Filing/sanding Metal: the white metal used today has a miniscule amount of lead in it, so lead poisoning is minimal - the most likely damage to your health is the   tiny particles of metal that could get into your eyes.   It is always a good idea to use safety glasses when filing or sanding white metal models as well as a dust mask.

It is good practice to use a dust mask when sanding anything as most dust is a hazard anyway.  

David & Joyce Betts

Stable: For your stable you will need water buckets, baled hay and feed sacks, though my neighbor keeps her feed in metal garbage cans to defeat mice. Two types of tack box. A large one that usually looks like a plain wooden trunk with a lid that lifts. These often are parked outside a stall. Some people keep all the tack inside them, but some will hang a saddle on a wooden rack on the wall of a separate room. Bridles will be hung on wall hooks. A saddle blanket lying on the tack box could add some nice color. There is also a small tack box like an open tool box with a handle across the top. This will contain a hoof pick, brushes, liniment, a pulling comb for tails and manes. You might want to set up cross ties, which are simply two lead ropes that attach opposite each other on the walls of the open 'hall' between stalls. This is used to restrain a horse for saddling or a visit from the blacksmith. No stable is complete without a barn cat or two. You could have barn boots, too, but be sure they're NOT clean :). You could include a long whip used for lunging- which is just holding a rope and using the whip to encourage the horse to trot in a circle around you for exercise. Well, hope this helps.

Linda in Leroy,

Button Pastries: I found a had no corks around the house so I tried the button box. Bingo! I found a metal button which looked like a sort of half ball in a ring . Painted in a pastry colour it looked very much like a pie. I added some "pastry" leaves ( self hardening clay) to go on top and varnished it to give it a bit of a glaze. It looks very tasty. The next victim was a button in the shape of a flower in a ring. The centre of the flower looked like a pile of cherries. So I painted the ring and the petals a pastry colour and the cherries red. When this was dry I painted the cherries with red glass paint. Easy!! Then I got all excited about tiny buttons that looked like doughnuts. LOL I painted them and added some jam with the glass paint. Are there any of you who make their cakes out of buttons too and want to share some ideas? Loretta mentioned bottle caps for cakes.

Marianne

Buttons make great cakes. So do some of the little wood pieces from the craft shop. All you need to add is glue, paint and maybe some holeless beads. There was a good article in Doll House Miniatures November 1997, called "Tiny Treats from Beads and Buttons"....I got a back issue from them no more than a year ago.

Ginger in PA

Tools:
Dovetail jigs: The only dovetail jig available today is made by Jack Blackham who teaches a class at the Guild School in making it. Pam took the class last June and tells me it is a good design. He may have some to sell: jandm.blackham@worldnet.att.net. I use finger joints cut on the Preac table saw instead of dovetails most of the time.

Jewelers Saw. There is probably no better hand saw to cut your wood. It is a tool that is difficult to learn. Try a fine blade like a 2/0 or 4/0. Make sure the blade is installed so it cuts on the pull
stroke. Make sure it is tight enough so you can pluck it like a guitar. Support your work on a piece of plywood clamped to the table. Cut a v-shaped slot out of the plywood about 1/4" and 1.5" deep. Use the edge of the slot to help you start your cut and practice. Once you get it, it is very quick and accurate if you don't have power tools.

Air Brush. I have been using an external mix Paache air brush to spray lacquer or shellac for many years. I mix it about 1;1 with thinner or alcohol and use about 28 psi. I use a full scale compressor with a tank which is very nice. When I spray I have a Badger booth that exhausts to the outside through a dryer hose. I also use one nitrile glove and a carbon respirator. It is very quick and I get good results.

Pete Boorum

Spaghetti: I have found that off-white Fimo, squeezed through a garlic or onion press (onion presses have slightly larger holes) makes great spaghetti. It even comes out twisted together.

Dani in Bradshaw MD

Air Brush. I have been using an external mix Paache air brush to spray lacquer or shellac for many years. I mix it about 1;1 with thinner or alcohol and use about 28 psi. I use a full scale compressor with a tank which is very nice. When I spray I have a Badger booth that exhausts to the outside through a dryer hose. I also use one nitrile glove and a carbon respirator. It is very quick and I get good results.

Pete Boorum

Miter Scissors: I carry the "Easy Cutter" by Midwest. www.JBsDollhousesMiniatures.com

Jackie

New Glue: I want to share info about new glue I discovered at Michaels. Aleene's now has a glue that is called Quick Dry Tacky Glue. It is great. I've only been using it for about 2 weeks, and it has worked so well with glueing different things together that I think I will have to go get a couple more bottles! I've tried it with fabric, wood, and doll hair. It was about the same price as the regular tacky.

Gabrielle

Recliner Chair: I did receive quite a few great ideas but the one that was the most detailed was one from Donna in Indiana and because it was sent to me directly, I will retype her message intact so you can do that 'copy / paste' thing and print it off in word processing. She writes:

"I made one for my DH out of scrap from the dollhouse kit. The DH itself had round topped windows and when I punched out the windows I had several pieces of rounded wood. I took one piece for the back of the chair; it measures about 1-3/4 inches in width and 4 inches long. I angled the back a bit for the reclining position. The seat measures about 2 inches and the side pieces measures 2 inches. I just put them together like a chair and then I used red felt to cover the inside back and seat portions. Felt doesn't have to be finished at the edges. The round edges of the wooden back are exposed. I padded the arms and lower front of the chair with quilt batting and covered that with a red and blue print. The foot piece measures 1 inch by 2 inches and is covered completely with red felt. I glued a little piece of wood that I had left over from something else on the side of the chair for the handle. Oh yes, I made a separate cushion for the back and seat of the chair and glued those in place".

While I don't have access to the scrap wood Donna refers to, her ideas certainly are a great basis for what I am going to attempt. Someone also mentioned about using a small hinge fastened to the base and another small piece of wood that would allow the foot part to raise and lower. If you want a good picture of an actual mini recliner, already built, another reader suggested that I go to the following location www.miniatures.com and do a product search by typing in "recliner" there is a Camel Corduroy Recliner for sale and you can print off the picture if you want to build it.

Sher in Toronto