GAS PUMPS: Here are a few links for the person looking for gas pumps, some come in different scale sizes

http://www.maxpages.com/pmm/Gas_Pumps

http://www.checkeredflag-gifts.com/checkeredflag/pages/gifts. htm

Good pics on this page for ideas- http://www.oldgas.com/getz/frick1. html

http://www.onmarkint.com/gaspumps_pg8. htm A free full color catalog is available as well as a Dealer case lot wholesale program from this company. Site was just updated.

http://www.corvettemuseum.com/virtual_tour/nostalgia. htm interesting gas station pictures.

Brooke, WA

Yellow Raincoats. Jean's Wee things, 157 Glen Street Rowley MA 01969.

Susan

Rain Slicker: Sylvia Rountree does business as The Doll's Cobbler, and I know I have seen a yellow rain slicker (with matching hat and boots) on her table at shows. I have never seen her on any of the digests, but her mailing address (or at least the last one I have for her) is P. O. Box 906, Berlin, MD 21811.

Janet in Baltimore

Rain Slicker: Barbara Schuckman, BY BARB miniatures, from NY makes a slicker and other rain gear. You can email her at : bybarb@juno.com

Alice Zinn- Pt. ST. Lucie FL

English kitchens: they do have scales. In fact, I brought mine with me when we came to Canada, because I couldn't understand how you measured butter in a cup without making an awful mess!

The scales come in various shapes and sizes -- take a look at some postal scales next time you're in Staples, and imagine them big enough to take 2-3 cups of flour where the letters go.

Mine are rectangular with a stainless steel pan about 6" x 10" on a base the s ame size, with a sliding weight across the front. The pan wobbles on a spring, and when it settles, I know I've got the right amount.

Butter is easy. It comes in 1lb=16 oz blocks. Mark the diagonals, and you've got 4 sections of 4oz each. Cut one in half and voila! 2oz.

Kay in Ottawa

cooking scales: No cook worth her salt in England would be without weighing scales - well, certainly not in this day and age. Mine are made by Salter and are considered one of the best. They have the old fashioned look (but are still available) very heavy, have a black elongated base similar to a dog bone only with rounded ends. A balance piece over this consisting of two pieces of metal with struts in between and these hold to the left, a small round attached tray which holds the weights (mine are in ounces from 1/4 to 2lb - I left England before it went totally metric - I wasn't about to get another set of scales!) and on the right hand side are two crossed pieces of metal into which sits the brass scoop. You put the weight/s on the left and dump the goods in the scoop and when it balances evenly that's it!! My friend was really fascinated the first time she saw me using them, she had never seen anything like it!

Don't forget the pint measure is different too! U. S. A. is 16 liquid oz and the U. K. is 20 oz and I used to wonder why my mother-in-law's recipes never worked for me in England! 2 oz is half a stick of American butter. A heaped English tablespoon of flour is roughly an ounce. Hope this helps.

Pat in Cheyenne

Rubber Door Mat: here's another idea for a rubber mat: if there's a Fazoli's restaurant in your area, their salad containers have black plastic bottoms with a grid design. They make great 1:12 scale door mats and would also work as "foot-preserver" mats cut in a larger size.

Loretta Sniarowski

Shoes: Doll's cobbler has wonderful shoes and I do have a couple of hers - but if you are going to place shoes in a distant area and would like many, I suggest getting the many styles available at Metal Miniatures from the Reynolds in Illinois. I did an "Imelda's Closet" vignette and filled it with a lot of shoes in different colors & styles. I added raveled Bunka for frou-frous on some and managed to make some of the same styles look different with varied trims and colors. It was loads of fun and not very expensive for a novelty setting. Just an idea for those of you who have open closets or want some shoes in a bedroom.

Jeanette in Wisconsin

Passover: For anyone interested in Passover miniatures you can visit my site. http://www.fay-vourite.com

Fay

Chrysnbon Plates: About using the reducing method and patterns from the china-replacement site, I left out a couple of things that might help. I used the luncheon-sized plates.

For my project, I reduced the images I obtained from the china-replacement site. The one thing that made it easy for me was that my china is made by Nikko in the Christmas pattern and has a tree in the center of the plate with no pattern on the rim. After getting the proper reduction and printing on photo paper, all I had to do was use a round hole punch to cut out the tree, glue it to the center of the plate and put a final coat of nail polish on to give it a shiny china look.

It also helps to put down a strip of double-sided tape and set the plates on it while working on them. That way they won't slip and slide away from you.

Dolores

Crystal Ball: When my "New Age Crystal Tea-bagging Fluffy White Witch"(tm) needed a crystal ball I went to my local lapidary store and bought a real rock crystal which had been cut and polished into a sphere.  It is the size of a marble and has no imperfections.  I then bought a cheap "made in china" kettle with a stand so I could use the stand for my crystal, as the only stand the lapidary store could sell me was clear acrylic and not very "occult-y" looking. The kettle stand is metal and black and works really well.  I am happy and so is my Witchy ; ).

