Log Cabin Floor:  I have done many floors including Log Cabin and have used random sizes from 1/4 inch, half inch and up to 3/4 Inch.  Follow a pattern   when laying them.   You can even cut at random lengths and fill in on the sides.   Follow the same size after so many strips. After floor is laid and glue dries, sand the top.  Stain with a Minwax stain to match your walls. For a finish, use a matte finish NOT GLOSSY. It will give it the rather rustic look you want for the cabin.

Ann Weiner

Log Cabin Floor:  An alternative for the floor. It works well for me. If you are lucky enough to have a store that sells handmade paper (paper store, stationary, art supply) see what they have. Years ago I bought a very large piece that is brown and fibrous, It can be torn or ripped and makes a great floor.

Melissa Cookman

Log Cabin Floor:   Unfortunately, there aren't many options - either dirt, stone or tile.   The latter two don't really work with log cabins, so I'd still go with wood, but not oak or anything fancy.  Use basswood strips about 1/2" x 1/16 or even thinner.  You can also use strips of different widths for a random look, but make sure they are all the same thickness. Depending on the look you want, sand them a bit with the coarsest sandpaper (going with the grain), to make them look hand hewn, or just use them as is.   Lay them like a regular wood floor, but if you leave some gaps here and there, it will look more rustic.   Since you don't want the floor to be too pretty, don't finish it with glossy polyurethane - use a matte sealer instead just to protect it.   You could even rub some dirt into the floor before sealing, so that it wont look too new.

As for other ideas, how about a chimney and fireplace faced with pebbles to simulate "river stones".     Use tartan plaids for curtains and/or upholstery, or even just as blankets.   An old-fashioned cook stove, like the one that Chrysnbon makes, would be very appropriate.  I would recommend the Realife "Country Kitchen" kit, as the furnishings would be perfect for a log cabin, and are not large: an old fashioned stove, Hoosier cabinet, sink with pump and icebox.  These kits are no longer made, but they appear on ebay all the time.  Expect to pay between $10 and $20 - which is a great price for these excellent kits.   The only problem is finding the kit on ebay.   Usually, you can do a search for "Realife" and most of their kits will come up.   But some sellers misspell it as Reallife or Real Life, while others list it only as Country Kitchen Kit or something else entirely.   So, try several searches.

Jonathan in Israel

Stucco Problems:  the slick surface of foamcore is best primed with gesso to create a grip. Your stucco is cracking and chipping because it has nothing to grab onto. Tuck this lesson in the back of your mind and remember that closed, nonporous surfaces, like glass, tile and slick posterboard need to be primed to create artificial pores that can be clogged with gunk.

Becky Holliday

Roofing Material: I am also doing a Craftsman style home, and have several books about bungalows which I use as my guide.  They picture asphalt roofs, a surprising number of shake shingle roofs, and the rare slate roof.

Jeri Moriarty

Gluing Food to a flexible plate: Silicone works better on these soft plastic liners than white glue. You don't want the cookies sliding off at the last minute.

ARGO113

Marbling is harder to describe than do. Many of the DIY books have instructions. Short version: choose a base color, a couple of related, slightly darker shades, and one dark shade for the veins. Example: cream, tan, light brown, and burnt umber. I use standard acrylics from WalMart.

Paint the base color, let dry. Pour a small puddle of each darker shade on a disposable palette (clean meat tray, paper plate). Dampen a small sponge in water and wring out, dab it in one of the darker shades, and then dab on the palette till it's fairly dry and leaves only faint sponge marks. Sponge them randomly all over the fireplace. Repeat in some areas if you want more intense color. Rinse and wring out sponge, dab in second darker shade and repeat, sponging in some new spots, overlapping the first sponging in others, and leaving small areas showing base coat.

While the sponged layers are still slightly damp, use a very fine brush (some people use feathers) to lightly trail veining randomly across the piece -- don't overdo at first, you can add more if it looks too sparse.

If you don't like the effect, keep dabbing on alternating thin layers of the base, accent colors, and veins till it looks right --marbling is really forgiving and hard to mess up as long as you use a light hand! When you're satisfied with the look, let it dry. If you want to tone it down a bit, dab a final layer of very diluted brown wash over the piece, gently blot, and let dry again. Finally, spray a coat of matte acrylic to protect your creation.

