Handling lead: Lead poisoning is serious business and the warning on your instructions probably isn't strong enough.  In fact, if you have handled a lead item, you should never touch food or put your fingers around your mouth until you have washed your hands well.  Sanding the item increases your risk of exposure as you will be creating fine lead dust that is easily absorbed by the body.  By all means work carefully.  Wear skin protection, such as latex, vinyl or rubber gloves, as well as a good quality respirator so you don't breath in the dust you create.  After finishing, clean your work area well, being careful not to stir up the lead dust and spread it around your work area only to be stirred up again later.  And then wash your hands well again, just to be sure.

I hate to sound so alarmist, but lead poisoning can be deadly.   Please be careful.

Dave

Metal Miniatures: if you are looking to buy metal miniatures this is the place i get mine, Millie is a jewel to buy from, she sells them at a wonderful price you can't beat!   yorkiepoo50@hotmail.com is her email address...JenniferKY

Fading: People in the lighting industry know that fading is based on several things, but mostly it is based on the amount of light (measured in footcandles) times the duration of exposure (footcandle hours). If you are creating an heirloom, and are concerned about fading, probably the very best thing you can do to protect the interior is to have doors on your dh whereby you can seal off both daylight and electric lighting. This will do more than printers, inks made of pigments rather than dyes, archival paper, glass, Plexiglas and fixatives. Art collectors who purchase original prints for investment's sake often leave them in drawers rather than display them to protect them from fading.

Kathy from Tustin

Joining Yahoo Groups: I didn't see the original post regarding the difficulties of joining any of the miniature lists on Yahoo but I would like to assure you that there are no restrictions placed on anyone who wants to join any of the lists. We would love everyone to come on down! *grin*

I am the owner/moderator of Dollhouseminiatures@Yahoo.com, one of the many free lists that are about miniatures on Yahoo. We welcome anyone who wants to join! We are a casual, chatty group that encourages people who want to meet like minded people to exchange ideas, tips, projects, triumphs and woes all in the name of miniatures in an informal setting. You can sign up to get a digest daily, or set it up so you receive every email sent individually. We have a lot of very talented people who will inspire you and make you laugh.

The only essential thing is that, to get on any of the Yahoo lists, you must have an active Yahoo account, which you can sign up for and open for free. Go to Yahoo.com and it will walk you through it.

Leslie

Plant Kits: .I have Diffenbachia, Golden Diffenbachia and Croton kits available thru my website.   I also offer 3 species of Caladiums in kit form (2 more later this year, after my bulbs have grown up - LOL). All Things Small"   http://www.allthingssmall.com

Laura in OKC

Folding Miniature Fan: I've made foldable miniature fans. There are 2 secrets to this. The only thing I have found that works for the spines is extremely thin plastic. I got mine from cutting up the 'innards' of a candy box. These often come in black or gold which each work very well. Using a cork backed ruler, so it doesn't slip, and a new Xacto blade cut narrow strips of the plastic for the spines of the fan.

To make the paper part, use the thinnest of paper, like tissue paper or paper from those rice paper napkins. Cut out your fan shape.

Use a very thin needle or straight pin to make a hole near the bottom of one end of each spine. Push a 1/2" long brass straight pin through all the spines, and, using a jeweler's pliers, turn the protruding part of the pin in the back into a loop (this is a good thing to hand a tassel from!)

Then open your spines gently, and using tacky glue VERY sparingly attach your paper to the spines.

Warning, this fan will be thicker in mini than a real life counterpart would be. It is impossible to use materials that are thin enough to really make it in scale! Hope this helps!

Alice Zinn

Folding chairs: Tom Wolfert of Mayberry Miniatures, in the Cleveland area, makes very nice wooden folding chairs.  cw0719@aol.com  

Pete

mini action figures: Action figures. Here is what I did for action figures. I found a plastic pack of 50 soldiers in action poses in a Dollar Store. Right size etc. I took them home and removed all the military stuff from one of the figures. I figured since they are plastic I can put them in boiling water and reposition any parts I want. Can also heat the joints and move the extremities to the desired position. Less destructive with boiling. I moved them( the extremities) a little bit at a time until I got the desired position. The painted with acrylic to get rid of the gray color of the figure.

Drbob

Handling lead: DO NOT SAND LEAD!  This stuff gets into your lungs and food and is poison. Any imperfections should be smoothed down with a round, metal tube (some pens or dental tools work well for this) keeping the particles out of the air and out of you and your family. Then prime and paint.

Additionally, Avon makes a product called Silicone Glove that you can rub   onto your hands like cream but it coats your hands so that you can get paint or metal or whatever on them, then wash your hands and all traces of mess come off easily. Highly recommended when working with metals.

Keep in mind that many things when used other than their original use could cause harm...like heating plastics that cause a gas by product or sanding metal... A miniaturist is a terrible thing to waste!

Laurie Sisson

Fans: it's probably out of print but look for a projects pamphlet Joann Swanson did back in the Nutshell era -- it's a miscellaneous compilation that includes fans (sorry am at work so can't look up title), gardening products, Victorian scrap art and Valentines, kites, etc. There's a set of fan templates to copy and hand-color. Directions call for using cut-down flat-sided toothpicks as the blades glued to the folds of the paper fan. To make a working fan a tiny hole was to be drilled in the narrow ends of the picks (don't think I could do it!) to thread them onto a fine but strong wire fastener. Otherwise, directions were to glue the fan in open position with the narrow ends of the picks stacked on top of one another. Once assembled, accessorize with a tassel hanging from the handle and/or lace or feather trim on the fan.

An easier alternative would be the paddle-type fans popular in old-time churches in the summer (Scripture quotes and Biblical illustration on one side, funeral home ad on the other) and also sometimes found in purely decorative secular styles. Use some clipart or fabric the right size and shape for the paddle, cut a matching backing of coordinated fabric or paper, and glue together with a turned toothpick handle sandwiched in between.

Or make a similar "palm leaf" fan - -- same general principle and turned handle, with a fan-palm frond paddle cut from tan silk-flower foliage.

Loretta