Silver tarnish: I have read in several places that a thin coating of VO-5 hairdressing will keep silver from tarnishing. It can be used on picture frames, tea sets, etc. I have NOT tried this, so cannot vouch for it, but, as I said, have read about it in several places. Alas, DH doesn't have enough hair to make purchasing it practical, but it might be worth a try. (Why don't they put that stuff in travel size tubes?)

Dani. in Bradshaw, MD

Silver tarnish: You can keep silver from tarnishing by placing it in a dish of hot soapy water, along with a piece of magnesium. I do that with my real sized silver, and it works fairly well. As an aside to this issue, I have a set of mini silver ware, and it has not tarnished in the twelve years that I have owned it.

DeeDee in Carmel Valley

Silver tarnish: You can keep silver from tarnishing by placing it in a dish of hot soapy water, along with a piece of magnesium. I do that with my real sized silver, and it works fairly well. As an aside to this issue, I have a set of mini silver ware, and it has not tarnished in the twelve years that I have owned it.

DeeDee in Carmel Valley

Row of books, you could take a block of wood, score to make books separate looking or thin blocks of wood to make a row, then cover with the old thin leather and mark with gold lines as explained below.

To paint the straight gold line: use a C clamp (if you don't have a clamp vise on a stand), anchor with the Extra Fine Gold Pen (positioned horizontally) on a block of wood or cardstock to the table at the height you want to mark the book. Run the book around the pen tip. It works great for getting that straight line.

June in Tualatin, OR

Book spines: Get some Gold metallic thread and use on your spines for both color and dimension. Just measure and snip to fit, then run a thin coat of Elmer's down one side, it'll dry clear - my favorite two words after elastic waistband. Those gel type pens can be used to make wee dots or other accent shaped.

Molly Cromwell

Attaching accessories: I attach everything to the surface it sits on. Most of the time I use "Mini-Hold" which is a wax adhesive that can be found in most miniature shops. It cleans up off of most surfaces by simple removal, although I sometimes must use a little furniture polish to get faint residue that is occasionally left behind. It has eased my frustration level by geometric proportions, as I was constantly placing little vignettes 'just so' on my work bench, only to have them joggle into a heap when they (literally!) hit the room box. That all changed about 4 years ago, when I bought my little container of Mini-Hold. I use such small amounts of the stuff to pin the miniatures down, that I am only about 1/3 through of my container. I think it cost me $2.50, and it was well worth every penny.

DeeDee in Carmel

Plastic plates and patterns: I have decoupage pictures of dinner plates patterns from glossy print ads from the newspaper. I use Mod Podge to adhere the design to the plate. (paint plate if you want to match a color in the design). Add a couple of coats (drying in-between) and use a gold felt tipped pen to the edging. Makes a beautiful plate.

Barbara

Chintz trays and plates from Magazine pictures: I cut out the chintz plates you refer to, and made little trays with them. It was very simple, and my system was as follows:

1. Glue the uncut plates onto index card (I used stik-glue, but really, I think any glue would do)
2. Cut out the plates
3. Paint the front of the plate with clear fingernail polish
4. Use a button to 'curl' the edges of the plates (for the rectangular plate, I used the edge of my metal ruler)
5. Decorate the white side with gold ink, trim the top of the plate with the ink, as well
6. Coat the back of the plate with clear fingernail polish
7. Add as many coats of the polish as you like, until the plate is thick enough for your satisfaction. Be sure to dry between coats.

I love my little trays, and hope to use this system with other pictures, as well. I am thinking that I could go to the 'printies' sites, and look for pictures of dinner plates to print to scale on photographic printing paper, but I haven't done that yet. Have fun! I know I did.

DeeDee in Carmel Valley

Plates: Here is a site for plate pictures, (China patterns are probably protected by copyright. The images on websites certainly are. You could contact China companies and ask permission to miniaturize their patterns, they may be happy to give it!)
http://www.1800replace.com/

Marlene Chapman-Ontario

Make your own dish decals...Model railroad catalogs carry lots of ready made decals, right? They also carry plain sheets of decal material that can be used with your ink jet printer. It comes in clear and colors. Just print onto it from your computer and apply as any other decal to dishes, furniture, bottles/jars etc. Whether or not old china patterns are protected (copyright) is a good question. I would suggest going to public domain clip art programs and/or sites and copy away!

