Exercise Room: Anyone interested in exercise equipment or game   rooms,  http://www.miniaturesandmore.com    may have what you're looking for.

Janet in N.J.

Curtain Brackets: I use clip-on earring backs (bulk packs available in jewelry section of Michaels, Joann's etc.) as curtain brackets.  Pull the rubber pad off (save for baby-bottle nipple) and paint or paper the round back to match your wallcovering,  and glue the back to the wall with the hinge toward the floor.  Once glue has dried, gently open the hinge and set the curtain rod into the bracket, then close.   Looks very like real-size decorative brass brackets and allows you to change curtains whenever you want.

Loretta

1/2" scale resources/Tools: re: topic of mini tools I stumbled across Mrs Art's Minis and noted some tweezers, scissors, and wire cutters for sale on the supplies page http://www.mrsart.homestead.com/

re: looking for 1/2" scale food, glassware, tableware; here are a few links:
http://www.scaledesigns.com/

http://www.halfscaleminis.com/

http://miniatureconcepts.hypermart.net/index.html

http://www.tinyheirlooms.com/

http://www.dollhousefood.com/

Nursemini

Scales: Once again I will mention that there is a lot of similarity between some of the model railroad scales and miniature scales, so drop by some of those "other" hobby shops and see what they have:

N scale is 1:160, close enough to 1:144 for some things to be useful

O scale is 1:48, exactly the same as the 1/4" mini scale

G scale is 1:22.5, again close enough to 1:24 for some things to be used

David

Mini Rosary: For the person wanting to make a mini rosary:  Main part is a circle containing 5 groups of beads with 10 beads in each group.  The groups are separated   by a spaced single bead.   These may be contrasting (a different size, color or design), or may match the other beads and only be distinguished by the spacing.   There is also a short straight piece of chain which starts with a crucifix, then has one single bead (spaces on either side), a group of 3, and another spaced single bead.  This usually attaches to a medal with 3 attachment points, which serves to join the ends of the circle together and attach the straight chain.  Hope this makes sense.

 I make rosaries real life and haven't been able to miniaturize the technique to make them in scale that way, but have had good luck by using metallic thread and gluing the beads in place to maintain the spacing.

Linda in MN

MAKING WIND CHIMES; They can be made in two (2) ways.

1. Non Chiming and looks like wind chimes but no sound.

2. They make sound but it will be only a very high pitched tinkle if at all.

Since miniatures is really giving an impression of what something is; I will  describe the no sound ones. The tinkle ones can be made following the same plans only make them from miniature brass tube.

Construction; Think in terms of a mobile.

Items needed;

Round toothpicks. (I love them tooth picks; wind chimes; wheel spokes and chair stretchers etc. Oh yes a tooth cleaner ;) )

Nylon sewing thread. Color is your choice.

A few craft sticks.

Dremel moto tool.

Dental bits or chop off the head of a finishing nail and use that as the drill bit.

This bit is going to make holes in the tooth picks so it has to be large enough to make a hole the nylon thread can pass thru but no larger than the diameter of the tooth pick. Too large and it will split the tooth pick.

PROCEDURE:

From the craft stick cut out a round disc in scale; perhaps 1/4 inch diameter (in scale is 3 inches.) Let's say you are thinking of hanging 8 chimes. Look upon the disc as a clock face and then drill a hole for the thread at 12 o'clock; 3 o'clock'; 6 o'clock and then 9 o'clock also drill holes at about 1:30;  4:30;   7:30 and 10:30. This gives you 8 holes.

>From the craft stick cut a piece shaped as circle similar to the original one but only drill a hole in the center for the thread. Take the original one that you drilled the 8 holes around the edge and now drill one more hole in the center,

We are almost there.

Cut the round toothpicks in to 8 pieces and try to vary the lengths of the eight pieces. The length of the real wind chime tubes is what gives it its varying sounds.

