Using jewelry: if you can find Andrea Barham's or Patricia King's do-it-yourself books at the library or bookstore, they both use jewelry bits as components for dozens of things ranging from the obvious (chandeliers, sconces, curtain tiebacks) to slightly more unusual (ormolu trim to dress up cheap furniture, crystal glassware, luster candelabra, perfume bottles, etc.). Use your imagination and think about what individual pieces resemble in whatever style you like. Maybe some are perfect as is in a modern setting to make a metal wall sculpture...maybe others can be broken down into components that are individually more useful than the whole piece would be. However, also do some research in collectible jewelry books before you destroy anything -- some costume jewelry is worth a lot of money. If you have any treasures, you might be able to keep and use a few pieces for sentimental reasons, then sell the rest to buy artist-quality miniatures.

Loretta Sniarowski

ME house: I saw an official ME house at a show; the exterior is indeed paper printed in ME designs, like an update of the Victorian Bliss houses -- red faux siding with a flower border, trees, and shrubs printed on it. If you have paper or fabric you'd like to use, go for it. I used this technique in one of the first give-away houses I did, which in fact was a bashed Sweetheart with an added foamcore lower story and balcony. I covered the exterior with quilt fabric in a mellow old brick pattern, using wallpaper paste, because at the time none of the local mini stores had brick paper in stock. Worked just fine. I stabilized the fabric with Wonderunder iron-on interfacing, then cut paper templates, pinned them to the fabric, cut the fabric walls, and pasted the fabric on (right over the window openings). Once the paste dried, I used a craft knife to cut out the window openings, then added the window trim, doors and balconies. Turned out quite nice; the same technique should work as well for a fantasy finish. Mary Lynn in Huntington did something similar with her quilt shop and has more how-to details on her web site -- don't have it bookmarked, so maybe she will respond with this info.

Loretta Sniarowski

Water cooler: Seems to me you could make a water cooler using a clear plastic bottle placed upside down, perhaps an eye drops bottle.  The base could be a balsa wood block or something similar.   Not sure where to find the spigot, maybe in the mini hardware section of your favorite shop.

Jeri Moriarty, Manassas VA

Water Cooler:    I have made them out of metal.   The top I made separate so it would fit snuggly on the base.  For the water bottle itself I used empty antibiotic bottles or you could use empty insulin bottles.   I removed the air from the bottle with a syringe.   Then I put in blue colored water.   For dispenser I used red and blue beads to indicate the hot and cold.   For the cup holder I used the cap off of a syringe.  It turned out good.

Jane

Mini glassware: http://www.glasscraftuk.com is worth a visit if you are looking for glassware. Another name from U.K. shows is The Glassman but I haven't checked if he has got a site - could always try a "search".

Brian Cass

Wind chimes: It is my turn to do our monthly mini club project.  I was thinking making wind chimes would be a good club project.  I bought some "bell caps" and I thought we would glue or tie light nylon thread to each point of the bell cap and then glue a gold bugle bead on each thread.   Then I was gonna tie one strand through the middle of the cap and have a short piece of gold necklace chain coming out of the top connected by a jump ring. The part of the strand going down the middle would have a round glass bead even with the bugle beads for the clapper part, then have a sequin or something at the bottom (below the bugle bead) for the little thing that catches the wind.  I'm looking for cheap and simple since it's a club project.   You could buy brass tubing and a tubing cutter instead of using bugle beads.   I found this web site that might be of interest too: http://www.coolmini.com   If you get more info or interesting ideas, please share.

Debby in Kentucky

Wind chimes - I remember seeing some miniature wind chimes in our Ben Franklin store - I believe the longest chime was no more than an inch - they were made of metal, and they were in the "leather crafts" aisle - I assume they were to be used for making wind chime earrings, they were pretty small - I believe I even bought some (who KNOWS where they might be though....) they were near the dream catchers and feathers.

