Crackle Medium: The best crackle medium, in my experience, is by Jo Sonja. It's rather costly (about $9.00 here in Canada), and unfortunately is sold only in 8-oz. bottles, but it's well worth it in the long run. I've never had a failure with this product as opposed to others on the market.

Try applying two or three heavy basecoats of colour, allowing each coat to dry to the touch before applying any subsequent paint. Then generously apply the crackle medium without overbrushing. Do not touch the piece during the drying process. With this particular product, repeated coats of crackle medium, after each coat dries, will result in finer crackling.

Helen Lechman

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Recipe which I believe I got from Sammy : If you use water soluble India ink, water and a touch of ammonia mixed together, then brush on to your wood, it will make the wood look old. I'd suggest trying it on a scrap piece first.

Another 'recipe' is putting a handful of rusty nails into a bottle of vinegar. Let it sit until the vinegar stays clear. If you apply this to pine it will turn brownish red and applied to cedar it turns greyish black.

Carol Jones (Jonesy)

Plaster or stucco ceilings, I use a product called "Skid-Tex" that is sold at Home Depot and Lowe's for getting a non-skid surface on steps, etc. It's a granular stuff that you mix with your paint as thick as you want it. Just brush or pat on with a brush, depending on the look you want. The thing I like about this is that is doesn't flake off and it hides tapewire beautifully.

Carole Pierce

Stucco: I've always used dried (used) coffee grounds. I just slather Elmer's on the surface, pour on the grounds, let it dry, dump off the excess, then paint it what ever color I want.

Leslie Hoag

Molding for ceilings. I have had success with paper doilies that are available in gift shops, dollar stores, etc. I pasted one to the ceiling in my dining room and then painted over and voila! a design in the ceiling that looked like it had been molded from plaster. I would assume you could cut these doilies up and use in the corners of ceilings and walls and also as a design around the outside of the ceiling too.

Donna

Marble Tiles: I went to Michael's framing dept. and looked through their mat board scrap pile. I found two pieces of picture mat board that were a parchment pattern, cut 3/4" squares of both of them, and arranged them in a checkerboard pattern. It looks really great with three coats of acrylic varnish.

Chris in Minnesota

Floor Tile Patterns: There is a neat web site: http://www.ipns.com/lajoie/minitiles/tilegrid.htm that allows you to create a design in tiles. Possibilities are endless and gives you something to do in your "spare" time.

Anita Myers, Maryland

Floor Tile Patterns: For tile samples go to
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http://www.vargastile.com/tile/mexican/talavera.htm http://www.specsimple.com/Rooms/SURFACES/wallcoverings/ceramicwalltiles.html">
http://www.specsimple.com/Rooms/SURFACES/wallcoverings/ceramicwalltiles.html
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http://sd.znet.com/~dgrass19/links.html

Dorothee, Katikati

144th Shingles: I took a Nel Corkin class at the 1995 NAME National and she introduced us to a wonderful solution for shingles that will work for 144th scale. You can buy rolls of paper shingles from a railroad hobby shop. They are #800 Profile Shingles (HO scale), made by Campbell Scale Models, P. O. Box 5307, Durango, CO 81301. They cost about $6 back then, and the package says it will cover approx. 9" x 12", which is a lot of little roofs! To apply, cut rows of shingles first, paint with diluted raw umber (or any other dark brown), attach with glue (they come already gummed, but glue works better) and let dry completely. To simulate weathering, add streaks of white and rust colored watercolor pencils. I imagine dry brushing would work, too. When dry, pry up some of the shingles here and there so they don't look too perfect.

Marilyn - Wisconsin

Mitering: Here's a trick I learned in a Brooke Tucker class.  Mark the back of the moulding with a pencil.  If it is floor trim, then draw a continuous line on the side of the wood that will go onto the floor, and then ALWAYS put that floor line of the wood onto the floor of the miter box, or the "floor" of your hand held miter cutter.  If it is ceiling trim, then the pencil line would go onto the part of the wood that will go against the ceiling, then put that wood into the miter box with the line on the floor of the box.  I hope I have made sense, it is very simple and you will not have any mistakes if you follow this rule.  Of course, it helps to mark the direction of the angle in pencil, too, and use a VERY sharp pencil to make marks, a sloppy mark or a wide mark will leave the measurement inaccurate.  Practice with some scrap wood, and practice with the angles.