Another technique for making "china" patterns: The craft stores sell special paper napkins that are printed with beautiful patterns. You peel the layers apart. Then you coat a dish with a special glue adhesive and lay the paper in it. You then apply several thin coats of the glue. It's a type of decoupage. Can't see why that wouldn't work with Chrysnbon dishes...Any body tried it?

Kathy in Wisconsin

Plastic Plates: Many years ago Nutshell News had an article about a woman who used miniature wallpaper to decorate Chrysbon plastic dishes. If I remember correctly she coated the printed side of the wallpaper with white glue and let it dry thoroughly. She then cut out the pieces about the size she wanted including snippets to do the teacups, etc. Then she soaked the paper in water until she could gently rub the paper off the glue. What was left was a decal of the pattern.

Lee Ann

For decals for Chrysnbon plates I have had very good luck making my own. I coat with at least 5 coats my selected design with Super Sealer from J Hermes. Let design dry between each coat and let dry thoroughly. After 12 to 24 hours soak design covered with the sealer in warm water for 5 to 15 minutes. Remove from water and ever so gently with your fingers rub all the backing off. You may have to return to soak a few more minutes. Pat dry and using the super sealer glue it onto plate and seal again with a final coat of sealer. I have decorated dishes this way with designs cut from wall paper and from magazines. I recommend patience and gentleness. By the way Hobby Builders Supply has plastic dishes; cups, saucers and plates, both dinner and salad on page 48 of their Winter 2002 catalog.

Patsy

Mini Metal yardstick: I’ve been mulling this over, and the only things I can think of, besides making a decal on the computer, are: Use the metal as you described, and rub on press type letters and numbers, available in art supply stores, then spray a clear coat over it to seal it....or...use metallic card stock or paper and print the ruler out on that, then glue that to the metal.

A tip: when using paper or cardstock for any application of this kind, it looks much better if you use markers   to color the thin edges to match the thing you are gluing it to.

Alice Zinn- Pt. St. Lucie FL

Packaging necklaces: I package necklaces and other small items in round foam backed plastic cases. You can buy them from a jewelry display company and they run about 50 cents each. They come in sizes about 1" wide to around 2" wide. They come in groups of 48 (I think it's 48). They also sell a display tray for these but I don't use that.

One trick I use with these is to turn them upside down. The top is not very deep and comes off easily. I reverse the foam (the "top" of the foam is nicer than the bottom), put the piece on the foam, and then put the bottom of the case on with the top on the bottom.

Carol - S P Miniatures

Tapered Candles. To make mini ones try taking a piece of thread and dipping it into a small amount of melted candle wax (about 1"deep). Dip & blow on your string, dip and blow again & again until you have the right diameter. You will end up with a REAL hand dipped mini candle!

Brooke,Wa

Electric fan guards in the round:   After deciding on your scale, Find a dowel whose diameter would fit your scale for the fan guard. Use fine wire (to stay in scale). Using the end of the dowel, make a series of "crisscrosses" so you get the cage effect. glue (fix) the wires where they cross at the center of the dowel diameter. Remove from the dowel. Paint black. You have your fan guard in scale. you can make 2 and glue them back to back to have an enclosure for the fan blades. If you have any problems grasping my concept, just e mail me and I will gladly add to your confusion.  

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

Cold Porcelain Paste:

3/4 cup of white glue

1 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup of water

1 teaspoon of cold cream

1 teaspoon of glycerin

Mix wet ingredients until smooth over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes and add cornstarch. Stir continually until it forms a ball, remove from pan and mix thoroughly with hands. (I like to cover with a damp cloth until its cool enough to handle) do not refrigerate. Keep in an airtight bag. Use as you would any modeling paste, can be molded and used in many ways... use chalk powder to color, or paint with any paint when dry. Use cold cream to moisten mold and/or when you are working with it, if it becomes sticky.. Or ..dust with cornstarch...adjust ingredients for more or less.

