WalMart's Quilled flowers: Rosemary also taught me to make those quilled flowers found at Wal-Mart look a lot better. Even the smallest ones are just a little too big for minis, and the stems look so amateurish. Just pull back a few rows on the bottom of the flower, cut off at the size you want it to be and glue the end. Take the stem and cut it to a new size (just the stem, not that horrible, wrapped size). Take a corsage pin and poke a new hole in the base of the flower, and glue in the altered stem. Now you're ready to add leaves and make a really good-looking bouquet of roses.

Dolores

baking resin, paint properties: Paint is one of the largest categories in the hardware and industrial maintenance businesses. Coating technology is complicated and there are many different products for different applications. Here are some thoughts from a person familiar with industrial coating applications and products:

Acrylic vs. Latex. Plexiglas is acrylic and rubber gloves are latex. That fosters a useful image.

Resin does not give off especially dangerous fumes when curing. There is no solvent release at all. The unpleasant odor is closely related to ammonia. It is best, however, to keep the hardener off the skin. Some people get contact dermatitis (a rash) from the hardener.

Try to use a primer that is designed to adhere to both the top coat and the substrate. Read the label.

Always read the label and follow the instructions for paints and other coatings. Manufacturers seldom describe the generic makeup of products adequately. It is often impossible to compare seemingly similar paints. What seems to be the same may not be. The ideal universal primer or top coat is mythical! This appears to be just as true with craft acrylics as with the high tech coating used industrially.

With paint you typically "get what you pay for". The cost of paint is based upon the solid content, which is what gives the color, coverage and texture that is desirable. Stain and wood dye is a different matter. Cheap paint causes a multitude of problems.

Pete Boorum

Half Scale: We have just launched our new 1/24th scale bedroom furniture on the web site if anyone is interested. There are many other things available; most are copies of the things we do in 1/12th scale and pictures are available if you e-mail me. Please take a look and give me your opinions. We need some feedback, if possible. Please, many thanks. href="http://www.franalmin.co.uk">http://www.franalmin.co.uk

Fran

Discount Dollhouses: Another site that has a large range of the UK dollhouses at a discount price (as well as discounted Doll House Emporium items) is http://www.small-sorts.co.uk They are based in the UK and they do ship overseas but you would need to contact them for prices. They carry the full range of houses, both ready built and in kit form, both MDF and Plywood, at substantial discounts from even the manufacturers. Even if you don't see what you are looking for on the site, email them as they can more often than not get it for you. I just recently purchased my Sid Cooke "The County" house kit from them. Sid Cooke is one of the top, highly reputed dollhouse makers in the UK, and they use a combination of MDF and plywood for their house kits. Mine went together like a dream. Another great maker is Anglesey who use only plywood BUT from what I understand their houses only come in ready-built form, which I think would be hard to ship inexpensively to the US or elsewhere.

Marja

Resource for tips: Just wanted to let you all know we added our mini makers Tips From the Pros for October page to our website. Also tips pages for the past eight months in our archive. http://www.spencer-little.com

Judy, Spencer-Little

Sticky Stuff: Re: the mini hold wax stuff. I used to use that all the time. Two problems with it for me, though. In Arizona, if your A/C is inadequate, things tend to fall off. Wax doesn't do all that well in heat. I learned the hard way that other things work better. I have also used rubber cement and it can damage porous items as well. For delicate items I prefer using a cut off straight pin as a nail, and I am experimenting with "Movable Miniatures Glue". We shall see how it does over many years.

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Sticky Stuff: Now here is a list of items being used for those other newbies who did not know the answer.
HOW TO KEEP THINGS IN PLACE IN YOUR DOLLHOUSE
1. Mini-hold
2. Blue-tac
3. Moveable Miniature Glue
4. Museum Wax
5. Grip Wax
6. Fimo
7. Sticky Tack
8. Quake Wax
9. Understickum
10. Fun Tack
11. Floral Tape
With a Great big thank you to Bonnie Gibson who posted an example of using one of the waxes in a hot climate and on a porous material and showing us how it leaves stains. I hope that others appreciate this info as much as I do.

Sharon in Oceanside, ACa

Aleene's TackIt is a dry-tack adhesive. You paint on a thin coat and let it dry for several hours, and it dries tacky. I use it on the end of a dowel to hold tiny things in place for painting and gluing, and I stick the other end of the dowel into a bowl filled with sand or rice to hold it while paint or glue dries. I have also used it to hold accessories in place, and I've never known it to mar or discolor any of the materials I've used it with. If you use it to hold accessories in your dh, you might want to de-tack it just a bit first because the original tack is a little strong - for example, if you paint it on the bottom of a flower vase that's a little top-heavy. When the TackIt is dry, touch it a few times with a fingertip - -- you'll note that the really strong tack becomes less strong. This is important if you're using it on something really fragile that could possibly just fall apart as you try to unstick it.

Vicki Horiuchi

Glue seepage: > From watching The New Yankee Workshop on PBS and classes with Brooke Tucker..Best Solution is to keep a damp rag on the work bench. Glue up your pieces.. Press together..Clamp. Wipe off excess glue immediately with damp rag.

Patricia / Redwood City, CA

Glue Seepage: - I have received two personal answers so far that I haven't yet seen in SSD - both are from long time woodworkers who say they would always let the glue dry and then carefully scrape it off. Also, if there is only just enough glue for the joint it won't seep and the problem will not occur. This is what I was taught and makes more sense.

Jacqui in Hilo