Hope that's how you spell it). The pitch of the 1st section is fairly steep & the upper section is not. Hope this makes sense.I think you could easily make a pattern out of paper by simple pulling a piece of paper into a cone shape right around the top of your house. Then cut off the top & make the next cone to match that one only flatter. There is also one oblong barn. The bottom layer of it is the same principal. However the top has a ridge that runs lengthwise & looks more like a normal roof. Unable to see the ends clearly.

Also, have no idea how big a Slim Fast can is. I really should investigate this. Does that diet work? Anyway, gold cupcake papers came to mind turned upside down if they are anywhere near the right size. They are stiffer than the regular kind & several thick would be stiffer yet ????? Could be spread at bottom, but may be way off in size?

Marty

Pargeting: 'Pargeting' is decorative plasterwork, in Britain often seen on the outsides of timber framed houses dating from the 16th century. It is very pretty. Your early 18th century houses were simply carrying on a great tradition of handsome plasterwork.

Helen from York, England

Thatched roofing: Patty asked for some assistance in constructing a thatched roof in 1-inch scale. I have never seen this done in miniature, but actual thatched roofs are amazing! This site should give you a start on your project: http://www.thatching.com/at.html Beth's Aunt and Uncle live in Klaswaal, not far out of Rotterdam. We were visiting there this Spring with them. He mentioned that he was considering a thatched roof for his barn. I asked him, Does anyone still do that? He said, "oh, yes- but the workmen that know the process are hard to find. And besides, it is a little expensive. About 250,000 guilder" That's for a barn roof! I'm sure that a thatched roof done to scale in miniature will be spectacular, Good luck with your project!

Brian

Shaking houses: I've noticed that a lot of you hate the "task" of shaking your houses. For me this was actually a very relaxing and satisfying experience. Since I live right in the middle of Red Cedar Heaven, I just could not justify buying shakes. DH cut me some mini shake blocks (he used to cut life-size blocks in the woods for a living) 2 inches long as 24" is the standard length of a shake in this part of the country (14" for shingles). The ones that come in kits are always Shorter it seems by an inch. I split my own shakes out of these blocks with an old thin sturdy bladed knife for the fro and my jewelers Chasing hammer as the mallet turning the block with each split. This bevels the shake (thin on one end and thicker at the other. They turned out so pretty and I did it all by mylittle lonesome. The splitting went very quickly and just like when doing my beadwork the more rows I added the more beautiful it became. Once I got going I just couldn't stop. I have to shake the porch roof still, but the handsplit effect and the fact that the shakes were the right length really made a difference in the realism. Can't wait to get done with my next house cause I know I will get to shake it.

Brooke, Wa

Weatherboards/Clapboards/Siding: "weatherboards" do you mean Clapboards, or lap siding? If so, the width of the boards can be anywhere from about 3" to 5". (Showing, I mean; another inch or so is hidden by the board above.) The oldest style is the narrow.

Hilda Hardcastle

Spheres: I use cork balls for miniature spheres! You may be able to find them thru places that specialize in fishing supplies. They come in lots of sizes, and are useful for making basketballs, soccer balls and lots of other things! They can be covered with leather or paper and take paint very well.

Alice Zinn

LITTLE SPHERES Try deodorant balls from roll on deodorants, if you want a lot try the manufacturers they might send you some for a small price.

Jay from Rugby England

AQARIUM TUBING - GLASSES: Cut small lengths of tubing. Press one end on a hot iron for a moment. This curls the plastic over for a believable rim... with a bit of imagination and some quick finger work you can make pitchers and such as well. The tubing comes in soft and rigid.. different sizes and diameters. The rigid is thin wall. Good for lamps, glasses, posts, etc. Can be painted if you spray with Acrylic sealer first. Neat stuff,

Judie

Cheap Hutches: try using ribbon to "curtain" the hutch; with wired ribbon, you can Fraycheck the ends and glue a length inside the open space in the doors. Looks great with one of the metal mesh or open weave ribbons. It would be pretty difficult to make gathered curtains fit -- the fabric bulk would prevent the doors from closing, although if you cut matchsticks or skewers the width of the openings, made curtains with top and bottom casings , slipped the curtains inside the casings and glued the sticks into the openings, that might work.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Display: I made an interesting little 3/4 scale towel rack, a box of "baby gifts" consisting of a pair of booties and a little crocheted bonnet, and a little flower girl dress with matching drawstring purse. The dress was an adaptation of a christening dress (left the arms off and made the waist smaller and skirt shorter), and the purse was what happens when you crochet a baby booty and it looks so much more like a purse that you add some straps and some bead decorations on the front. I took one of those little rowboats that I found in the dollar store, and used it as a small hanging display, have the little dress, a knitted play suit and a small sweater hung up in there at the moment. Also made a few pinwheels to tempt the smaller of the tourists in my shop. Maybe I will also package some flip-flop sandals as well, seeing that I have a boat in my shop it is a good bet that my cabin may be near a lake? Probably will need sunglasses as well, hmmm...

Kim Bulback