Closed umbrella: The easiest way to make an umbrella is to cut a circle of appropriate size (either hem it or glue lace all around. Then run a gathering thread about 1/2" or 3/4" from the top. Now poke a hole in the middle of the circle and poke the umbrella handle through it to the other end. Glue beads over both ends of the handle. Pull the gathering thread tight and tie off. Then twist (and glue) the circle around the handle.

Viola

Cup hooks and screw eyes: try Jewellery findings. They sell "head pins" which come with tiny loops at the end, in either gold or silver colour. You can use the loops to go into the ends of utensils, and open the loops up a bit, to make the hooks.

Alison from Accrington

Stair runners and stair rods. I think a trip to your fabric store would turn up a *lot* of decorative ribbon in various textures and designs, and the best part of it is--pre-finished edges! ::g:: As for the brass stair rods, on page 224 of the 2000-2001 Fire Mountain Gems catalog there are brass tube beads, gold-plated and silver-plated. The longest are a little short for stair rods, but if you strung a few and finished the ends with small brass beads I think they will work. (The number for ordering the catalog--which has much more stuff than their website--is 800-355-2137.)

Molly

Stair runners and stair rods. you can find nice "carpet runners" in the fabric shop -- look at the decorative embroidered braids and ribbons. Some look just like petitpoint, but they don't work well on curving stairs because they won't lie flat around the turn. For the brass rods, you can use brass tubing (if there's a train hobby shop around they should have it) and findings, or if you want to be really thrifty you can cut the cotton ends off plastic swabs, glue on beads, paint them metallic, and glue them in place over the runner.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Stair runners and stair rods. you should check out embroidered ribbon at a fabric store. The right width, good texture, and the nice finished edge. I suppose you could also take fabric and embroider or crochet edging. For the brass bars, I think a nice homemade solution might be bamboo skewers painted gold. I think toothpicks would be short enough the taper would still show so you would want to move up to the longer skewers.

Linda in Leroy, OH

Stair rods: You can purchase thin brass rod to use as your stair rods, but the real problem is how to fasten them in place. I have only seen the brackets in magazines from the UK, where loose runners and stair rods are quite common. DH suggests cable claps, which can be purchased at a hardware store. They come small enough for telephone cords, so ought to be do-able. I was going to suggest cutting thin pieces of crown moulding and drilling holes to accept the rods, but I think I like his idea a LOT better!

Dani, in Bradshaw, MD

Stair rods: On my first dollhouse (about 20+years ago) I decided I had to have stair rods to hold the carpeting on my staircase. That long ago, you really had to improvise on things. I used jewelry screw eyes that were plated gold. They look like a screw eye in full size but are much tinier and have a sort of cap just above the threads. (They get glued into holes in earrings, etc. to fasten the posts and earwires etc.) I used small diameter brass tubing that fit through the holes in the screw eyes, and some tiny drawer knobs to plug the end of the holes in the tubing. I don't remember who makes them, but they just have a little spike on the end of the knob. I had to drill each spot where the screw eyes went - these eyes had a flat end because they weren't meant for wood. I was very pleased with the effect but it was very time consuming.

Bonnie Gibson

Door Hardware: Kendall doesn't have a website but I have those doorknobs on my site. http://www.spminiatures.com/kendallall.html

Carol

1" scale Mason jars: http://www.cottonridge.com has them!!!

Marsha, Newark, CA

Miniature kaleidoscope: There are instructions for a working 1870 kaleidoscope in "The Toys of Christmas", The Best of 'The Scale Cabinetmaker' series, Volume 1, by Dorsett Publications. It was originally in TSC 8:3. It is what induced me to buy the publication although I am a long way from trying to make it. It uses tin stock, hobby mylar mirror and acetate "glass". The instructions also include a wooden stand for the kaleidoscope.

Wendy in Clinton, NJ

On framing: I recently did my first frame, which I silver-leafed. I have a great tool that helped me a lot, which is a framing clamp. It is basically four long screws and bolts that square up your frame perfectly. I recommend it. I used a miter box, some scrap moulding, wood glue, the clamp and a silver leafing kit. Once you get the frame clamped in, be sure to press it down flat on your work surface to make sure it is nice and even and flat.

Lynette in WNC

Sewing accessories: Just made some spools of thread for the sewing room. Take dowels and cut length to scale. Wrap colored thread around it and drill a hole on each end. For button cards I cut plain index card to scale and glued the smallest colored seed beads to it for buttons. I am sure you all thought of this, but I wanted to be able to share something.

Kendra

Making baskets: had to let you know about a web site I just found.
go to http://www.minitaly.com

It is a really neat site. just go to the English version and then go to projects. It shows you how to make the cutest baskets out of tapestry fabric. I tried it because they were so cute. They are easy and very cute. I used fabric for cross stitch in the loosest weave they had. I also made one out of something that looked kind of like burlap.

Kenna in Texas

Baskets: PetiPoint makes great baskets. Keep your eyes open for pill bottle caps and some nice ones are formed on lipstick cases.. They are easy and finish off nicely.

RHODA

Lace on Picture Frames: I make a basic frame out of mitered balsa wood, to fit the picture, I might add. I've applied fine lace with white glue, (also mitered the corners), painted the frame first with red, then dry-brushed gold paint on top. I've used heavier lace, the embroidered looking type, and painted or stained the whole thing brown, black, red or whatever, then used Rub-n-Buff. The results look like carved frames. The problem is finding the 1/8" lace for the smaller frames, for larger frames 1/4" is fine. I have also cut out designs from the lace, i.e. two petals in a "V" shape, and used this just on the corners. They really go quite quickly and are fun to make. I've used "V" shaped angled wood for frames, 1/2 round wood, and even layered a small frame on a larger one, to add depth. I then paste the picture onto card stock, glue clear vinyl sheeting cut to size for glass, and then glue the whole works together. I try to put the name & artist on the back of the card, if possible.

