Test a lamp: You should be able to test if an old lamp works by putting the wires up to a 9 volt battery!

Isabel Allen

Support for bead Lamp: you would be better off to use a small piece of brass tube that is the width of the holes. If you use super glue like Zap or Duco Gel you can align the beads and glue them. If you feel you need a support and can't get tubing then try a painted round toothpick. Another way to get a type of tubing is to open up used ball-point pens and remove the tube inside. If it is really a use pen then you should have the ink to deal with.

Deanna Spanjar

Foam Boards: I've been using the foam insulation boards for quite a while (instead of foam core) and just love the stuff! You'll find its easier to cut and shape, and sheds less than foam core. To the question of how to get PaperClay to stick......try Modge Podge. Just brush on a thin layer of modge podge, then apply the PaperClay and mold/sculpt away! I've used it several time for various projects, and it works well. Hope this helps!

Sloan

Stucco: I used Magic Stucco from S/W Crafts, Inc., on the exterior of the first dollhouse I built. All you have to do is mix water or paint with the stucco powder until the mixture resembles cake frosting (or thinner, depending on how you want it to look). You would want slightly thicker stucco mix for stucco with peaks and valleys and slightly thinner if you want a fairly smooth stucco finished with swirls. I mixed the stucco powder with blue latex paint, then applied it to the dollhouse with a round, flat makeup sponge. Worked great!

Mary in MS

Glassblocks: You could do 2 things (1)-make a mold(the rubber kind works great) and pour them with a clear resin such as Envirotech lite or go to the stained glass supply and they will have architectural glass. Its on s solid sheet of glass and should be available in 2 pattern sizes. The thickness is about right also. You can have them cut it or you can cut it yourself, its very easy. We are general contractors by trade and this is the two closest forms of glassblock look-alikes I've been able to find.

Joni

I accidentally made a mini! A raised pattern button happened to be resting on a scrap of heavy gold foil paper from a greeting card. This was in turn sitting on an old spongy mouse pad (those are worth their weight in minis-never throw them away!) . And to top it off I put a heavy dictionary on it for about a week. I got a gold embossed dish! A couple of coats of Mod Podge on the back helped to keep the shape! And I had a good excuse for not having cleaned up my work table!

Marcie ~ In Sonora, CA

Beginning the Mini-Making Hobby: Here's my suggestion for "how to get started." My first venture into miniatures was doing a furniture kit. (It turned out pretty badly, by the way.) I learned a lot in the process, and I think it's a good way to get your feet wet without getting in over your head right away. My next attempt was to create a simple roombox of an old-fashioned schoolroom. If you'd like to see it, I have a picture of it at: http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4292728383 I didn't try to electrify this roombox. Again, that would have been too daunting as a beginner. Everyone who saw encouraged me to make more things, and I felt encouraged to challenge myself with ever more complex projects. By the way, I would never encourage someone to start out his or her mini-making with a dollhouse. That's just too overwhelming! One of the miniaturists in our club whose work I truly admire has an unfinished dollhouse shell sitting in her family room (no, actually, it's become almost an entire workroom - it's an addictive hobby, you see), and she keeps cranking out beautiful roomboxes instead. In some ways, roomboxes are more versatile - you can make them small to fit on the wall like a picture or as a lamp base (as my daughter and I did with the APAR Brokerage box). They also fit into bookcases or atop dressers without taking up too much space. I hope you find the hobby as much fun (and challenge) as I have. Good luck!

George Held

Beginning the Mini-Making Hobby: George - your Italianate house is beautiful and it's obvious that the way you worked yourself into miniatures certainly worked for you. But... :), I'd certainly hate to see a beginner decide that was the best way to get started, get a furniture kit, get horribly frustrated trying to put it together and never try anything else. That's how it would have been for me if I had done that - I wanted to build a dollhouse so my husband bought me the Glencroft (no he wasn't being mean - that's the one I wanted!), I finally worked up my nerve to build it, absolutely loved every minute of it and if I do say so myself, ended up with a lovely house (which I later sold so it must have been okay). Since then I've done all sorts of other stuff in miniatures including making furniture from kits which remains probably my least favorite thing to do. And I still love building dollhouses. So while I certainly understand your approach and admire your results, it is definitely a "different strokes for different folks" hobby. So if you've never done miniatures before and want to build a piece of furniture, do it! And if you've never done miniatures before and want to build a house, do it! Whatever "grabs" you about miniatures is probably the best place to start.

Mary Lynne in Huntington, WV

Beginning the Mini-Making Hobby: A great thing about minis is, you can invest as much time, effort and money as you like - though you may as well know now, once you start it will eventually consume your entire life and the lives of those around you (my mom's friends find it very strange that she saves such odd bits of trash for me - and even stranger that I get so excited about these "presents").

You can buy inexpensive house kits (however you may want to see previous posts regarding house-stomping episodes brought on by some of these kits!). There are also very inexpensive room boxes. You can also look on eBay or such sites for inexpensive stuff. Or, just look around you! Empty coffee cans, flower pots, old boxes, cigar boxes, a section of bookshelf, watering cans, logs, old books, gift bags, eggshells - anything can be a basis for mini displays. Then there's what to put in them. A display can be as simple as a chair with a woman's hat and gloves on it, displayed under a dome or in tiny shadow box; or you can go nuts and fill a general store or Victorian mansion with every item you ever dreamed of!In this list, and the archived digests, you can learn how to turn just about anything into a mini, so if you're creative (and persistent) you can make just about everything yourself. Or you may decide that you'd rather just collect pieces made by others; or you can spend the dough on a few fine and meaningful pieces, and make the rest. I think it is a great hobby because it includes so many other hobbies as well, and you can find your niche or try them all: needlework, carpentry, sculpting, painting, weaving, electrical work, wood finishing, decorating, designing, just to name a few. And whatever you're into, be it Victorian, sci-fi, ancient Rome, fairies, Chinese history, costuming, New England fishing villages, beautiful gardens, preserving your own memories - whatever - you can make it happen in minis! And it's way less expensive than constantly redecorating your house!

Graceanne

Beginning the Mini-Making Hobby: I would suggest joining a mini club. Seeing real people you know doing great things in mini is a great inspiration. Small club projects are a great way to get your feet wet doing different things. Recently, my club has done FIMO foods, worked in Model Magic to make baked goods, and done a cross-stitch, which was brand new for many members. Even if you don't like working in a particular medium, it gives you an appreciation for how much work goes into it!

Lynette in WNC