Drill a hole thru each tooth pick section at the same distance from one of the ends.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

With a length of thread tie a big knot in one end and feed it thru the hole in the disc that only has the center hole. In scale of 1:12 make another knot at 1 inch above the disc with the first knot. Thread the disc with all the holes (8) onto the thread so it now is held in place by resting on the second knot. At this time you should have length of thread with 2 knots and a disc resting on each knot about 1 inch apart. As I said "think of a mobile"; I see a few eyes widening as you see what comes next and a few ah ha's. Take some length of thread and pass it thru the holes in the cut tooth pick sections. Pass both thread ends thru one of the holes in the top disc. Make the length of the thread such so that the cut tooth pick has the bottom one-hole disc hitting its mid shaft point. The two ends of thread that passed thru the hole in the upper disc now has a hefty knot tied so it will not fall thru the hole and snip any excess thread off. Repeat this with the other 7 "chimes".   The original single thread that has the 2 knots and the 2 discs can be of any length you wish and this is the means of hanging the "chimes" from a support.

Dr Bob

1. Curtains: Michaels has wire edged ribbon in some of the prettiest prints. I got a 2-pack set, 1 1/2" and 3 1/2", in mini rose print. All I did was gather, wrap access wire around rod of choice, and "lightly" glue, open or closed. Nifty café curtains!

2. Toilet Plunger... I took a faucet washer, bell type that has a small hole running through it. Washed it to remove some of the oily feel, sealed, and painted it terra cotta. Rounded the end of a small dowel, cut to length (depending on the size of your 'own' plunger), glued with 527 glue. Sealed. The faucet washers can be found in any hardware store, and in many sizes, I believe I used the 000 ??

3. Cake Cover... Use the plastic cover cap from a syrup bottle.

4. Candle Sticks... If you have available a hunting/gun/rifle shop, try looking for pellet shots. The small, .177 look like mini pewter candle sticks, and the .22 look like egg cups after painting. These are made of lead, I believe, so be aware they should not be used around small children, and should be sealed in any event.

5. Metal Duct Tape.... I use this when making mirrors for young children. I also use it for the valley flashing for dh. Find it at any hardware store.

6. Brush water... Put a sponge in the bottom of the brush cleaning water to help clean those brushes.

7. Clocks... I'm talking about the type of clocks you have to apply the "time" on the face with a Sharpie (or what ever else). Use the event date. For example, our granddaughter's birth date is April 5, so I 'set' all clocks at 4:05. For Christmas, 12:25, etc. Just remember... add the year to the back of the piece, and sign, sign, sign!

Rita in Montana

FABULOUS web site on Costumes, etc.!!!! I don't know if this has been mentioned before but I have found a web site that has EVERYTHING anyone would need to know about costumes and dress from Pre-Historic & Babylonian time through now.   The pages take a long time to load, in some cases, because there is SO much information but it is worth it!   There are also tons of links from these pages.

Information is there on everything from underwear to shoes and just about anything else you can imagine including listening to music of that time.   Just too much to mention here so get yourself a fresh cup of coffee and settle down for about 2 hours (at least) of browsing.

There has been a lot of discussion on "Egyptian" ... it is on this site.

My husband and I also deal in antique portrait miniatures and this site is excellent in helping us to better date the time period of sitters.   I can't think of anyone who wouldn't benefit or get ideas from "The Costume History at The Costumer's Manifesto".   Go to http://www.costu mes.org/pages/costhistpage.htm 

Bobbie

School room: Perhaps the room needs a teacher bending over a student working at her desk. Maybe the other students should be clustered at the different areas working on the different projects. Some sorting the flora and fauna or making drawings of them or looking through a microscope at the cells of the plants. Some building a model of the pyramid or drawing their own map or flag.

There should be book bags on the floor where each student's desk is. These should be well-worn and look full of books. Some of the desks can have notebooks open on them, there should be a stack of quizzes or homework on the teacher's desk to be graded as well as a grading book.

Most modern school rooms have those white dry erase boards instead of chalk boards. Some plants in the windows or one on the teacher's desk. Colorful bulletin boards and a tall file cabinet for the teacher.