S. Begley

Stuffed Animal Rugs? I have another idea I would like to bounce off of you...I have seen animal rugs, ranging from $30 to $300. I thought that if I could find a very realistic small stuffed animal (bear, tiger, etc.), I could split the seams, remove the fill and make a rug. Has anyone seen any very realistic stuffed animals? Perhaps at a zoo gift shop?

Kathy from Tustin

Pirate's Bar: A plank across wooden crates or barrels is perfectly fine for this period and milieu! Bars didn't become really fancy until the Victorian era (you should see some of the ones here in Prescott--woo-wee!).

Molly/StormBorn

Books: If you want the kind of shelves that a real reader ends up with after years of buying a book here and a book there, all of them read and well loved, foam core will work better than balsa. Measure and scale your real books and make the faux books one at a time so that even the ones that are similar in size or color will still come out slightly different. Choose a size, a cover material and a page edge color. Cut the foam core shape with a very sharp Exacto blade. Press the metal edge of a ruler down hard very close to the edge on both sides of the "book" where the binding bends in on a real book. Color the cardboard edges to match the cover paper; this makes the finished book look like it has a thick binding, not a piece of thin paper glued to cardboard. Gild or color the "edges of the pages" -- i.e., the foam -- as desired. I've used gel pens, watercolor pencil (slightly dampen the edges first and the color spreads beautifully), and regular #2 lead, all with good results. Stroking the edges of the foam a few times on all three sides with the tip of a sharp pencil makes it look like real paper. Cut the cover material to fit top to bottom as closely as possible, just a HAIR bigger than the cardboard. Leave the wrap-around length bigger than you need to start with. Spread a thin, even layer of glue on ONE side of the book and, while the glue is wet, press the ruler back into the ridge. When the glue is set, spread a thin, even layer of glue on the other side, NOT on the edge, and wrap the cover around. The spines on real books are not stuck down. Barbara Brear recommends putting something in there, like a toothpick, to hold it while you're gluing, but I'm too much of a klutz apparently. Everything I put in ended up sliding out and bouncing around on to the floor, so I went with just eyeballing the bulge and it seems to work for me. Press the ruler into the ridge on the second side. While the glue is drying, I sometimes lay the ruler flat on the book and press down. This gives me some thinner and some thicker books, even though I'm using the same size foam core for them all. After it's all dry, trim the edges, again just a HAIR bigger than the cardboard.

For a well read book, "age" the finished binding with some creative swipes with an emery board where a real book would be worn. I'm not doing much for titles, because the foam core faux books are only going into dark corners as library filler. I have mostly just done some little dots on the bindings in the right places with a very fine tipped marker. I find these books a wonderful way to pass time while I wait for web sites to load so I can shop mini sites. As I finish them, I glue them on to the shelves, put some across the tops of other books or maybe falling a bit sideways, whatever looks right to me at the time, so the library is growing in a kind of realistic, organic way, as a real one would and it's turning out SO well!

Chrissy

Picture Frame - Using a miter box and razor saw, you also need a small piece of wood for a "stop" and a small clamp. You need a miter box that has a 45 degree this way \ and / that way. Make a 45 degree cut at this / slot. Measure one side of your picture and add TWICE the width of the framing material that will fit flat on the wall (not the indented portion that holds the picture). Place the stop on the miter box at the measurement you've determined away from \ slot and make the other cut. Do not remove the stop. Make another 45 degree cut on the end of your wood and place it against the stop. You will have two matching pieces. Hold them against each other to check. I always cut the longer sides first. If you make a mistake, they can become the shorter sides. Use a wooden miter box if possible, a metal one will destroy the teeth on your saw blade. If you can't find them locally, I have them available.

Ruth

Mini Paintings: I paint on panels of 1/32 airplane plywood from art or hobby stores cut to 1/12th of the size of the original painting which is being reproduced in mini. I give each panel 3 or more coats of a good quality gesso, alternating in vertical and horizontal directions and sanding in-between coats. I also smear a little water on the back while gessoing, so that warping is minimal. The reason I choose this dimension is standard framing has a 1/32" deep by 1/16" wide groove to fit around the panel. This way the back will be flat. I have seen paintings done on stretched canvas and I think they have too much texture. What ever texture the painting has should be limited to the paint itself and that kept small. It works for me, and should last forever.

Framing is tricky. I still mis-measure and I've done more than 60 of them. The stock comes from Hobby Builders Supply or similar. None of my stores stock it. Hardwood is harder to find. I got some ebony at the Guild show in 2000 and I have gotten cherry and mahogany at the Dollhouse Factory which is, alas, closing. Measure carefully, hold the stock firmly against the miter box. Don't let it roll. The cherry stock has a rounded outer edge and I had a lot of trouble with it but it is worth it when finished. It looks great. Always use wood glue (Elmer's yellow). You can put a drop or two of water on a corner and take it apart and do it again when it doesn't come out right. When framed I sign the panel with my name and date and the name and date of the original painter. I use acid-free paper on the back and sign again, everything with a touch of wood glue so it can disassemble. I hope some of this helps.

Marilyn Crockett