Sue in NC

Making a Ghost: If you go to Zing, you can see my ghost of Marley talking to Scrooge, look at the doorway in the third photograph of the album. (Not the best photo, I'm afraid. I need to redo it.) Here's how I made Marley. I did a line drawing of Marley's ghost, and then took it to an art studio. They photographically etched it into the glass. I then mounted a light directly above the top edge of the glass and boxed it in so that the light wouldn't "fall" into the roombox - only through the top edge of the glass. This caused the etching to stand out more brightly.

Here's how I would make a ghost now, by the way. You'd need a scanner (or access to some clip art), a color printer, and either Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Find a picture of the girl you'd like to turn into a ghost (either clip art from the Web or a real photograph you can scan). If it's on the Web, you can import the photo into your document, but make sure the picture of the girl has no background behind her - just a plain white background. Make her the size you want her to be in your dh. Now rightclick on the image, and select Format Picture. Next, you'll notice there's a box that says, "Color" and the default selection is "Automatic." Click on the arrow and select "Watermark." Your girl just became ghostly. Print her on a sheet of transparency film (fairly pricey stuff, unfortunately), trim the transparency to the size that fits the window or from floor to ceiling in the dollhouse.

I think ghosts work best when put in doorways where you can "see through them" to something behind them. It also helps hide the edges of the glass or transparency and you can discreetly put a tiny piece of stripwood behind the edges to hold the picture in place, which you couldn't do if you put it in the middle of a hallway. Make sure you have enough light from behind and in front of the ghost to eliminate any shadows that might be cast. Hope this works for you!

George Held

Making a ghost: you can make a ghost simply by taking a photo/pic of the person you wish to make into a ghost scan it into your computer and then print it out on a sheet of acetate like they use to make overheads. this can be bought at any office supply or maybe even WalMarts

Gene

Ichabod & Headless Horseman: I just had to let my other Halloween buddies know about the newest thing I've found. I stumbled upon these new action figures taken from the movie, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. I've long been a fan of the old story..I think the new movie is actually a little gruesome for my tastes....but I just had to tell you....the action figure for both Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman are absolutely wonderful. They are very close to 1:12th scale if not dead on. They are made by McFarlane Toys and I just can't describe the detail of these figures. Ichabod even comes with a satchel full of medicine bottles and all kinds of neat little gadgets that he uses to track the horseman. Being the Halloween fan that I am..I had to have these for my Haunted Beacon Hill Dollhouse. The Horseman comes either by himself or in a deluxe set with the horse and shriveled spooky tree. Again, I thought the horseman by himself was a bit gruesome.. he comes with severed heads to hold.....ewwwww! Anyway, I also got oneof the old crone/witch from the movie...whew is she ever ugly! I picked up an extra one of her because they were selling out of them before my very eyes. I purchased mine from http://hobbyxpress.com/ They have pictures on their site of these action figures. This is the answer to inexpensive, realistic looking figures/monsters, etc. for your scenes. Now that I've discovered how detailed and wonderfully articulate they are....I'm hooked! I've asked for the Horseman deluxe set for my birthday!!!!!!!! Although, I think this toy manufacturer most likely deals mostly with sci-fi types of action figures....I noticed they also had other scale action figures..like Austin Powers, the Beatles..etc. I say they are close to scale because the figures are on average about 6 1/2 inches tall. For the men figures, that's a great height..it tends to make the women look a little "Amazon" looking. I think the Sleepy Hollow Crone is only about 5 1/2 inches tall though. She's extremely spooky looking and I don't like the real gruesome stuff..but she comes with neat little mini accessories too...so I figure I can always do a head transplant on her with a more friendly Halloween look.Well, anyway....I was just so fascinated with these and the detail of them....I had to share it. Ichabod could actually be used in another scene from the Victorian era as he is quite handsome and even looks like Johnny Dep who played the role in the movie. As I said.....these are great figures to use on a limited budget. I for one am always glad to find things like that. Of course I prefer a miniature dressed doll......but my wallet won't let me have everything on my wish list!

Besides, I saw an article once in a mini magazine that actually showed you how to "bash" a plastic figurine to make it appear more realistic. You sure wouldn't have to do much to these to make them look realistic...they are already pretty amazing looking! Well, I'll go for now....it's not too early to start planning for this year's haunts!!!

Donna Baird (Scream Queen of Indiana)