Formica: I don't know about Carole, but I use Formica for Formica! It's thin and cuts great with a table saw or scroll saw.

Fannye

Formica: When I wanted a counter top for the kitchen counters in an apartment I was making I went to our best lumber store and purchased 2' x 4' of real white Formica. Unlaminated, Formica is less than 1/8" thick, so it is great for miniatures. I cut it with a table saw.

Barb Jones

Stucco: I used a product called StuccoMate for two dollhouses I just completed. It comes in a quart container and is very easy to apply. I used the fine texture. The label says that it bonds to most surfaces and can be used anywhere a textured stucco finish is desired such as decorating or craft projects. It is paintable, does not require priming, stays flexible (won't crack) and resists stains, mold and mildew.

Courdee

Wallpaper: I have used prepasted as instructed (wet paper). Very successful for about 4 years and still looking good. I have used wallpaper that needs to be pasted also. I put the paste on the walls directly. Be sure you have the paper cut and ready to apply. I had better control of the paste this way and it didn't get all over the finished ceiling and floor. I applied this with my fingers and in the tight corners I used a scrap of thin wood to smear it around. Just put a thin even coat---no lumps. Plus the paper was easier to handle when it was not full of paste. I used the wallpaper paste sold by mini shops.

Elise

Applying Clapboard Siding: When butt joining two pieces of (sheet) siding I file a 45-degree back bevel on the end of each adjoining sheet and gently but firmly; push the two pieces together when installing. This usually results in a very fine joint line and once painted almost completely disappears. As with any newly learned technique, it takes a little practice.

Lloyd Cooper

Roombox Exteriors: Not to make you feel bad but it would have been easier to finish the outside first. In order to apply most materials you need to move the box in different positions. You may damage or dirty the pieces inside. Also sometimes you need to use inside wallpaper, carpeting, etc. to cover edges of stuff you wrap the box with.

Wrapping paper tears or fades with time usually, so a fabric such as a motif to match the occasion works. You can also get textured fabrics that add interest. Wallpaper would be better if you want a paper look. I find that contact paper presents too many problems when I apply it. I end up with it sticking to itself. It also doesn't look as nice as fabric or some other coverings.

You can stick fabric on with so many things such as Wonder-under, double sided sticking paper, spray glue, thinned out tacky. Everyone has their favorite after trying different methods.

You can stick the junction splice through the fabric into the copper tape. However, I use furniture cleats and raise the box off the base. Then I either cut a slit or run the tape around the edge to the bottom of the box. Then you have room to put a junction splice under the box and the cord will come out of the bottom area. This looks neater and the cord is not hanging off the box somewhere.

Deanna Spanjar

Roombox Exteriors: I've completed many roomboxes, and finish the outside almost exclusively with sewing fabric applied with Tacky Glue. It gives a neater, more durable finish and is less likely to be spoiled by handling than if you wallpaper it. You can also apply sewing trims around the "window" portion of the box -- possibilities are endless. For a while, I was able to find a brick print on fabric which was in 1/12 scale. Quilting fabric stores and JoAnn's are great sources. Let your imagination run wild.

Anita Myers

Wood floors: You can cut the wood strips for your floor from 3/8", 1/2", 5/8". I prefer and always use 3/8" in one-inch scale. I lightly sand the top edges of the strip, and glue with wood glue. Everyone has their favorite so you'll get lots of choices, I'm sure. I don't stain and varnish until the floors are dried overnight. Sand, stain, varnish, steel wool, varnish. And then I hand rub the floors with brown paper bag scraps. You can also wax it, but I don't.

Fannye

Roombox Exterior: Cover the outside of the box in spackling and let it dry. Then with a pencil, draw on windows/door steps etc to make it look like the outside of a house. You can even take the side of a fan brush and dab dark green and lighter green around the bottom to look like tall grasses. For shrubs, take a scruffy old paintbrush and on an angle, stipple in some taller and shorter brush strokes for shrubs (practice all of this on a piece of cardboard first). With two colors of paint, you can double load your brush, do this by putting paint into a paper plate and letting the edge of the brush glide through the paint, then turn the brush over and do the same thing to the other side of the brush. When you paint with it, it's two shades of colors. You can trace windows that are 1" scale onto tracing paper, then use graphite paper to transfer the work. Also I think that cutting little bits of sand paper and overlapping them, make great shingles for a roof (especially gray sandpaper). For the front of the box, take a piano hinge and attach a front made of plywood and your box is enclosed.

Susan

Floor Planks: I've used the wooden coffee stir sticks (they are narrower than popsicle sticks) for floor planks. I glue them to the floor (I do this BEFORE the house is assembled so I'll not have to work inside "rooms".) I glue only a few rows at a time and then put books, cans or anything heavy, on top of the glued boards to keep them from warping. I make sure to stagger them so that the "cut end" of the stir stick isn't always in the same place (kind of like you lay bricks making sure they are staggered rather than one on top of another).... After they are all glued down and the glue has dried, I sand them because they are not always the same thickness.

I like them as planks because the different colors and grains of the stir sticks makes a very interesting floor, and the "scale effect" is perfect. After sanding you can stain and varnish... or just varnish.

