Backup of Favorites on Windows XP: With help and encouragement from Gail Spector and Doctor Bob, I finally figured out how to do this. Here are the steps:

Insert Floppy into A Drive
Click on "Start"
Click on "My Computer"
Right click "Local Disk (C)" (hard drive)
Click on "Search"
Type in "Favorites" in the search field. Click "Search"
Right click on the correct "Favorites" folder (should be: C:\Documents and Settings\[your name])
Click on "Send to" in drop-down menu
Click on 3 1/2 Floppy
Label Floppy
Put it away
Get back to mini-ing

Anita Myers, Arnold, MD

Cracks & Plaster* Most hardware stores and many grocery stores carry tub/tile caulking in small tubes. This is a simple, easy application. Make a small hole in the tip of the tube. Draw a bead of caulk along your crack. Smooth with a damp finger. I have also used spackle and wood putty. I like the caulk because it paints so easily.  

You need to seal your crumbling plaster with a spray acrylic fixative. Apply two or more light coats. After the second coat you can repair any damage to the plaster by applying a thin coat of spackle and texturing it to match the plastered finish. A spray sealer will be more user friendly to fragile walls though you may paint a sealer or diluted white glue to the surface to correct your problem. If this does not work it is possible that you may have to gently remove the plaster and begin again. If you applied plaster to a slick, non-porous surface, that may be your problem. Slick surfaces are nasty about allowing their coverings to slither away - they need to be primed.

You may have applied your plaster too thickly which has a tendency to trap moisture and weaken the grip.   You may have damaged the strength of your plaster by mixing it with too much water.  

Becky Holliday

Decorative Molding from Caulk..??? Has anyone ever made decorative molding from spackle or caulk?

I've seen this done in real size, but haven't tried it in mini. Real size, the caulk is laid in a fat line on a long table.   Then a carved or shaped scraper is pulled gently along the line. This scraper is cut/shaped   like the reverse of the end product desired. Three times, the scraper was pulled along the line. Then the plaster is allowed to dry. The result is a lovely decorative accent for fireplace mantles, over door embellishments etc.

Judie - Daytona Beach, FL

Digital Pics and Printables: I have noticed since joining this illustrious group that many people make comments about the poor quality of their digital pictures. Others are looking for sites with printables. Maybe some of the programs that I use on the computer would help to make life a bit easier or more interesting for these folks. Here are a couple of free programs, one to improve the quality of certain digital camera pics, like those taken with inexpensive cameras with no flash, and one to help you make your own printables. All the originators of the programs, Media Chance, ask is that you let friends know about their site and/or put a link to it on your site. Since many of you have web sites, that would be a nice gesture if you use and like either of the programs. No, I don't work for these guys, I just like their free stuff!

The first is called "Digital Camera Enhancer":
http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/enhancer.htm

The second is called "Oscar's JPEG Thumb-Maker":
http://www.mediachance.com/free/thumber.htm

I have used the enhancer on a few pics and liked the way it brightened them up with one quick pass. I can get more controllable results from Adobe Photoshop, but this one is free and so simple to use for those who are not digital picture editing experts.

The thumb-maker allows you to scale .jpg photo files to any size that you want. I use it to reduce the size of some of my scanned files to make them more compact and all the same screen size for emailing, or even just for archiving. I have also reduced some scanned photos to 1:12 doll house size, using the scale of 100 pixels to the real inch. (Thanks to Jim's Dollhouse Pages for that incredibly useful tidbit). Using that scale factor, the possibilities are endless. I have some examples of a type of artisan product that is common here in Chile, one of which I would like to duplicate in 1:144 scale in a match box. I have scanned it already, and plan to print it out at the exact finished size to use as a guide for making the miniature. Anyone with a scanner and a calculator could copy magazines, pictures or anything else their little heart desires and easily scale them to whatever scale they work in.

David in Santiago

Graduation Dog: Today, I was working making heads for polar bears rugs and had a little piece of white Sculpey left over. I needed a bit of a break, and the clay 'spoke' to me, and I made a cute mini autograph dog with a graduation hat. You can see pictures to illustrate the instructions below in my Assorted Miniatures album on Webshots http://community.webshots.com/user/iamazin.

Let me start by saying you can leave off his cap and add a bow at the neck to use him for a Sweet 16 girl, or other event! The parts are pictured on the web page. Here are the directions.

