Artichoke: I was stumped until I read an Angie Scarr article, generously sent to me by Helen of York.  She (Angie) showed a method for making them using a fine sieve, pressing the clay against it, then smoothing out the little bumps made by the sieve (sounds confusing, but the article was clearer).  I tried it and made a lovely artichoke.  Then I tried for 2 hours to make another one!  I finally made another, though it's not as good as the first. 

Cheese Ball:  I am guessing you meant the kind covered in chopped nuts?  This was fun to make.  Roll a little ochre-colored clay into a cylinder, cover with a THIN layer of brown clay, and roll until about the thickness of a piece of spaghetti.  Bake.  Chop into very small pieces.  (these are your chopped nuts.)  Roll a pea-sized ball of orange clay, then roll it into the chopped "nuts" until covered. Press flat onto your plate or tray, then use a razor blade to slice off a little from the top, to make it look like someone has used a little of the spread.  Surround the cheese ball with crackers if desired (thin circles of very pale ochre clay, with pin pricks for holes).  A nice finishing touch is to put the sliced-off bit of cheese ball on one of the crackers, so that it looks like the cheese is being spread on the cracker.  Then bake.

Celeste in Boston

Apple Pie Project: Well, the pies project is up there at my web site for those of you that are compiling the "recipes". On second page of my web site, click on Mary's Menus.  Three pages this time to print out, because I can't resist the history of stuff....bear with me. http://www.pannikins.com/

Mary Eccher

Candy:

Chocolates: These are very easy. Obtain some chocolate-colored fimo.

Condition some, and pull a small piece off and roll it between your fingers. Place round ball on baking tile (I use a ceramic tile I bought from a hardware store) and press slightly. You can make "different flavors" of chocolate by varying the shape (round domed are often chocolate covered cherries, rectangular/diamond are often cremes, squares are often caramels, triangular with lumps are always hazelnuts, etc.) With another pinch of chocolate-colored fimo roll out to the thinnest snake you can deal with. Cut a very short section and carefully arrange it on the top of the chocolate (some chocolatiers have a specific pattern for what is inside the chocolate as well). Bake for 10 minutes or so (probably less, since these things are so small). Walla, chocolates very suitable to put into a heart-shaped box. If you have trouble with the decorative squiggle, bake the chocolates first and then rebake after you apply the squiggle.

Fudge: Chocolate or butterscotch fudge: Choose the appropriate color, condition and roll into a flat sheet about 1/8 of an inch tall. Bake, and while still warm cut into squares with a razor blade. "serve" on parchment paper.

Peppermints: there are some cool beads out there that look like peppermints and would fool the eye if stored up on a shelf somewhere. Or you can take a snake of white fimo, and put smaller red and white snakes around it in an alternating pattern. Roll together to get rid of air bubbles. You can either slice it first, or wait until it has been baked. You can make all sorts of fancy candies like this if you combine different colors in different patterns. Get hold of a millefiori book (I believe that is what it is called, very specific way of making complicated patterns in clay). There used to be premade snakes you could buy with a picture in the middle. All you have to do with those is "reduce the cane" by rolling with equal pressure until it is small enough for the candy.

Jelly beans: Lots of translucent fimo with a mere touch of color (I am talking about driving past the city that has the store that sells the color of fimo you want kinda mere). Roll into a snake, cut into small lengths and round into a bean being careful not to squish into a ball.

Candy papers: Punch circles from an appropriate weight paper, and dent in the middle with an appropriate tool that is handy.

Boxes: You can make small boxes out of card stock. If you have a catalog around that has boxes shown and are the right size, you can even decoupage cut-outs of them onto your boxes. Heart-shaped boxes can be made with a large heart sticker, some quilling paper, tiny flowers and ribbon.

Finally: Play around. You can make all sorts of candies just by experimenting with different clays. Also, go to a candy shop and do some on-the-spot research, take free samples, etc.

Kim From Canada

Squiggle on top of chocolates: this is for Kim Bulbeck who told us how she makes "chocolates " for the heart boxes, etc. the swiggle can be added after the baking, with a small bit of brown thread dipped in Tacky glue. It can be arranged any way you wish and no additional baking needed. This is probably less aggravating than using fimo.

LNR in Orlando

Candy: FIMO SWEETS by Easter Olson is a wonderful booklet that has just what you need to create the "sweet treats" in your candy store.  I made a red, white and black candy store and filled it with every kind of candy I could think of.  I even went so far as to "borrow" some real saltwater taffy paper for my own Fimo taffy.  Make a box and display it in the window.  Paint a metal mini bunny-rabbit,  dark brown and he will become your chocolate bunny, pink and blue cotton on a stick is cotton candy and use some clear jars for the jaw breakers and jelly beans.