Most coffee stir sticks have straight-edge ends, but if they are rounded, you can cut them straight across with scissors. After laying the floors and assembling the rooms, make sure that the doors will still open. Since the wooden planks raised the floor somewhat, you may need to shave away a bit of the bottom of the door.

Viola Williams

Possible Kitchen Faucet: Chris Kauhi wrote: Does anybody know of a way to make a kitchen sink faucet? I don't need anything elaborate, just one of the older type looking faucets that curves out over the sink? It just seems to me there should be some kind of screw or gizmo in a hardware store that would simulate a faucet; but I haven't been able to see it yet.

Chris....try the "Fishing" section at any Wal-Mart! There are some really nice " ;curves"in fish-hooks...in may different sizes and thicknesses! These can be cut (carefully) with wire-cutters to make many things! There is even a "three-hook" fishing hook that can be the basis for a really nice chandelier. Just go there and take your time, looking with a "mini-eye"...and soon you will have the basis for a lot of nice things!

Mary Aycock

Stone Fireplace: Thank you for your enthusiastic comments about Mossy Manor and Fairy Hollow, Susan! My favorite is Mossy Manor, and I too would like to live there!

You asked how I made the fireplace. The house is a 'kit bashed' Aster Cottage by Corona. It came with a die-cut wooden piece for the fireplace. It was just a flat piece with asymmetrical 45 degree slants in to make it more narrow at the very top. There is a hole in the wall which is walled in by the exterior part of the fireplace to give it depth. I started with that as my form to build on.

I bought some 1/2" molding from the hardware store and notched its two front edges with my x-acto knife. I stained it mossy green (watered down paint) and glued it in place on the fireplace form. I collected rocks at the beach. They were glued on with Quick Grab glue, and then 'mortared' with Spackle. I also glued the rocks inside the opening and, after their mortar dried, painted with thinned black paint.

The hearth (and 'floor' inside the fireplace opening) was also a wooden piece I covered in rocks. I used flat ones for this part. Again, I used black paint to make the floor inside 'burnt'.

For the outside chimney part, I again used the wooden form that came with the kit. I didn't use the very top detail pieces, but instead made a cap with flat rocks, and glued little pointed (triangle shaped) rocks like a crown on top. There is a slight hole when you look down in, but I made it appear bigger with black paint.

Pictures here: http://gerdesdesign.com/mossy.htm

Anne Gerdes

Decoupage: I use Mod Podge (available at craft stores) for decoupage projects. I apply several coats, and sand in between each coat when dry for the smoothest finish. My mother swears by polyurethane for decoupage. It takes her a bit longer to complete because each coat takes longer to dry, but she gets lovely results. I get nauseous from the fumes so I only use Mod Podge.

Michelle Fox

Decoupage: Decoupage is easy, just get Mod-Podge or one of the other brands and follow instructions on the label. Basically, you use the decoupage medium to glue your paper onto the item, roll any bubbles out with a rolling pin or other round object (have been known to use paint bottles), let it dry, and then slap on several thin coats of medium over the item.

Loretta Sniarowski

Paint: When thinning acrylic paint use Matte Medium, rather than water. It gives more body.

AnaMae

Darken/antique aluminum: This darkens the disposable aluminum from the pans you buy in the grocery store for one time use. After you have cut your pieces to the size and shape you want, soak them in ammonia to cover for several hours. Plain old ammonia from the grocery works fine. Makes them black, won't rub off. Not a complete black, but kinda blotchy, which was exactly the effect I wanted.

Jeanne

Plexiglas - I think there are probably lots of tips in the archives on making covers for dollhouses. When smoothing edges, use wet/dry sandpaper, progressing finer all the time and you can finish with hand rubbing the edges with toothpaste if you want it to be really spiffy. There are also lots of commercial polishes available. You can cut or drill Plexiglas, but you may have to experiment with drills, blades and speeds of operation for best results. If you cut too fast or too slow the stupid stuff melts and traps your blade.

Bonnie GIbson

Attaching Plexiglas: Look for a "U" shaped (probably more squared off) piece of metal in a hobby section or at a small hardware store. Take a piece of Plexiglas to make sure it fits in the channel. You glue the metal strip along the top and bottom edge of the area to be covered, then you put screws every 8 inches to support the weight of the Plexiglas.

A friend just showed me this method on the back of her wall hung dollhouse. Looks great.

Laurie Sisson

Attaching Plexiglas: We use Plexiglas and to attach it, we use Velcro... the self stick kind. This is a must, the "self stick type" or it wont hold up long. We use it on dollhouses, room boxes etc. You can cut it slimmer to edge just the edge of a room.

Billie Jo Eller

Aging copper: I always age our copper with salt and white vinegar. I use a plastic jar, pour salt in to about an inch and add vinegar. I let it set for a few days and then just use the vinegar to scrub on the copper. Don't stir it up and dip down into the salt. The scrubbing will then make it very bright and clean and if you wash it off is a good way to clean copper. Don't wash it off! After a few hours it will start to turn green, if it's not enough for me I then just paint the vinegar on--no scrubbing this time. You will see a big change the next day. Use an old brush and keep it for that. After time the solution in the jar will also turn green. I keep it for long periods of time as we use it in our workshops, also.

April