Finishing Rough Edges of House: I have seen houses where the edges were covered with a thin strip of veneer. Looked very nice. I think I will try that on my house...

Asa in Fairfax VA

Finishing Rough Edges of House: I always cover the unfinished cut edges of the house with 1/16"x 3/8" or 1/2" strips of basswood, and paint the house color or trim color.

Fannye in TX

Finishing Rough Edges of House: a lifesaver for me has been Wood filler (in Canada, it's made by Lepages - can get it at Home Depot - you just fill in all the edges, wet your finger just a little and smooth it all out. You can paint right over it and it looks fabulous. Gives a real nice finished look to the edges.

Vi in Canada

Finishing Rough Edges of House: I cover all my house edges with channel molding and paint either to match the color of the siding on the house or the color of the baseboards in the rooms.

Mary Lynne in Huntington, WV

Painting Metal. Use a metal spray primer then you can paint with acrylics with no problem. Just don't spray a heavy coat or use a air brush with paints designed for metal models. Last choice are the testers paints which I hate using as they don't have a water base and I am lazy about clean up LOL.

Anita MH

Painting Metal. Depends on the metal. If a metal gets an oxide coating from exposure to air such as aluminum or steel (rust). The metal must first be cleared of the oxide. It can be "pickled" in an acid bath to remove the oxide coating and get down to bear metal. If the metal is bar to begin with. a primer coat should be applied. When that is dry then use you paint of choice. Certain paints can be baked onto the metal such as enamel onto copper. This is just touching the surface in putting paint on metal. No pun intended.

Dr Bob

Painting Metal. You definitely can paint metal with acrylics. The word "tole" comes from the French word for sheet metal. The metal must be very clean and primed. I have only painted already-primed pieces, and they are in great shape after years outdoors.

Bar Turner

Painting Metal. I always opt for easy clean up if I can! I have recently purchased and begun using a water based paint for metal, called Dr. Ph. Martin's Metal Craft. It works on everything from wood to plastic to metal! Nice range of colors too! I got it at Michaels, but I'm sure many craft stores carry it. Their website has some really neat links too!

http://www.docmartins.com

Alice Zinn

Painting Metal. You can clean the metal with rubbing alcohol, prime with Folk Arts Glass & Tile Medium (pay attention to the curing time) then paint with acrylic paints. This is quick, easy and cost effective since it only requires the addition of the medium to your assortment of craft paints.

Becky

Painting Metal: Any paint can be used on metal, even the wonderful acrylics "we probably couldn't live without!" But, the metal must be primed first to prevent rust from forming.

With new metal, wash the piece first in soapy water, then rinse in a half/half solution of water and vinegar. This will remove any traces of oily film or fingerprints, and will also give "tooth" to the metal for the primer to adhere. Then, allow the piece to completely dry (if you're in a hurry as I usually am, use your hair dryer to make sure that any accumulation of moisture is out from furled edges, etc.). Apply a rust-inhibitive primer such as the Krylon product or any metal primer found in the automobile section of your hardware store. Again, using a primer gives the piece "tooth" so that the acrylic paint will stick to the project.

With old metal, sand all loose rust from the piece and remove any remaining rust with a Naval Jelly. Then, follow the instructions for new metal prepping before applying any paint.

Though the piece may be primed, it is very easily scratched before any paint is applied, therefore, care should be taken. Once painted, it's fine, but I always apply several coats of varnish just to be on the safe side.

Helen, Boucherville, Quebec

Polishing Silver: Toothpaste will also polish silver.  I sometimes save small jars and wash it with water and some toothpaste,  I place the silver overnight or for a few hours.  Rinse and dry with a soft cloth.

Paulette

Bamboo Mats: I got a package of four bamboo place mats for $5 last week at Pier 1.  They worked perfectly for making latillas on a southwest house.  I stained them before gluing them to the ceiling.  Worked out well.

Dottie

Roughing Up Log Cabin: I have uses a wood burner to great satisfaction in making wood grain and roughing up dowels to replicate logs. First you need to uneven up the logs a bit. Use a small hand plane to take off some of the round. Then a heavy rasp. Drag the rasp side ways along the log. let it wobble a bit as the grain isn't always in line.  Then go back over with the wood burner to highlight spots.   to make a knot drill a hole in at an angle and drive a whittled small round dowel to make the knot. Chop it off a little high. Then with the wood burner burn the end of the dowel to look like a dark knot. Then using the wood burner burn in grain lines around the knot.  It should look something like an eye. After all this You should stain the wood to look old.  I even like rubbing ashes in the wood after stain it and then wiping it off.  Famous Thomas Bug juice also works well for darkening the wood. Not so well on pine but it does work some.

Bill Hudson, Eugene, Oregon

Repainting wire wicker furniture: You could try sponge painting your wire wicker with acrylic paints. I didn't want the white-white, so used a couple different shades of ivory. I was really pleased with the results . . . gave it more of an antiquey look with no globs or shine. Practice, practice. . .

Jude

Coping Moldings: Coping is a term used to describe cutting away the back edge of one molding to fit snugly against the face of another molding in a corner- or anywhere else along the length of a molding, if you happen to be constructing a framework. I'll touch briefly on corners here. When installing a crown molding in a room, decide first which wall is going to receive the coped part.

