Pencils:  I make mine from very thin lead for mechanical pencils.  Just take the right size length, cover with thin paper or fabric, and paint the end as an eraser, and you have a working pencil!  I would give credit for this idea to its originator if I could, but I can't remember where I read it.  Maybe Workshop Wisdom?

Debbie from PA

Colored Pencils/crayons:  you can make color crayons and color pencils with the thin colored wires in phone cable. Just cut to size and "strip back for the "lead". Paint the little copper end in a color for crayons and lead color for pencils.

Anita

Tin ceilings: Some chocolate bars come wrapped in an embossed foil that looks like miniature tin ceiling. Also in shops that cater to cake decorators you can buy many designs of embossed foil for covering cake boards. (And you'd be surprised at all the other possibilities for miniaturists too.)

Elli in NZ

Wine Keg: I'm not sure if I remember correctly if a wine keg looks different than a whiskey barrel, but in Lee Valley Tools' main catalogue, they have whiskey barrels. Tuned on their side with a spigot, they would look quite realistic. They are solid and stain/age very well...and like a number of wooden pieces they sell, are perfect for 1/12 scale. You can request their catalogues from their website: http://www.leevalley.com

Joy in Pointe Claire

Game Room: If anyone is planning a game room or amusement park, there are some wonderful new products out by Basic Fun. Their web site is www.basicfuninc.com

They list web sites and stores where their items can be purchased. I just received the "Prize-O-Matic" which is the stand up game with the claw where you try to pick up the prizes and drop them into the chute to win...it really works, comes with prizes and is a total hoot. They also offer miniature pinball, air hockey, foozball, and rod hockey tables.

The same company also has a refrigerator key chain that is for magnetic poetry. The Magnetic poetry sticker comes off easily, and it is an adorable older model fridge that really lights up when you open it.

Suzy

Glass Shelving:  For my art and craft gallery project, I'd like to use glass shelving on the walls.  I can get my hands on glass slides (for a microscope), but am not sure how to hang them.  I've thought of bending two pieces of wire identically in a kind of zig-zag shape (the zig being parallel to the floor and the zag going back to the wall), hanging them side by side and placing the slides on the "zigs," but am not sure how successful that will be.  Does anyone have any thoughts that will save me some headaches?

Rosemary in Cleveland

Glass Shelving Supports:   I have used the decorative laser cut shelf brackets and also the laser cut stair brackets to support glass shelves.  I put a 1/16x1/16 piece of stripwood on the wall to help with the support.  If painted the color of the walls it is almost invisible.

Fannye in TX

Glass Shelving Supports:   You could use corbels as brackets to place your glass shelves on. They could be stained, painted, or gilded. I think they would look nice. If you used wire to make shapes, make sure that it is substantial enough to hold the shelf and whatever you place on it. Probably jumbo paperclips would work. I'm not sure though that I have a clear picture in my mind of the design that you are planning.

Rusty

Glass Shelving Supports:   A couple of other suggestions:  office supply stores sell pressboard report covers with flat metal clips to hold the contents.  Maybe you could use these as the zigzag supports -- they are about 1/4" wide and would be sturdier than wire, and the width would make the bond with the wall stronger.  Or, for something more ornate, check out the cast metal dealers.  I know Parker's Miniatures sells fancy Victorian shelf brackets, as I've bought and used them in the past, they're quite inexpensive, and paint up nicely.

Loretta.Sniarowski

pottery display:   If you would check out the roomboxes on my web site, you will see how I display Pueblo pottery and Hopi Kachinas.http://TaosSunMiniatures.com

I rout out a "niche" in the walls, left side of these boxes, but they can be placed anywhere and as many as needed, and I use a canister light in the top of the niche to light it.  I drill a hole the size of the canister in the top of the niche and then drill a 1/8th hole from the outside into the large hole so I can pass the wires out to the tape run on the outside of the box.  I make my boxes from 1"x 12" pine so they are easy to drill and rout into, and I can make them any length.  There is a plexiglass front that slides in and one on top to let in more light.  They are also easy to hang on a wall if so desired.  I make them unfinished as a kit.