Another one (for some reason called Mastic)

1/4 cup of water

1/4 cup of cornstarch

1/4 cup of Bicarb soda

Mix all ingredients together and cook (stirring) until it forms a ball. This is

used the same as above. Great for flowers and tiny things!!!! and so soft to work with!

Terry Hale

2 T. mineral oil

1 C. white glue

1 C. cornstarch

White gouache (opaque water color)

Mix oil and glue in a non-stick sauce pan.   Add cornstarch and cook over low to medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until a dough forms and the pan is “clean”.   The outer crust of the dough ball will be solid, while the center appears sticky. style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Remove the ball from the pan and knead until the consistency is even.   Add about a teaspoon or so of white gouache   and knead in thoroughly.   ( CP without gouache is transparent when dry. )   Wrap ball in plastic and   put in plastic bag. It will keep a week or so at room temperature, but refrigerate for longer storage.

TO USE:

Working - Cold porcelain rolls, cuts, frills, etc., like gum paste. Unlike gum paste, however, it is extremely strong and the finished piece will last indefinitely.   If CP sticks to the working surface, cold cream or cornstarch can be used.   Cold cream on the cutter will also keep pieces from sticking.   Freshly cut petals can be worked more easily   than petals which have sat out for even a few minutes. yes">  If you like to cut several petals at a time, keep the resting pieces covered. Although uncovered pieces are not too dry to work, they will be tough.

Shrinkage - Use cold porcelain as you would gum paste, but be aware of shrinkage.   Make test pieces where finished size is critical, since CP tends to shrink by as much as 30 percent! Very thin pieces seem to shrink less than thicker ones. Plan for shrinkage when combining CP with non-shrinking media such as stamens by making the stamens stand a bit shorter than normal.

Wiring - If using wired petals or leaves, do not insert wire too close to the surface, as the paste shrinkage can leave the wire exposed.   Any water based “glue”   (gum Arabic, egg white, etc.) will work to adhere wires in CP.   Since the paste already contains glue, the “lick and stick method” works, too, but this is obviously not recommended for projects where hygiene is a factor.

Coloring - CP can also be   tinted with other gouache colors or with powdered food colors.   I recommend adding very small amounts of color to CP with white already added. Projects can be colored with petal dust and also steamed to set color.   The surface of CP seems smoother than gum paste, so more color may be needed. Projects may be painted with “petal paint” consisting of petal dust mixed with isopropyl   (rubbing) alcohol.   The color will be very vivid.   Isopropyl alcohol is poisonous if you drink it, but harmless when it dries. Projects may be dipped in coloring solution-Isopropyl alcohol with paste color dissolved in it. Projects can be spray painted or painted with acrylic craft paints.

Finishing - After the piece is assembled and colored, spray   with matte (satin) polyurethane.   A semi-gloss or gloss can be used for shiny leaves.

COLD PORCELAIN RECIPE

2 tblsp. of baby oil

1cup of Elmer’s glue

1/4 cup of cornstarch

Place in a saucepan and cook on the lowest heat for 16 to 20 minutes Turn out on to a cornstarch dusted board and knead in an additional 1/4 cup of cornstarch or enough to make a smooth non sticky paste to roll out, use cold cream instead of Crisco to grease the board with also, if you want your porcelain to be white and less translucent Use white titanium acrylic paint and add to paste till you reach the desired color. You can tint it any color by using acrylic paints also. Make sure you store it in an airtight container!

June

Needlework supplies and mini rugs: I have found the Needlework in Miniatures web site to have the crochet tools I need. She also sells knitting and rug making supplies and finished items.I learned of her from my MiniatureCrochet Yahoo Group. The URL for Needlework in Miniature is: http://www.angelfire.com/ma2/vmsw

or an easier URL http://www.pobox.com/~nim

Lynne, from Ames, Iowa

Making Mini Clothing:: There are many brilliant miniature seamstresses on this list and I'm sure they'll reply, too, but for my dolls, I sew many of the seams by placing the garment on top of tissue paper. After the seam has been sewn, I tear it away. It helps it move under the needle and not 'pull' that 1/8 " seam.

Diana Wieler