Coloring gel candles: At Hobby Lobby (might be at other craft stores) they sell the gel in tubs for making those candles as well as dye, scents, and wicks.  Check in candle making sections of your craft stores.

Michelle

Diaper box: There is a pattern in the January 1991 issue of Nutshell News, in the Joann's Along The Mall Series,"The Baby Shop."

Penny Johnston

Hurricane Lamps: Ask your doctor or receptionist for outdated or empty ampoules from allergy serums. These are flared at the bottom and curve in nicely at the top. They are scored to snap off, but can be used 'as is'.

Dani Rice

Small Photos: I noticed there has been some interest in small photos.  If you do not want to buy another camera, you can take the pictures with your regular camera. Then when you get the film developed, choose to get an index print.  It usually only costs a dollar and you get tiny prints of the whole roll.  I use Clark or York developing through the mail and have had good luck with this.

Linda Gibeault

Canvas for Paintings: You can use gesso-coated muslin as a scale substitute for canvas, but my preference is acid free board that is especially made for painting. Mine came in 9 x 12 sheets which I can cut to suit. The thickness is just right for putting in a mini frame.

Beth

NASCAR Racing Champions (similar to Hot Wheels) puts out mini NASCAR stock cars. They come in several scales, one of which is 1:144, which is the exact scale of a toy for a dollhouse. They also come with a miniature poster of the driver of a particular car and the car itself comes on a little display stand. The website per the car package is

Tere Perry

Shell Ideas: You could make tiny shell dolls, which were very popular in 1830 and later. Use FIMO or Sculpey to mold the head, the bodice and skirt - making them smaller than you want. Glue shells on to fill out the skirt and costume details and then paint desired colors. Antique shell dolls were generall under domes with the heads often made of paper mache.

In the 1930/40's, tourist souvenirs were tiny dolls with a shell body and a bead head wearing a shell bonnet. The arms and legs were painted wire.Regina also suggests putting small flower arrangements in shells.

Regina

Annie

Attic Decor. Doesn't every attic need a picture of Dorian Grey. Why not use all those half-finished class projects and turn them into "broken antiques"? Instead of knocking yourself for never getting around to completing them,"finish"them for good. Take that rubber cement and practice your paint peeling and ageing techniques. Take that birdcage and give it an extra dent. Get rid of that shiny brass with a little oven cleaner and verdigris paint. Take that 3-wheeled baby carriage (where you cut the axle too short) and prop it up on blocks or rest it at a jaunty angle. In the end, you will have a finished attic AND no more half-finished projects.

Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Painting Canvas:  An artist friend made some out of the normal canvas that she had left over from her 4' x 3' paintings. 

Hedgehogs: Andrea Barham, in her book "Making Dollshouse Accessories," suggests using a Casuarine cone (found at craft or florist suppliers,) which come from Australia or Asia. Sand off just under half of the cone lengthwise, paint the prickles a mixture of brown and black, add highlights in white to the tips of the prickles, and paint the snout and underside dark brown. Finish up by painting the eyes and the tip of the snout black and varnish them to make them appear moist. Apparently, these were the essential fireplace accessory of the 1600's. They ate all manner of bugs and such as well as table scraps.

Bottles and stuff: Don't forget to break open old dead telephones.  They have little glass striped "candies" in them as well as scale cylinders in black and light blue that look great when sprayed white and covered with a label from the Sunday paper. 

Gail Spector

Picture frames: I spent five years in a framing shop and I very rarely cut a frame that was a perfect fit. They were perfect for the picture after it was matted! White card stock would make a great mat material. Of course then you need the perfect fit again. That is why custom frames are so popular. A shop like Smaller Than Life can make the frame for any picture after it is matted. I read where people are going through all kinds of effort to get pictures but the frame is what makes or breaks the appearance at the end of the day. In miniatures the frame will most often be the best-seen part of a picture on the back wall of a room. Of course there are exceptionsto this rule. Many great classics did not have mats. However if you were to see the real thing some turn out to be five feet tall or better.

Bill

Buckles and straps for trunks: You can use a jump ring the size needed for your trunk, thread strap under one side and glue a finepiece of wire brass or gold tone across the ring, then go over the wire and under the other side. You can also stick a small end of wire through the strap by threading it in a needle, glue underside and cut, it looks a lot like a buckle that has been buckled.

Lenora

Trains: I found a great little train set up at Wal-Mart tonight.  It's a key ring with a tiny, landscaped train track on it.   It's a Lionel Train and the package says, "Miniature Santa Fe train runs around the track and through the tunnels."  There's a lever on the side that makes itrun.  The base is thick, but could be sunk into a table of some kind.

Quinn

Flower Kits: I wanted to suggest that you invest $2 for the LITTLE GOODIES catalog.  You will find ads for this company in the classified sections of both Miniature Collector and Dollhouse Miniatures magazines each month.

I learned my craft with these kits!  They are all pre-punched, very well designed flower/leaf parts and have very good instructions.  Most of the kits are very reasonably priced - many are under $5 each.  Each kit has a list of necessary tools/supplies on the back of the package, which you should be able to obtain very easily at a local minis store (or craft store if you don't have a minis store nearby).  The one tool which I strongly urge you to purchase is the Kemper Double-Ball Stylus, if you do not have one already.  It really is an important one when making flowers.   Little Goodies offers them in the catalog, too.

Laura in OKC

Miniature Jell-o: I think  maybe those jell type candles could be used as Jell-o.  They 're made in several colors and smell good too!

Joanne in Southern N.J.

Coffee Maker: To the person looking for the coffee maker, I got this from another mini group, I haven't written her yet, but plan to. The lady who stocks the ACME Refrigerator Magnets, Carroll. L. Meeks, 3636 Rosario Crest Lane, Anacortes, WA 98221, (360) 293-8176. Her e-mail is loretta@fidalgo.net, If you want to see what's available go to the ACME website http://www.aimcs.com/acme/kfun.htm

Judy P

"I have covered the steamer trunk - you know the ones that sit on one end and open up to have drawers and hangers inside for your ocean voyage - with leather. I ended up overlapping the leather on the corner edges by about 1/8". I could cut the leather off flush, but that leaves a seam as well.

I would like to cover the corners/edges with something that is not too difficult to work with, and which looks good *grin*. I would also like it not to be shiny if possible. I have heard about the tape that people use for decorating full-size cars, but don't know anything about it."

In a class I took at Mayfest, I covered a dome top trunk with leather. Although it is not shaped quite the same as yours, what we did with the corners and edges would work for you. We used a strip of the same leather, cut to about a 3/16" overlap on each side (so it was a total width of 3/8" wide strip) and covered the edges with that. It was centered along the edge so that it overlapped evenly on both planes of the sides. Then at the corners, we used mini nails to look like the studs or grommets that the full sized leather covered trunks have. It came out looking very realistic and now happily resides in my attic roombox!!

Tere Perry

Trunk: Perhaps you can use some of that flat cane used for (normal size) chairs. It will look like the wooden strips to protect your leather from scratching. Just glue with tacky glue and have perhaps a little nail on the corners.

Dorothee