Mini fans:

We choose credit card companies according to how flexible and smooth their cards are. We buy cosmetics by the shape of the container. We buy strange and different food items because of the package. We 'dumpster dive' to retrieve thin strips of wood, scads of terrific little boxes, wondrous tissue scraps from a store and just smile smugly when observers tsk tsk... We come back from an innocent stroll around the neighborhood with pockets stuffed with odd leaf, twigs, and pretty stones, and scraps from the trash that waits for the morning pickup. We croon and glow when talking about our latest new glue. Our friends and family don't DARE throw anything away before checking with us. We look at our food and restaurant table with an acquisitive eye before consuming...Usually find something neat too. Many of us live in very fine houses, beautifully furnished and tidy,,,except for that ONE room that is a hobo's dream... Look behind that designer couch folks...or beneath that luscious floor length comforter on the bed.

Even the most assiduous beautician can't remove all the red paint from beneath a manicured nail. How many people KEEP their dryer lint? When the dogs/cats shed in the spring, they are VERY well groomed...great dolls hair. If someone mentions cat whisker, it gets instant attention and a query as to the whereabouts . . . Cage bird keepers are particular friends during molt. The Mini King/Queen is one that has a trinket machine company refiller as a neighbor. We ask perfect strangers for their empty snack package at the airport. We linger in hotel lobbies and drool vocally about the dropped ceiling and ingenious conversation placements. Picture- taking is paramount in these decorator paradises. Entire photo record of family trip has no family members in it. Lots of houses and interiors, odd windows and unusual planters.

Yeah, we're an odd bunch. We laugh at ourselves, explain or try to, to strangers (clutching that empty snack package like the crown jewels) we reluctantly use the term 'dolls house' and watch with mixed feelings as the face clears and understanding surfaces. Then discover that this person has an aunt that builds 'doll houses'.. they love her and understand the compulsion completely.... then they want the package returned. . We're fun, we're funny, we laugh and share, we chat up strangers all the time, we hoard, we filch, we do fret the small stuff... We drizzle red paint on the white rug, we spot that exquisite sofa with glue, we ruin mountains of clothing with paint and glue and wear it anyway.....we cut ourselves and bleed anywhere but on the project!

We're miniaturists,

What fun!

Judie - Daytona Beach, FL

Making round Japanese Lanterns: I call this the "lost clay ball process" As with everything that appears so difficult, when the solution is found you can get a rubber leg to kick yourself in the backside for the simplicity of the solution. Here is what I did. Taking into consideration the size of the lantern I wanted, I made a ball out of air dry clay. Just rolled it between my palms until I liked what I had. I let it dry to hardness. NEEDED; Facial tissue. Bathroom tissue just as good. Elmers glue (white) String or thread (depends on your scale).

PROCEDURE;

I coated the hard ball of air dry clay with wax by rubbing with a handy candle. I cut the tissue paper into a lot of ellipses.(like in Mercator map projections) Each ellipse was soaked with the Elmers glue. I placed the glue soaked ellipse onto the waxed ball and smoothed out the wrinkles. The points of the ellipse went to north and south poles of the ball. I did this for a few layers. Then placed the string/thread on the ball from pole to pole. Covered this with more ellipses. Let the entire thing dry. With a very sharp blade I cut out a small hole at the North and south poles. A true lantern would have these openings also. I discarded the cut outs. I now had a dry clay ball covered with hard tissue paper that had string/thread sandwiched in between layers of hard tissue. Now to get rid of the ball of clay. I placed the "lantern cum ball" on a firm surface and with a hammer and nail I pulverized the dry clay ball thru the holes I cut at each of the poles. Eventually the entire clay ball was removed and I was left with a firm opaque paper lantern. The structure is called a Ryokan and is a Japanese guest house circa 1800s. Made it about 3 years ago. If I can be of any further assistance do not hesitate to ask. As a retiree I have plenty of time.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Pipe cleaner teddy bear site: Here is the site for the pipe cleaner bears. They are so easy and fun to make. http://www.pipmin.fsnet.co.uk/teddy.html

Wendy in Clinton, NJ

For anyone who has ever been interested in castles, there are wonderful paper models of just about every major castle in Germany, England, Spain and France. These models could be used as patterns for larger ones, if you have the space and the time to do them! Here are a couple of sites to look at: http://www.ExpressPages.com/p/papermodels/This is a U.S. distributor of many types of paper models. http://www.instantdurable.com/VE/indexVE.htmThis is a French paper model company...wonderful models! http://www.moduni.de/ The largest catalog of them all, THE German catalog. I have more bookmarked, so if you have a further interest, you can contact me.