This normally is the wall that is first seen, or faced when walking into a room. If you are building a room box, then this would be the back wall. In a room with four walls, only two of the walls receive the coped moldings. These two walls are opposite each other. Now install the crown molding on the two walls that won't be coped, cutting the molding off square, to length for a nice snug fit. The coped moldings are also cut to length (using a razor is fine for moldings this small) but the ends are cut away at a 45 from the rear. The way to do this with the least amount of fuss is to lay the molding into a miter Box with the FACE of the molding facing away from you, toward the back wall of the miter box( a 45 degree cut is called a miter.) Then take your razor or very fine saw and make a 45 degree cut down across the end of the molding. Since there are countless types and styles of moldings, I can't cover all of the variables here. I would suggest that you practice with some pieces of molding that you don't mind wasting, first. One end is cut first, tested for a suitable fit (or cope), the other end is marked for length and cut. If you aren't a master cabinetmaker, you may want to install the coped molding in two halves, with the two outer ends being coped and just a square cut meeting in the center. (The square cut allows for a much simpler fit.) This Old House or The New Yankee Workshop TV series might be a good source of video on the subject. I know that you can contact Yankee Workshop for series videos.

Brian Poor

Spackle: Here is a trick I found from a wallpaper guy when I was skim coating my walls with joint compound prior to wallpapering. Instead of sanding with sandpaper, sand by wetting a dishtowel or rag, wring it out good and lightly rub the damp cloth over the area to be smoothed. Works like a charm. I assume it would work on both joint compound and spackle - they are similar. Saves your lungs, too.

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Attaching minis to wall:  There is a new product out that is called Kling Magnetic Paint.  It is not magnetic itself, but when applied like a primer on a dollhouse wall it will hold anything magnetic.  I've used it to cover the wall. Then I attach a tiny piece 1/32 inch thin strip of magnetic strip (with the peal off backing I buy at WalMart) to the  mini picture back or quilt back.  Presto...it stays up like magic and no spots or staining on the wall.  The Kling primer even works through wallpaper for those of you who like to wallpaper the walls. It's great for being able to re-arrange items so easily...no messy tape or tacky stuff!

I buy mine at Michael's in the pint size...covers lots of mini walls, but you have to special ask for it, as some of the stores have it ordered but not on the shelves yet.

==== More info on the Magic Primer and how I use it is here:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/8157/products.htm

==== Pictures of one of my grand babies' personalized mini quilt is in the March 2001 Dollhouse Miniatures Magazine, with instructions on how I printed it to fabric. That's a carefully worded plug for the March 2001 "Printing to Fabric" DHM article, and I do thank all of you who have sent me the nice emails about the article :-)

Wilma Kinder, in the beautiful SW MO Ozarks

Door skin: Door skin (wood or sheet metal) is material that is placed on the face of a door. It usually is in sheets of 4 ft. X 8 ft. and the wood is fairly thick for mini work; perhaps in the area of 1/4". The sheet metal would be thinner but again in large sheets.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

Dyeing Fabric: I took a rug hooking class a few years back, and we worked mostly with scrap wool, but sometimes with cotton or silk. The teacher believed in natural dyes, and each time we came to class, there would be a pot on the stove with a new color for us to add our fabrics to.

The one we all liked best was--Onion Skins! We collected those yellow-orange skins at the bottom of the grocer's bin, put them in a nylon bag and tossed them into water to boil for 10 minutes. Then we turned off the heat and added the fabrics and let them soak till they were the right color. It turned light fabrics a subtle shade of off white and always seemed to unify the general coloration on a bunch of otherwise unmatching patterns and fabrics.

Lynn O'Shaughnessy, Princeton, NJ

Warping and Sealing: The only way to prevent the wood from warping is to seal it with a wood sealer product on both sides of the wood. How do you correct the wood that has already warped? If someone has a method to do this successfully, then they have very valuable information!  It's almost impossible.  Some methods to try and accomplish this is taking a spritzer bottle (like what you use to spray plants) of water and dampening it, then laying really flat objects on top until it dries (like that set of encyclopedias or your giant atlas!). Sometimes it works, a bit, and  sometimes it doesn't if the warping is really serious. I try to avoid using shellacs for primers because the clean up is a pest and they just smell so much.  Jo Sonja's Wood Sealer is an acrylic-based sealer, dries fast, and cleans up with water.  I've used this for sealing dollhouses and I've never had a problem.  Do one side of the wood, lay it on a sheet of wax paper, then about 15 minutes later, get the other side done.  If after the first side is done and you're about ready to do the second side, and it seems like your piece has raised to a curved bevel, once you do the second side, it will flatten right out.  A tip I figured out last spring...we live in a very damp area and the need for a dehumidifier in our basement is really necessary.  Last year when sealing or painting any of the dollhouse pieces, I started to lay them all down in front of the dehumidifier on the floor, then turn the dehumidifier on low and let them dry in front of that for 5 minutes.  Amazing!  They not only dried faster, but the humidity from the paint (acrylic paints) was absorbed and this too reduced the chances of warping.  I also did this with the entire dollhouse after I wallpapered each room.  I just plopped the entire dollhouse in front of the dehumidifier for 5 minutes...just sucked out all that humidity in less than 5 minutes.  Now, for those of you that don't know, dehumidifiers are expensive, but if you have one, definitely use it cause it makes such a difference. As far as the pieces that have already warped, the only choice you may have is to replace them.  If it is a tab and slot kit (most likely one from Greenleaf or Corona), it's Luan wood and you can buy this wood at most wood supply departments ..home depot, etc.  It's splinters easily and it's nasty to cut, but this will replace your spoiled wood pieces.  Draw the outline of the piece of warped wood on the new wood (be sure to hold it down flat) then cut it out.  If you have a scroll saw or know someone that does, this will help because the blade cuts fine and there will be much less chance of splintering the wood.  Go slow, take your time and it will work well.

Joy in Pointe Claire