Draping: When trying to get the fabric to behave in the way you want it is essential that you choose the correct type. Don't try to battle with polyester and man made fibers. Use only pure silks and fine cotton fabrics you will find that these can be pressed and moulded into shape and will give a more natural finish. Also if you need to glue it will stick much easier with only a minimum amount of glue. Hope this helps

Fran

Draping: For holding the "drape" try spraying with hair spray and while the material is still moist with the hair spray, fold and drape it to your liking.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

New Knitting Pattern: I have created a new knitting pattern on the http://CastingForPurls.com/ web site. It is a baby's undershirt, which is very simple to knit, but the results are quite sweet. Select the Patterns link, then select Baby Eric's Undershirt. I hope you get around to knitting it sometime!

Joy in Pointe Claire

Draping   fabric.   It is probably best for circular table cloths on round tables.   I'm sure some of you out there will find a way to use the technique in other ways as well.

Condition some polymer clay in a color that blends well with the main color of the fabric.   I would recommend using only natural fiber fabric, that is no polyester blends.   cut a circle of fabric slightly larger than finished piece.   Put the polymer clay through a pasta machine until you get a smooth, thin sheet.   Lay your fabric over the clay and run the whole works through the pasta machine again. Carefully cut the clay/fabric to the finished size.   Drape this over an oven proof form such as a small glass jar or wood haps and bake as usual. I saw this idea in one of the dozens of books I've read on polymer clay.

Kathy in Wisconsin

Faux Corian: Saw someone ask about Corian for modern kitchen counters a few days ago. Lo and behold, saw two possibilities right here in my own house.

1) Get one of those thin(maybe 1/8 inch or even less thick) flexible plastic cutting boards; got mine at Bed Bath. They're made to fold so should mold nicely over the edge of a counter you have previously made up of wood and painted suitably. Mine is a foggy translucent no-color but they also come in colors.

2) Gift bags, there is a whole wall of them at Target (Tar-jhay) and some of them are solid color translucent plastic...white or lots of colors. The one I bought is a bit stiff, but a short dunk in hot water would probably help.

Ginger in PA

Picture Matting: Just wanted to pass along a tip on matting those little bitty pictures for your houses. If you have access to an office supply store, stop in and buy some of the white out correction tape pens. The ones that lay a flat piece of correction tape. They come in all colors and lay completely flat. I "matted" all of my art work this way and it looks fabulous.

Amanda in KC

doll house plans: http://www.jacksonsminiatures.com/

Connie Sapronetti

3-D stickers....I got some and used the baby ones in a shadow box. The stickers that were really out of scale I put on the side and back walls and they look great. I am really pleased at how it turned out. They wouldn't all work in a strictly scale dollhouse or roombox but as accessories in a shadow box or something similar they work fine. And the brand name is Stickerpottomos. I found them at my local scrapbook and stamp store.

Judi

Trellis: Pop along to your local motor mech and ask them for an old air filter. They come in various sizes and voila - the outer covering is a most marvelous trellis. Most motor mechs will throw this at you for free.

Samantha Kruger

Dollhouse Plans: For everyone who is looking for dollshouseplans. You can download them for free at these urls:
http://www.thewoodcrafter.net/main.shtml

http://users.iol.it/petemalu/progetti/bambole.html

Klara