Kaye in L.A.

Faux marble floor: [ I want to marble a floor in a white color and possible have those little black diamonds in the middle... but may just do a white color alone. but anyway is there a technique i can use to create the look or better yet is there a place I can buy it already done and then cut it to size??]

You can make faux's of almost any natural substance from polymer clay and a grey/white marble would be one of the easier ones.

I think you'd need translucent clay, a touch of white, some black and some white pearl PearlEx powder to mimic the crystalline look in a slab of marble. The tools would be super simple for a floor - waxed paper, roller, tissue blade, grid paper, and automotive sandpaper in the fine grits – 400 to 1000.

You could make sheets, cut them after curing, sanding and buffing them, then lay them with white glue on a support such as paper or fabric.

Or you could make the floor all of a piece by laying out raw clay squares on paper, then rolling over them with an acrylic roller to meld the seams, then baking.

I think I'd recommend the latter, because the tiles will be difficult to make a perfectly even surface from, though you could mount the floor on a solid backing and use a power sander to grind off all the high spots in just a few seconds.

Elizabeth

Other Scale Dolls: American Girl miniature dolls for Xmas does anybody have any idea what scale they might be?

I use them as five year olds in my Playscale dollhouse. (That's instead of saying Barbie.) I think that's about Two inches to the foot. They really aren't right for one inch scale but they are certainly charming and well made.

If you wanted to use them with one inch scale miniatures you might want to put them in a chair on top of a roombox reading a story that has the roombox theme as its subject. This can be very effective to draw in your audience.

There is a new series of Barbie product out with dolls from famous books (Heidi, Fern from Charlotte's Web and Anne of Green Gables.) They are a nice young teenager with nice appropriate costumes.

Laurie Sisson

Fabric Wallcovering: I know this works on life-scale so I would assume it works on mini-scale. If you cannot find a wallpaper you like or to match a fabric, just us the fabric as wallpaper! Dunk the fabric in some liquid starch, flatten onto walls just like paper! When you get tired of that look, Pull it down! No damage to your walls whatsoever! It will also stay put until you pull it off. I have tried this and it does work. I learned this from watching the beloved HGTV, Room by Room.

Jennifer Spray

Whitening old lace: [I bought some very old and stained cotton lace at an estate sale. Any ideas how to bleach and/or whiten it without dissolving it?]

First of all, don't bleach it Bleach is very corrosive. Use a mild detergent for delicates and hand wash - don't agitate. It may take a few washes and rinses to get clean. If they have come into contact with any protein over their life(food, blood etc)then that may not come out. But you should be able to make it less noticeable. If you want it to be brighter/whiter, after you've cleaned it, you can rinse it in a solution called Blueing which is found in Drug Stores and grocery stores in the Laundry section. It usually comes in a small plastic bottle. Make sure you lay it flat to dry on soft, clean towels.

Debi in Quesnel

Whitening old lace: Biz is the best when it comes to taking out stains! For something like your lace I would just fill a bucket with some water - toss the Biz (a laundry additive found in grocery stores) and leave over night- or as long as it takes Marvelous stuff Even gets out old baby food stains!

Renee Kutcher

Whitening old lace: I recently purchased a huge box of antique lace at an auction and most of it was pretty filthy. I soaked it in "Oxyclean" a couple of times and was truly amazed with the results. Start with a weak solution -it really doesn't take much. I was surprised to find that my formerly ecru colored lace was actually several shades of white and ivory. Didn't hurt the lace at all. Oxyclean is available at WalMart.

Sierran