Under the windows are usually cabinets which are window high. They have sliding doors and the top is a ledge which can be used to hold all sorts of student projects. Underneath would be supplies - - boxes of pencils, markers, construction paper, glue, copier paper, student texts for the next area of study. One of these could be left slightly ajar so what is inside can be seen.

Maybe a student at her desk using her math skills to calculate the number of stone blocks used to build the great pyramid or calculating the weight of just one of them or how much the whole thing weighs - that throws in another subject or maybe this could be used on a bulletin board. In these patriotic days, a flag standing in the corner of the room. There should be at least one computer in the room. Many teachers have a laptop or a PC could be at a special desk in the back of the room. A couple of students could be on the internet looking up Egypt.

Susanna from Indiana

Balloon animals: Well, after much research and development, I finally made some balloon animals I like! I thought I'd tell you what I didn't that didn't work, as well as what did! I tried air drying clay coated with stained glass paints first, looked too solid. Then I tried colored Sculpy mixed with translucent, STILL looked too solid!

Eventually I hit upon the following method:

I cut tiny lengths of clear 1/8 inch acrylic tubing (made by Plastruct and available in Hobby and Miniature stores). I cut them by rolling a sharp Xacto across them and then snapping them off with a pliers. For the ball shaped parts, I used a clear glass bead. I rolled the translucent Sculpy as thin as possible, and covered each piece of clear plastic or glass, with a thin coating, rounding the ends smoothly. Then I attached all the pieces together, using a TINY drop of Tacky glue for strength. (You don't want to use much or it oozes out and makes a mess!)

Then I baked the animals at about 275 degrees for about 5 minutes. Let cool.

Paint with several coats of stained glass paint, letting it dry well between coats.

I put the picture in a Webshots album I've started called "Assorted Miniatures". At present it is the only picture there, but I'm sure I will be adding more in the future!

http://cards.webshots.com/cp-19807422-IeUI- album/33320274APolyX Try it yourself, and have fun!

After I took that first picture of the mini balloon animals I decided I 'needed' one that was like a hat, you know the round base so a kid could slip it over their head? Obviously the hard, straight lengths of acrylic weren't going to work inside that, so I used clear flexible tubing, also worked just fine!

Alice Zinn - Pt. St. Lucie FL

Gutters and down spouts: I tend to question the use of drinking straws to represent downspouts. My own experience with full sized homes since WW2 has been that downspouts are usually rectangular rather than round in cross section. I have occasionally seen round pipes in some commercial applications and I am sure that this was sometimes used for early houses. But, even late 19th century photographs frequently show rectangular tubes or boxes leading to the cisterns. For fine scale modeling, it seems that the straws' primary advantages are that they are hollow and have very interesting corrugations at "the bend".

IN MINIATURE: Hollow is not so essential except, perhaps, at the very ends. Use rectangular wood with the corners mildly radiused. At the very ends where hollow may be desirable, carve down the last half inch by the thickness of thin brass shim stock. Wrap with the brass leaving an appropriate length of hollow overlap. At bends, miter and glue-assemble separate pieces then use a round jewelers file to grove for those corrugations. Hide brass to wood transitions with straps holding your spout in place. Where round metallic tube DOES prove to be appropriate, try an R/C model airplane and race car supply store for real copper or aluminum tubing which is more substantial than most straws and can really be bent to required shapes (NOTE: shove a piece of solid wire inside at bending locations to prevent crimping.) For wooden "pipes", use ordinary doweling. Soda straws do fit the ticket as "found art" which is a foundation of the joy in DIY dollhousing.