Patty Adamson in Bandera TX

Mitering: Cornice moldings: For cutting an inside corner for ceiling cornice or baseboard, stand the molding in the miter box with the part that will be glued to the wall against the back of the box. Slide the molding in from the left, past the middle slot and cut it at the right side guide for the right hand end of the strip.  For the other end, slide the piece in from the right past the middle to the left side guide slot.

      An easy way to remember is for an outside corner approach the guide slot from the outside edge of the box and for an inside corner approach the guide slot from inside the box.

Rose from Somerville, MA

<<< Cardstock: Can I also use  the Yes glue to glue the cardstock to the wall?  It won't corrode or harm The  copper wire that's there?  I heard that moisture will corrode it, and Yes glue  is water-soluble. does that make a difference? >>>

Yes paste is the correct glue to use.  Rather than moisture harming the wire, the major problem is fungicides that are used in some commercial wallpaper pastes to prevent mildew.  Some of them react with the wire making copper oxide which is black and may show as dark blotches through the wallpaper.  Doesn't really seem to have any effect on the wiring, but doesn't look good.

Tom

Printed or Giftwrap wallpaper: I use two or more LIGHT coats of a clear acrylic spray such as Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Finish on both sides of papers that I want to strengthen, add  body to, and/or prevent from fading.  It may prevent bleeding as well.  This has worked for me on everything I have tried  -- including paper to be used in the printer -- without any apparent damage to my printer (someone with a little more knowledge about printers may be able to address that.)

You can also iron wrapping paper onto freezer wrap to add strength.  I like to apply this with light coats of spray adhesive to cardboard or other more solid surface material, cut to size,  before inserting into the finished product (as in lining a container or papering a dh).  Wait a few minutes for the sprayed glue surfaces to dry a bit so that it can be more easily manipulated.

Pat Ditsch

Victorian kitchens: The book (Victorian Dollhouses, by Nick Forder, 1996) was written in England, so I don't know if all the information is accurate for America, but here's some of the information from the chapter on kitchens.

It says the kitchen was a place of work, often the domain of servants, and therefore not decorated or ornamented. [I think that would be true even in the US in quite humble homes where we wouldn't expect servants. There would still be the hired help who'd do most of the kitchen work.] In larger homes there would be a scullery for household chores and pantries for the storage of china, equipment, and foods. By the 1870s some households had gas and running water. Also, the later in the era your house is set, the more likely that the lady of the house would have to be doing more of the work and things would be more comfortable in the kitchen.

As for finishes, the walls were painted in neutral colors of beige, cream, or gray. The lower part of the wall often had a wainscoting, painted the same color as the rest of the walls and the ceiling. Sometimes wallpaper might be hung above the wainscoting and varnished in order to be cleaned easily. Floors were often of oiled and varnished hardwood with a hard, fireproof base inset for the stove. Rag rugs, carpet pieces, or decorated oilcloths might soften the floors.

Once linoleum was invented [it doesn't say when that was, but it sounds like the latter part of the 19th century], that was very popular for kitchens.

By the 1850s ornamented cast-iron stoves with bright nickel-plated decoration were fashionable. Wooden iceboxes and pie safes were still in use. The main pieces of furniture in the room were a big central table (with drawers for utensils), plumbed-in sink (could even have faucets by the end of the era, instead of a pump), reliable stove, side tables to facilitate work routines, and adequate shelf space, either in shelves hung on the wall or in free-standing cupboards.

The book also has some description specifically about the American kitchen: it says that the aftermath of the Civil War brought more rapid changes in America than in England. The American kitchen of the 1890s showed early signs of a style we recognize today. There was now room for hospitality as well as work, since the lady of the house was in the room more of the day and might use the kitchen as a place to visit over a cup of tea. Chinaware was displayed and grocery store items were stored within easy reach. Manufacturers by the end of the century designed appealing packaging so the housewife would display their products on open shelves along with the preserved foods and crockery. The really well equipped kitchen could have shelves all around the walls.

Some equipment to remember: teapot, mixing bowls, butter churn, storage jars of ceramic, bread dough crock, flatirons, clothes drying rack, spice cabinet, broom, coffee grinder, fly swatter, kitchen clock, dishcloths, drain board. You'd always find a pastry board and cutters, rolling pin, mincing or grinding machine, scales, iron or copper pots, kettles, knives and choppers, and that latest item, the jelly mold.

