Exterior Glue: Aleene’s Platinum Bond Patio & Garden Outdoor Adhesive is water resistant, expands & contracts with the temperature. Works on terra cotta, cement, rigid PVC, wood, resin & pottery. I like this item. Only down side is the fact that it comes in a tube and I hate tubes. Use good ventilation. I clean my fingers with alcohol swabs.

Becky Holliday

Rubber cement.  I took a framing class once and they said that stuff will rot the paper over time.   If you care about longevity, there are spray on, acid free adhesives for paper.   Look in art supply places, like Pearl or Blick.

Chrissy

Museum catalog photos: Maura asked about a glue to use with pics clipped from catalogs. I do this a lot and have found water-based glues tend to wrinkle the paper.

Try rubber contact cement. The kind that you spread on each surface, wait for it dry, and carefully put together because once it's together, it's together FOREVER.

Linda in Leroy, OH

Minis for mentally challenged:  I personally would think of her as a very young girl, maybe 6 years old? and go from there.

You could gather up fabrics, little cardboard boxes, (for stoves, tables, cabinets, etc.,) glue, findings...and let her play with them on her own.  Maybe a plastic doll that she could glue clothes onto.

Seems like just a box of various and sundries would be fun for a child, or a child like adult.   (Heck, it's fun for me!)

Also, there are many, many printables that would be simple to put together.

Just my thoughts...hope some of them help.

Kaye in L.A.

Biblical Themed Minis for Children:  "Now a question, I lead a small group of grade 7 & 8 girls in a church youth group craft group, and have purchased some clear plastic treasure chests, about 3" by 5" ( yeah I still think US after 12 years) They have antique gold looking banding and trim. Any way I would like to do some kind of mini scene with a Biblical theme in them and I'm stumped for ideas."

Oh what a fun project!   Not sure when you are doing your project with the girls, but as Easter is fast approaching what about a tomb?  The size seems small, but what about doing a search on a good Bible program or concordance, for the word treasure...and picking a verse as the center of the treasure boxes.  Just now looking at my concordance there is a nice selection for treasure.   Maybe the girls could come together on a favorite story.   Use that story as the theme of the boxes.  For me I know my treasure is in heaven...how about a scene of heaven...that could be fun!   Our salvation lies in John 3:16, what a great witnessing tool for the girls to have.   If they wanted to do something more on a line of 'fantasy' look to Daniel or Revelation.  Oh the ideas could go on and on!!   Ooh, my favorite trivia question, where is the second rainbow in the bible?  Or what about the verse that tells us that we will receive a new name written on a stone.  The hairs of our head are numbered.  Oh I best quit now. You will have to share pictures and your ideas with us!

Theresa McCann

Color and other things: After reading Kathleen Peake's excellent tips on color matching and lighting, my memory was jogged about a number of questions I've been asked concerning the various aspect of my miniatures. Soooo....If you'll bear with me I would like to " Wax the Elephant " just a bit about some philosophical and practical thoughts on minis.

This has gone on long enough so I'll save the reason I landscape every house and create a history for each one for another time.

Rik Pierce

"12th scale snow" I've been landscaping today and was just thinking ow snowy my base looks before I add the dirt and grass. Following Dr. Bob's lead, I chuck 4 or 5 white facial tissues into my blender, add a goodly amount of water, puree, and dump xture into an old knee high stocking, and squeeze t almost dry. I apply a thick, even layer of Aleene's to my wooden base and sculpt the grading with the wet, mushed tissues. After I have the shape I want, I am solidifying it with "dirt brown" paint, which is then covered with dead coffee grounds and fake grass mix. For snow, I bet it would work quite nicely to just soak the stuff with watery Elmer's and let it set up. As I recall, Dr. Bob puts the watery glue into the blender with the tissues when the Mrs. isn't looking. Unfortunately, I AM the Mrs., so can't get away with these shenanigans. ;o)

Chrissy the Hyphenated

Script error message: For those having trouble with the script error message: If you're using Internet Explorer, go to Tools - Internet Options - the Advanced tab. Under "Browsing", find "Disable script debugging" and check the box next to it. That should make the messages stop.

Christine in SF

Prairie Wagon: Conestogas were far too heavy to make the trip across the Great Plains and the Rockies. Not only that, but they were ghastly expensive (they were professional freight vehicles, mind you, not family wagons). Well-to-do people settling land in upstate New York, Ohio, or other early wilderness areas might have used them, but the wagons that crossed to Oregon, or settled the Plains, were lighter and wider (the Conestoga had a deep, narrow body as the roads--such as they were--were narrow and the area heavily wooded). As far as the skills needed by pioneers, I'm not bragging when I say that my father (born in rural Pennsylvania in 1911) could do all of that: blacksmithing, hunting, butchering, vetting livestock, building everything from furniture to houses...he even knew how to put an iron tire on those wooden wheels!

Molly

Ceilings. I use watercolor paper on my ceilings. It is already white and has a very slight texture and is paintable. Hope this helps.

Barbara