Mel

Judaic Symbols:  I am getting as excited about the Chanukah version in its own right as I am about the Christmas version.   I have a dreidle that my daughter had been given at a children's' Hanukah party many years ago and can copy the Hebrew letters from it. The project designs will develop a bit more before I actually start cutting, carving and gluing but here is where I am so far - - - May I bounce it off of you for added garnishment, criticisms, and/or corrections? Since the Christmas version is six sided with six candles, I am thinking to make the base in the shape of a Star of David with candle cups at each point. The outsides of the first two levels will also be six sided. Inside the bottom level, wood soldier figures with spears and shields (Star of David on shields if I can fit) will look outward from a revolving platform. Behind them, stationary, will be a Menorah as ornate as I can carve  out of wood in such tiny size. (This whole pyramid will only be about 1 3/4 inches tall) The second level presently has me still looking for ideas for the revolving outer platform and fixed center. The Third level I have decided should be square rather than six sided and be a large (by mini standards) fixed dreidle with open sides. and carved Hebrew letters revolving within. The "stem" of the dreidle will be the shaft of the pyramid topped by a Star of David laid flat and have twelve "fan" blades extending from its points and notches.

Only so much detail can be achieved and recognizable in wood and such tiny size (the 1/144th bunch should have fun). That is why I put the menorah on the lowest (largest) level. Your comments about and suggestions for (especially that empty mid level) will be sooooo appreciated as are your suggestions and encouragement so far. I will probably make an article about the two versions to submit to one of the mini magazines after all is said and done.  Sooooo   - - -  Please give your "real" names with ideas so I can pass along individual credit within credits to our Small Stuff web as the essential miniaturing tool it has become.

Mel K.

Ceiling fan: Some 20 years ago, I used scrap flooring to make my ceiling fan...glued 2 pieces back to back over a piece of wire, let glue dry, trim the paddles to shape with scissors, sandwich the wires between 2 circles of wood..ceiling fan!! You can see mine on my website in the Odds and Ends section... http://www.geocities.com/josdollhouse/

jo-in-GA

Freezer wrap: What I want to do with it.

1. I want to use it as a backing for thin fabric so I can print on it.

2. I would like to use it as a backing for  printed tissue paper and paper napkins ( the printed layer only) so I can    use it   for my greeting card and envelope making. I do not take  the freezer paper away but I leave it on for these projects.   For the cards I cut this paper into pieces and use it in card blanks. Ican also make 12thscale cards this way.

3. I want to use tissue  permanently backed with freezer paper to fold tiny gift bags and boxes for my dollshouses.

4. I would like to use it for some quilting projects. Perhaps even minis?!

5. Finally I would love to experiment with white tissue backed with freezer paper and   run it through my printer to see if I can print my own paper to use for the things mentioned under 2 and 3

Marianne

Re-Painting Shiny Furniture:  You said you have sanded the gloss away.  Have you tried cleaning it with TSP cleaner.  Cleaning with TSP is recommended if you plan to paint paneling (which has a very high gloss).  Be sure to use rubber gloves while cleaning with the solution.

Then a coat of primer, and your paint should stick like glue.

Debbie

Carol

Mini flames: I'm not sure that this is what someone really meant when they asked about mini flames but this really does work extremely well to make a candle light or even fireplace flames look realistic. You use clear silicone, put a dab of it on the tip of the bulb, and pull it up to make a flame shape.   When the bulb is lit, the entire silicone flame lights and looks real. This even works in real size on those inexpensive plastic candle thingies for your windows. I use the same method to make flames for cauldron flames, fireplaces, lit torches, anywhere I want an open flame. I think that if you embed pieces of colored tissue, it would look even more colorfully on fire. It is important to use clear silicone; it must be 100% silicone and not be the paintable kind. You can get it in discount stores as tile and tub sealer or in the automotive dept. as windshield sealer.

Cat

Dressing table trays. The jewelry findings work great. I also paint a piece of lace with gold or silver spray paint, let it dry-doesn't take long. Then I glue it around a piece of craft mirror, usually found in the mosaic tile sections of craft stores. Stiffen a bit more by brushing a little clear nail polish over the lace. You can also bend the edges down a bit for a ridge.   They look great.

RPURPLEMOPAR

Wine labels: French wine labels like the ones Vi in Hamilton mentioned can be found at http://users.skynet.be/sudene/imprimables.html

Erin at OBU

URL for old New York City goodies: An interesting site to visit for good examples of old signage, cobblestone streets, lamp posts and so much more. And interesting to see how varied New York City really is. http://www.forgotten-ny.com

Pat in SC