Spencer

Saloon/Gambling Hall: I'm just finishing up a saloon/bordello and have found that gaming supplies, etc. are sort difficult to find in miniature. I found some darling diecast slot machines which are actually pencil sharpeners, as well as an old time safe in the current Dee's Delights catalog which my mini shop ordered for me.

As far as other gaming supplies, I know Stockton's carries some poker tables and things appropriate for a gaming parlor.

http://www.stockton-miniatures.com/

Here is one other source in California that I found when I lived in the L.A. area.: their business card proclaims the wife to be the "brothel specialist" with corsets, hats, shoes & negligees, while the husband's specialty is "saloon originals" with bars, slots, gaming tables, and the wheel of fortune."

Ernie & Nancie Loscar
Nancie's Millinery Plus
746 West Upjohn Road
Ridgecrest, CA. 93555

(619) 375-8159

I don't know if the Loscars have an email address and you might want to check the area code to this phone # since the catalog I have of theirs is about 4 years old.

Kathy in TX

Adding Music to your minis: The San Francisco Music Box Stores carry a pretty extensive supply of wind-up and button-type music box mechanisms.  I've added the wind-up type to many of my roombox creations, especially those I've made for gifts.

Anita Myers

Furnace and stove flue pipes: For the making of flue pipes for furnaces and stoves (pot belly, etc.) use the plastic soda straws that are accordion pleated so you can bend them and still drink the fluid. Take the straw and use the accordion pleats for your flue pipe bends (right angle, etc.) and the rest of the straw for the flue pipe. Paint appropriate color.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Paper Clay: I've been making paper clay bricks and stonework from an article by Ric Pierce in the May, 2000 Miniature Collector.  I have not been applying the paper clay directly onto the wood for a fireplace or house, as his directions say to do...I have been making small squares of flat paper clay to start with.  And, have come up with a tip for working with paper clay in this way...since you have to score the front for bricks, stone, etc...score the back too.  Otherwise the paper clay will warp when drying. 

      His instructions are clear, and this has been a fun project...not to mention a extremely useful way to make lightweight brick and stone.

Kaye in L.A.

Permstyle haircurler idea: The only haircurler idea that springs to my mind for the type you described, is a shoe scraper. You would have to cut a section about 1/2" wide down the length of the curler, and then cut about a one inch length of that, to end up with a concave piece, which could be painted and mounted "prickles up" on a flat base and placed outside an entry way. Good luck! It will be interesting to see what others come up with!

Alice Zinn

Very Fine China:  I've just ordered Stokesayware again for my shop because of the consistent quality. I also carry BESPAQ. It may not be as fine because of the handpainting, but it will create a spectacular table. I would recommend the Blue Willow types for a more fine finish. I can also recommend others that I've carried because of the quality. These are Lynn McVey, Nancy Duden and Marsha Hedrick. minitqs@execpc.com

Deanna, Thiensville

Platters:   In the teacher's section of Staples, Office Depot and the like (I've even found them just before school starts in Walmart) are bags of plastic "chips", some round, some square and in different appropriate sizes, which are used to teach kids about counting and fractions. They take metallic spray paints wonderfully and make excellent platters, among other things! I am sure you will find many creative uses for them!

Alice Zinn

Realistic Weights: Get thee to Home Depot's fastener section and get some nails (long ones). You will have to remove the heads and points, then get some washers (usually in the same section). The rest comes naturally.

Dr Bob

Sewing needles: I made needles for a quilting scene out of really thin piano wire. If you don't have access to that, why not try beading wire.

Tere Perry in Texas

Pipe cleaner chenille teddies: http://www.pipmin.fsnet.co.uk/teddy.html

Linda in GA