For fantasy effects you can even use wild colors not found in natural marble -- pale lavender base, dark lavender and purple sponging, gold veins! All metallic with silver base, gold and copper sponging, silver and black graphite veins! Marbling is fun to play with.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Tiles and other crafts: I have only SEEN this, not actually done it yet, but I am sure that one can make exotic tiles by combining rubber stamping crafts with mini ingenuity. There is a product called Clearsnap Molding Tiles (and also Stylus.) These are little black foam shapes...squares, etc.....that can be snapped onto a stylus and heated (with a light bulb) to accept a design from a dimensional object, like a button, and then used to stamp out the design. Actually, the foam tiles themselves can be used plain, to stamp out a color, so a square would make square tiles, diamond shape would make diamond shape tiles, etc. They also make rubber mats with tons of designs that can be copied onto the black foam shapes, but it is a lot of fun to use 'found' objects to do this. Once you find a design/shape you like, you can use acid free paper and acid free waterproof inks to print out a whole floor of tiles. Then, use something called DIAMOND GLAZE to emboss them, give them some texture/shine. I am sure this process has lots of mini applications and I am anxious to try experimenting when I get a chance.

Rose

Marbleizing: I use a base coat of matte acrylic paint in the desired color. After it dries I use a very fine-pored sponge and dab on bits and streaks of lighter and darker shades of the same color. A small feather works for applying veining in the color of your choice, usually a darker shade than the other colors. Experiment on samples and when you have the effect you want, let the paint dry well and then spray with clear sealer or apply a liquid gloss acrylic such as Mod Podge to give the piece a polished-marble shine.

Susan at the White Rabbit's House

FAUX CRACKLE...

Step 1: Paint base coat on surface in an earth tone.....grey, green, brown, dark red....your choice, in a semi-gloss acrylic. Let dry. You can use a hair dryer if you like.

Step 2: Paint on even layer of Hide Glue (dilute with water to paint consistency) over entire surface, cross hatching as you go....meaning; paint over surface in both directions. Hide Glue is available at a good hardware store, furniture restorers use it for lacquer work. ) Let dry, very important! ok to use hairdryer.

Step 3: Now the magic! paint over entire surface with latex paint.... in a light color, such as white or cream....you can use small roller for best results.....now watch! craaaaaackle! let dry overnight.

Step 4: polyurethane or spray varnish to seal. You can test entire process on piece of foam core first, experimenting with different colors write your "recipes" on the back.

Sde Forest

Another way to create "marble": An old trick from Girl Scout craft projects....(from an old Girl Scout)....You'll need oil base paints, preferably enamel, which can be hard to find.

But the paint used on models may work. Just don't try it with water-based paint (because it will mix with the water.) Paint the object the base color you want and let it dry thoroughly. Fill a small throwaway container (large enough so your object will fit) with a couple of inches of water. A foil baking pan will work. Drop blobs of two or three colors of paint into it. Use a toothpick, craft stick, coffee stirrer or something similar to swirl

the paint around on top of the water until you have a pattern you like. Don't cover the surface of the water completely, leave spaces with just water between the colors. Then dip one side of your object, just touching the surface of the water enough to pick up the paint. Repeat with the other sides. (You may have to let one side dry, then do the others, depending on how your object is shaped.) If the colors get too thin, you can add more paint and swirl it around some more. I tried this once years ago with tube oil paints thinned with linseed oil and it works, but not as well as the enamel did.

Nancy in Indiana

Plaster moldings: This would be very authentic for Victorian architecture. Many of the "wood" cornices and such were "wood grained" plaster. For miniatures, Hydrocal is finer and retains more detail than ordinary plaster of Paris. In the USA it is usually available through model railroad suppliers. Look into purchasing in quantity - it is much more affordable than the small bags which are simply repackaged and marked up ridiculously.

For molds, RTV works well if poured carefully over patterns well coated with mold release. Everybody has their own favorites so check your local art supply and (again) look at commercial quantities as a possible way of saving over the long run though most RTV does have a relatively short shelf life even unmixed.

For my plaster moldings, I "paint" the first layer into the molds to assure no surface bubbles, pour about half way and then add a strip of precut gauze for added strength before pouring the remainder. Slightly overfill the molds and then sandpaper away the excess after all is very-very thoroughly cured. Do not use wood or metal stiffeners as the widely different coefficients of climatic expansion and recession will cause cracking and separation with time.

Installing plaster cornices (for example) I usually glue to the wood shell or right over wallpaper with Elmer's white glue. Cope and overlap/underlap at corners rather than mitering. Paint AFTER all is in place but allow at least a month of cure time after casting prior to any glue or paint.