The text doesn't mention lighting, but there are pictures of some dollhouse kitchens, and they show ceiling light fixtures of simple hanging glass lamps. I suppose they would have been gas fixtures in the real kitchens of the 19th century, though my great-uncle remembered his family home being electrified around the turn of the century through an ingenious system of batteries kept down in the basement. I guess it depends on how modern our Victorians are and whether they're American or British.

Kay Dreher

Falling shelving: If we're talking miniature shelving with an open back, I've had success with drilling a very tiny hole at the top of the back of the uprights.  Then I take tiny gold wire, beading wire will do, and wrap a loop around a round toothpick.  I grab both ends of the wire with the pliers and turn the toothpick until I have a nice, neat circle with a stub of nicely twisted wire on it.  I nip the wire to a good length, epoxy the stub into the hole and, PRESTO, I have hangers that will hang over a tiny brad or a sequin pin set into the wall.

If you drill on a slight downwards slant, dip your pin in epoxy and cut it to length before you set it into the hole, you will end up with a shelf that tends to slide back to the wall on the pin, rather than off onto the floor.

You can do the same thing with closed cabinets, except you don't need the wire.  Drill a small hole in the upper corners of the back, large enough to slip over the heads of the pins.  It will hang beautifully.

Jeanne

Basement: I have a basement in my big house that has a front and back facade and open on the sides so I could have a central hall with rooms on both sides. The basement is 10" tall and that area on the front and back was built up with storeroom until it was nearly to the from and back door levels. I left enough space between the Styrofoam and doors for a small porch area at the front door and a step into the back door. So there I was with this large white Styrofoam vertical area in the front and back. The sides were angled down so it looked like you were looking through the cut area of the earth to see into the basement. I glued strips of newspaper to the Styrofoam as a base for my "rocks". After this had dried, I used strips of newspaper and the paper mache method. I wadded up the newspaper strips into stuck them to the newspaper base until I was satisfied with this rocky appearance. I left the horizontal area flat that for the front and back lawn. The vertical area in the front and back and all the side areas, I painted gray and then with a black wash to fill the crevices.

Fay

Stucco: You need facial tissue, a stiff bristle brush (1/2 inch wide or so) and paint in the color you want the stucco to be. Lots of people use this method, (not my invention) very realistic and not as messy as the real stucco. This is not a sandy looking stucco, it is like the thick plaster type stucco.

1. If two ply tissue, separate into single ply and roll into as tight a ball as you can. Then carefully open up completely but don't smooth out the wrinkles. If you're doing a large area have several tissue balls ready. Use plain white tissue, no oils or perfumes.

2. Put a thick coat of paint on a small area and lay the tissue over the painted area.

3. Using a stenciling technique (but not a stencil brush-too fat), stipple paint over top of the tissue with the stiff bristle brush. Don't use as much paint here as underneath the tissue, and don't use brush strokes as this will tear the tissue. You should be dabbing the paint on with the tip of the brush.

And remember, the tissue will not stick to a surface if there is no paint underneath or if the paint underneath has dried.

Mary Kay

Removing surgical tape from wallpaper: When I was a nurse, I used alcohol wipes to get tape to come off of skin. I used a wipe, but you could also use a q-tip, and just gently lift the edge of the tape as you are very gently lifting the tape.

Beth

As to the glue from the tape, I suggest a product I've been using for about 30 years. Bestine Brand Rubber Glue Solvent, available at art or drafting stores, removes most (non-water soluble) glues, with no oils at all. I always have some on hand to get sticker glue off of antiques we buy for resale, or other purchased items. I have yet to find anything that it hurts in any way, but check anyway on a small section. It evaporates so fast, you can see it disappearing, and cuts tape and sticker glue almost instantly. Plus, if used thoroughly on wood, two or three times for good measure, it leaves no oily residue from the glue on the wood, enhancing the staining of the wood.

Dave Pierce

Wallpapering Around Fixtures: Find the cheapest index cards you can, and use them to make a template for each wall. Cut the cards into smaller pieces where necessary to fit around moldings, lights, etc., and tape together with masking tape until you have covered the whole wall. Then you can trace around it, including any openings or uneven edges and cut out. Leave 1/4" overlaps for the edges that will meet at corners. This way you can still paper in sheets instead of cutting strips. Since I buy scratch & dent houses at yard sales and flea markets to rehab and give away, they often have obstacles to paper around, and this method works well. Only trick to it is remembering to cut with the pattern in the same direction on each wall!

Loretta Sniarowski