After making all your parts from polymer clay, attach them together by rolling the 'seams' back and forth using a nice smooth, round toothpick or the handle of a paintbrush. When adding the head to the body, create a 'neck' by shaping the clay in that area with your tool. After you add each leg, turn the end forward slightly to form a paw. Make two vertical dents in the paw part with the toothpick to make the dogs 'toes'. If you are making the graduation version, squish a tiny ball of black clay onto the top of the head, then make sure the top of that is flat.

Bake at 275 degrees for about 10 minutes. Let cool.

Using black paint or marker, paint on two dots for eyes, a nose and a smiling mouth as in the photo. Center and glue the black paper square to the black clay base on the dog's head.

Make the tassel as shown in the picture, using a piece of silk or embroidery thread. Tie a knot in the middle of a short length of thread, then cut most of the strands off on one side of the knot. Trim to the length you want and glue to the hat, the tassel side hanging down and add a tiny black bead or drop of dimensional paint at the center top of the hat.

Using the finest point marker you can, sign your dog! You can add other names as well, or have fun letting your friends sign it! Please feel free to share this project with your miniatures friends or clubs. You can download and or print the photos from my Webshots album. All I ask is that you do NOT make them to sell.

Alice Zinn- Pt. St. Lucie FL

Dumbledore's Room: I have used one of Debbie Jones's "Kitz" theatre kits and made a room for Dumbledore from Harry Potter. I made it bigger by putting both the bottom and top on the top, one half flap opens, and I used the false back for the floor and I used a piece of thick cardboard for the sides with the kit sides glued to inner walls. It came out so handsome for him, and I used not one skerrik of pink as it was the mighty Dumbledore head Wizard of Hogwarts and he demands respect, not frivolity with pink!!!!

robbie roo

China painting - I'm no expert, having only china-painted dolls' faces, but I'll share what I do know. You can china paint scenes on china with the same paints that are used for dolls. I have both Seeley's and Bell ceramic china paints. Both are fired at cone 018. The labels on the paint bottles or jars usually give this information. Just to be safe, don't use any new paints along with your vintage paints. Or fire on the vintage paints first, and then do a second firing using newer paints(if there are special colors you want to use in the newer paints). Once it's fired on, it's very hard to remove, so I can't imagine any bad reaction between the two if they're fired at different times.

If you don't want to be worried with firing, there are translucent stains for china painting that are not fired on, but look very much like the fired on.

Paulette in IN

He burnt off the plastic cover with a cigarette lighter, just along from where you need to expose wire. He then removed the burn plastic and trimmed the copper wire to the length required. So there were no partially cut wires either. Just watch you don't burn your fingers, but worth testing out on a scrap of wire first. It is so quick, there should be no problem with fumes.

He also did the two separate wires in different places, staggered them, so the wire joins would not meet. This is to prevent the joins touching each other, causing a short, and therefore insulating tape was not needed.

Pauline, Mansfield, UK

Wiring: If you are going to hard-wire a house, you need to conceal the wires by grooving the wall or sending the wire underneath the house. The problem with the wire length is easily solved by cutting the wire to size as you install it. No law says you must use it all. Don't be afraid to cut off the plugs that often are included on the ends of the light fixture wires. I have a basket full of them.

Hard wiring as you describe has always been too complicated for me. I still opt for the tape installation. There are many good references about tape installation, including a nice video tape. Ask your mini store about it.

Dave Brazelton, Bradenton, FL

You can cut wires to be shorter. Just leave enough room to work with them. After you cut them you have to very carefully pull the plastic coating away from the little copper wires inside. Just like you do on a real cord, but the white plastic is very thin so be careful or you'll cut the wires too. I have some of the plyers with little "teeth" that will clamp shut on the handle to hold the brads. I get a good hold of them and just push them into the wood leaving them out just a tiny bit to wrap the copper wires from the light around the little brad. I use the same plyers to do that. They are like forceps. Then I just take the flat part of the forceps and push the brad the rest of the way in. The wallpaper goes right over the wires and you don't see them. I always leave a little "trap door" in the wall paper to get to the brads if need be. I cover it with a piece of wallpaper cut to match exactly over and use the mini tac to hold it on the wall, or if you make a hole going through the wall and connect the wire on the other side of the wall, you can cover it with a picture or something.

Linda