Flying free of hassle: To everybody who is worried about taking 'dangerous' mini tools on planes. Do what I do. Pack a suitcase    with clothes and whatever you may need on your trip plus all of your 'dangerous' mini tools, put the whole thing in a box, seal it up and ship it by UPS to someone you know in the town you will be visiting. Believe me, it is a lot less hassle and UPS seldom loses anything. If you are going to be staying in a motel, check with the manager first and get permission to have it delivered there. Be sure to take a small carry-on bag on the plane because the 'guards' are suspicious of anyone traveling without luggage.

Connie in Georgia

Jewelry Boxes: Those little square flip top metal pillboxes like my grandmother used make the PERFECT jewelry boxes for 1/6 scale dolls, maybe even smaller. They're gold-tone and have maybe cloisonne decor on the lid. I found one in a fashion boutique, and another at the Thrift Store. I recently saw a plain one at WalMart in the Pharmacy section with all the modern style plastic pillboxes. Anyone interested, happy hunting!

MsPBody

Aged Paper: I can tell you how I make my old scrolls, papers, and maps. It's easy and you can't mess up because the more you ruff them up the older and better they look. I use Velum paper. It is a little expensive but a pad can fill 10 mini libraries. To make the paper look old, I usually stain by rubbing a wet tea bag over it, letting some areas stain more that others, then let it dry.

After dry you can put it through the printer or you can hand print it with a very fine brush and water color. Cut the pieces of paper to size, and then roll or fold the paper the shape you desire. Velum holds the shape well. Then very carefully and gently burn the edges of the rolled scrolls. You don't need to burn them much at all. Rub the excess ashes of the paper. I've also herd some people putting paper in the oven to give it the old look too. But I haven't had too much success with that. Burning makes the paper look old because "real" old papers are actually burning extremely slowly too. That's why they are brown and brittle.

If you look at my web site you can see some of my miniature old scrolls, papers and books: www.evminiatures.com

Ericka Van Horn

Drying Rack: Any Dollar store or variety store will have the   plastic folding racks to hold delicate washables that have been hand washed. These usually have a hook at the top-like a coat hanger and many arms that fold down-like an umbrella. The arms contain clips. These are invaluable as a drying rack for small things. I have one in the studio by my spray box. It is so handy to clip items to the arms then hold the hook with the left hand and spray paint   with the right. I also have one hanging from a piece of plastic chain attached to a hook in the ceiling. This is directly over my design table.

Becky

To add fragrance to mini scenes: I use the oil that is applied to revitalize pooped potpourri. I place the head of a cotton swab dipped in oil into such items as a magazine rack, umbrella stand or mini vase. The result is wonderful. Rose Cottage smells like roses. Granny's kitchen smells like apple pie. It is fun and simple. Just don't place the oiled article on anything that will stain. I replace the cotton every other month.

Becky

Glass Bottles from Christmas Lights: [ http://www.picturetrail.com/miniwhimsy/601438  

 Do you have to do anything to the glass parts that come out the outdoor Christmas lights to make them into bottles?]

Just remove them carefully, Kathy!   The broken glass from those lights can be very sharp.   I recommend using safety goggles and putting the bulb inside a paper bag -- then tap it gently with a hammer.   The outer bulb will break, leaving the "glass bottle" inside.

You have to work the "bottle" loose, because it was originally attached to the outside bulb, joined to it inside the metal screw base.   After the outer bulb is broken, I usually break off any excess bulb that remains with needlenose pliers, sort of crushing it.   There are small wire leads into the "bottles" which can easily be cut, twisted, or just broken off.   If you have a Dremel, you can sand the bottom of the "bottle" to make it smoother, but you would certainly need safety goggles for that.

These "bottles" can be painted with Gallery Glass, and would look great on a shelf in an apothecary's shop (like up on the wall behind the counter).   Any irregularities on the bottom of the bottles can be hidden that way.

The "bottles" on my PictureTrail site are just as they were removed from the bulb -- no sanding, etc.   You can still see the wire leads on a couple of them.   Once they're painted with Gallery Glass and mounted on shelves, you won't notice the metal leads or irregular bottoms.

Anita Myers

Asian (oriental) style minis: http://www.simbatta.net/ made in Korea

Alice Zinn

Choosing Books: The best to learn Polymer clay. There are lots of little Hot Off the Press type books/booklets that are good for specialized things (Petite Eats and Mini Sweets by Syndie Wagner, Handmade Meals by Barbara Meyer, Fimo Sweets or Fimo Leather or anything by Esther Olson) Some of the info in these type of booklets is outdated, because the clay companies have changed formulations or whatever, but you can improvise and change the "recipes" with no trouble at all.  

And then there are large polymer clay books that address miniatures specifically, such as Sue Heaser's "Making Dollhouse Miniatures in Polymer Clay." Amazing number and quality of neat things you can make.

My favorite doll book is "Making 1/12 Scale Characters for the Dolls House" by Jamie Carrington (the book is just a delight to read, not to mention the wonderful things he teaches you, including how to make two-part molds!) Sue Heaser wrote a different one - "Making Miniature Dolls With Polymer Clay" which is a great book to start with... very detailed sculpting and assembly instructions. My second-favorite doll book. IMO, you can't go wrong with any of those three.

Then, too, there are quite a lot of excellent polymer books that aren't oriented toward making miniatures.... though the techniques can always be adapted for use in small scale.

Dotty McMillan's "Creative Ways With Polymer Clay" is absolutely the best book out there for a beginner - she starts with a bit of the very basics and builds on those to some pretty advanced projects.  

Another excellent project oriented book is Irene Dean's "Polymer Clay - The Weekend Crafter."

The most advanced polymer book available is by Jacqueline Gikow -"Functional and Decorative Objects from Polymer Clay" - it's fantastic!

Elizabeth

SHINING UP PEWTER: I've had pretty good luck shining up pewter this way: wash well in warm water with dish washing liquid (like Palmolive, etc.), using an old toothbrush to scrub it. This gets rid of the whitish release agent often left on the pewter. Then dry and buff with a dry paper towel. They look a lot more silvery after this treatment, although not as shiny as chrome.

Celeste

Water slide decals: Make sure that you use several coats of Krylon on the decals before cutting and applying them to your dishes. Spray again with Krylon to seal the edges. I used them to decorate the outside of a dollhouse using a garden scene with a trellis over the door. I used clip art from Provo Craft "Peeking thru the Garden Gate". It has many different flowers and garden tools. You can view the garden scene on my website by clicking on Haley's House. http://hometown.aol.com/lisaandjimhenri/index.html

Lisa