Mel K. Las Vegas

Das Clay: I wanted to clad the walls of my Tudor cottage, but could not find paper clay - so I experimented with DAS. The white clay can be used instead of paperclay on walls etc. Use white glue first and then apply in little balls. Smooth with fingers until the clay is as thick or thin as you desire. Dry overnight. The clay sets rock hard and paints up nicely - I was pretty impressed.

Lesley

Roofing  destruction: When reading your roofing destruction adventures I thought that I would mention using an airbrush for your roof. For one of my projects at art school we had to make a miniature scene using an airbrush....ripping the pattern from thick paper or cereal cardboard instead of cutting the fishscale strip gives it a nice worn look. You then airbrush over the edge of paper pattern and it leaves a neat fishscale pattern that looks quite realistic when all the layers are completed. Micro Mark carries spray cans you attach paint to if you don't want to invest in an airbrush system. I've also sprayed bricks made from spackle and with the splatter effect it makes nice bricks too.

Joanne, Calgary mini club

Location of flashing: Flashing, visible or not, is installed in so-called real life wherever something interrupts the plane of a roof (chimneys, vents, dormers, parapets, intersecting roofs of different heights or pitches, etc.etc.) or an exterior wall (windows, doors, et al.). Or it is stupidly not installed, as where my mudroom roof intersects my main house roof and sheets of water come down inside whenever there is too much snow, and then the front door swells and I am stuck either inside or outside, depending. But that is a different issue, since dollhouses are blessedly free of leaks. If you are installing a shingle roof on your dollhouse, you can choose to have exposed flashing OR you can claim it is installed under the shingles/siding, out of sight, and no one will sue.

Melissa

How to cover small areas of roof in copper: Make a paper pattern for the roof surface that you want covered. Use this pattern to cut the copper from copper sheeting. Make sure you leave enough on the pattern to fold over and under the roof edge. Glue to roof area. I used a combination of wood glue and quick-grab. Clip corners, and roll over roof area with hard rubber roller to get good adhesion. For the trim pieces, I covered strip wood (1/8 inch square pieces cut to fit) with copper tapewire on three sides. This is the single "run" of tapewire that comes in a roll with an adhesive paper back. The fourth side of the wood strips were left uncovered so they could be glued to the roof. I put the strips at 2 foot (2")centers, and also trimmed the area where the copper roof met the exterior walls. This copper tapewire was left over from my "tapewire" period. I only use round wire now. I have left the copper to darken naturally and plan to add a little "verdigis" with paint in the future.

Sharon Blake, Wasilla, Alaska

Chimney pots...we made them for the Rik Pierce thatched cottage class. Some students made them from paperclay. I have a collection of flower pots (well, you never know just which style you might need...) and selected one that seemed appropriate to me. It was terracotta but not the standard flowerpot shape. I painted it to blend with the chimney. Nobody has ever questioned it, but several have pointed that out as a cute feature of the house. After looking through some picture books at the library, I decided that chimney pots are just flower pots that came up in the world.

Bar Turner in La Honda, CA

Burgundy Color Combo: My deco house is finished in a raspberry fake stucco (fleckstone) with blueberry door, burgundy shutters, white trim, and green ivy rub-on paint designs on the flowerboxes. I like the color combination a lot. Still appealing after a couple of years.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Wonderunder-foamcore: I have not used WonderUnder on foam core, but I have used a product called "Heat and Bond". I attended an event that we build a box that looked like a present - but one side dropped down to use as a floor for a room. I built the structure and glued it together and then ironed on fabric with Heat & Bond. I assume that I did not have any warpage because the structure was already built and it adhered to the foam core quite easily without the iron being on it for very long. The product is used for appliqués on fabric. It's can be bought by the yard at fabric stores, Wal-Mart-- or also purchased in 5 Yard packages. It comes in regular and "lite" - I used regular, but I'm sure lite would work just as well. You just iron it on to the under side of the fabric, remove the paper and iron the fabric on the foam core.

Patty Johnson-- From beautiful Campbell's

Wonderunder-foamcore: I've done it to "brick" a building with an iron (a Sweetheart kit bashed with foamcore addition). Worked fine, but I do recommend that you follow the directions exactly for temperature and pressure, and practice on some foamcore scraps first to get the technique down. That's about as explicit as I can be; it's been a few years since I did it. Subsequently I've mostly done "stucco" houses with fleckstone because it's even quicker and very pretty.

Loretta.Sniarowski