Fran in Melbourne

Mini Portraits: My son is a Fine Arts photographer who has developed a technique for the miniaturization of his original black and white landscape and architectural work. This is using the rare silver gelatin process.  He is now branching out into the field of miniature portraiture for Dollhouses. Imagine seeing your family or wedding pictures reduced to the correct scale, hanging on the wall of your dollhouse living room. If you are interested contact me at laviniaclarke@hotmail.com

Lavinia

Conchos: Have you thought about punching tiny circles from aluminum pie tins The disposable kind are very shiny. Depending on size you could even use a pin to put holes in it in a design. If you wanted different shapes the punches from JoAnns work on this type of material. I have been using a copper sheet to craft a rolling pin holder and use my smallest punch to make the hanging hole. I don't use these for a lot of paper work, so be advised that I don't know what this would do to the sharpness of a punch.

Carol (Jody)

Conchos: you could use bedbolt covers. They used to be made by Suzanne Russo but are now under the name of Black Diamond. They have some etching on them so they look like conchos. They are in Dee's catalog. I have had some and they are about 1/8".

Fannye

Porcelain Blanks for China Painting: We have been selling white ware to mini china painters all over the world for 17 years now. We will snail mail a 6 page leaflet of drawings done the same size as the "real" item, free on request. The white glaze we use will go all the way up to bisque temperature if needed; the ware is THIN and there is no minimum order. For more info check us out at http://avonminiatures.com

Donna and Keith Brown

Clocks: I made clocks for a state day. The way to make a lot is to request a clock catalog. You get a lot of neat designs. Then I bought movable eyes that come in a lot of different sizes. Using a razor blade I separated the plastic from the back. I then use the rounded plastic on top of the clock face. You can buy rings to go around the clock. I also buy small wooden shapes like houses, bears, hearts, apples -- anything that would look cute as a clock.

Bonnie in Montana

Felt Hats: If you have access to WOOL FELT it's wonderful to work with. This can be done with craft felt although it seems to have a mind of it's own and does not dry as sharp as the wool would.

1) You need a FILM CAN with smooth sides, NOT the one with the ridge at the top.

2) Piece of 5/8'' DOWEL 2 1/4" long.

3) 2 Tiny RUBBER BANDS, like the ones they put around green onions in the market. Larger ones leave an ugly dent in the hat.

4) Glue. I use Designer Tacky or Veverette

5) A square of felt 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 for a one piece hat (crown & brim all in one piece)

Submerge the felt in warm water and squeeze out excess water, you don't want it dripping but it must be wet all be way through. Center the felt over the dowel and wrap a rubber band around and around till it is firmly held. Stand the dowel in the film can and bring the felt down against the can top and secure with the other rubber band. The crown will go slightly off center but that doesn't matter. When you trim this later you will cut around the brim about 1/4" or approximately where the bottom of the last rubber band comes so you want to work that rubber band down the film can at least 1/4". That band tends to mark the felt and you can avoid this by moving it down.

Set aside to dry, I usually leave them 24 hrs. When you take it off the can if you have used wool felt it will be real sharp on all the folds where the Poly felt relaxes and has a different look. Now the fun begins, trim with feathers beads, roses, ribbon or what ever is your fancy. For a two piece hat, make the crown the same way we started the first hat. Cut your brim any size suitable and put a 5/8" hole in the center. When crown is dry trim it to the height you want it. Put a tiny bead of glue around opening of brim and place crown in hole. Press both parts together and leave to dry.

Helen from San Diego

Baby mobile: Go to a mini or craft store and find a few little things that you want to hang from it, toys, charms or whatever suits your fancy! Cut two pieces of wire about 1 1/2 inches long, and twist centers together to form an "X". Make tiny loops on each of the four ends. Using thread, hang your toys. Tie a piece of thread to the center and hang it from the ceiling...or..use another piece of wire to create a hanger in the shape of an arc. Attach one end to the crib and hang the mobile from a loop in the wire at the other end!

Alice Zinn- Pt. St. Lucie FL

Lumpy Mattress: for the mattress instead of using foam rubber, you should be able to use cotton balls and be able to get a nice lumpy effect, but if you really wanted to be more authentic, I believe that they were stuffed with hay or corn shucks, so I would think that you could use dried grass clippings.

Rusty in Ky

Removing Soda cap liners (to make plates with): I remove the bottle cap liners (soda & juice jugs) with a dental pick. Friends of mine use a needle. Put the tip of your tool of choice along the outside edge of the bottle cap liner and slide tip down under the edge and lift with the point. It should easily lift up so you can get hold of it.

Bobbie