Barbara

"Pasta" Cookies: In the pasta section of my grocery store, Harris Teeters, I found tiny, tiny pasta shaped into six point stars. The brand is DeCecco and the pasta is "75 Stellette" (whatever that means). I painted some pink and some light brown with water colors (the pan type) and they look just like cookies. I made cookie trays for all the members of my miniature club and they thought I had made all of them from Fimo or something!

Teddie Martin

Sweet Shoppe Candies, if you happen to have the January 1993 issue of Miniature Showcase, there is a useful article on making the miniature chocolates out of fimo with good photos. If you are like me, I have a hard judging what colors to use.  The suggested color mixes of fimo are as follows:

Milk chocolates

3 parts terra cotta

1/16 part transparent

Dark chocolates

3 parts terra cotta

1/2 part black

1/16 transparent

Summer chocolates

3 parts white

1/2 part color (pink, green, orange or yellow)

1/6 part transparent

Then you roll the fimo into a snake 1/8" in diameter, and cut off pieces approx. 1/8" thick.  Shape each piece into a round circle.  Roll one of the pieces into a very thin snake and cut 1/8" pieces off for the curl on top of the candy.  Gently adhere curl to candy with an x-acto knife.  Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes(on a ceramic tile).  Also, make a few square pieces and wrap in colored foil after baking.  I was very pleased with the results and thought they looked very realistic. This would also be a nice project for a Valentines theme.

Lisa in Ohio

Candy Papers: Kim's directions for candy were almost enough to tempt the fimo-challenged! Just an additional hint:  if you want your paper candy cups to be pleated like the real thing, the easy way to do it is to punch out paper circles, then pleat them on the end of a Phillips screwdriver (the kind with an x, not -- end).  Squeeze the paper into the x, then turn slightly and squeeze again to make more pleats.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Model magic: I believe this does dry out quickly if left open but having been lucky enough to get a packet sent to me from USA and sharing it with friends, I must say it makes lovely bread and if you roll in a thin long roll and make indentations you get wonderful strings of sausages. Colour with chalk pastels.

Roberta

Foil for Chocolates: For those of you that are making those cute boxes of Valentine Chocolates:  I used to make real candy for a shop here in Lewisburg.  And like most of you, I'm always watching out for things that could also be used in miniature work.  Well, I have lots of those tiny, and very light weight colored foil papers for adding a touch of color to the candy boxes.  At Valentines, we'd wrap one or two chocolates in red foil.  The sheets are something like 3"x4", so one sheet would be plenty to cover a few dozen chocolates in mini. I have red, pink, purple and light blue (maybe silver).  If anyone would like some, let me know.

Garnette Marlow in Lewisburg, PA

Candy tip:  You need a few of the dark brown, pleated papers that they put real size candy in when they put them in boxes, and a small hole punch.  Punch out the paper and put your bon bons in them...looks wonderful.  Fortunately, I saved some papers from Christmas gifts...not the candy, of course...that went pretty much immediately.

Kaye in LA

Valentines Day cookies; I used the metal from a bad disk for the cookie sheet, Formica sample for the cutting board, platter and plate from orange juice sprout pull and cookies from sliced pencil eraser.  I managed to get a dozen good cookies from two erasers, but I did get better.  I used some of the bad ones to overlap on the platter.

I also make a Playboy magazine from junk mail and colored pencil from colored paperclips.  All hints from these lists, Thanks to all of you.

   This is fun, sanding with a nail file and my son's Dremel is great for cutting and drilling.  I think it's mine now!

Nancy

Making Grapes: Last year I went to a show in Atlanta and had the wonderful luck to meet Sue Ann Thwaite, aka Lady Bug, and she has a very easy kit to make grapes. They were great looking and very easy to make. She even whipped some up at her table right before us. I am not sure if they are on her web site but I am sure if you emailed her that she could help you! http://www.ladybug-fairies.com/

Linda in GA

Browning Miniature Cookies: I have had good success by mixing brown and yellow acrylic paints together to come up with a nice tan/light brown shade -- you can adjust by adding more brown or more yellow paint and mixing thoroughly until you reach the shade you like best -- and then dry-brushing the paint onto the edges (and raised surfaces, if you're making textured baked goods) of the cookie with a tiny paintbrush.  Looks very realistic and doesn't make a mess.  For anyone out there unfamiliar with the dry-brushing technique, just dip your paintbrush into the paint and then rub most of it off (I do this by applying the brush tip to wax paper in a circular motion) until the paintbrush is almost dry, then brushing the item lightly.  You wind up with subtle coloration with no hard edges which looks much more realistic than paint that is applied heavily.

Bev G.

Fimo Frosting: You can make wonderful whippable frosting out of Fimo, first you have to make it the correct consistency. For this you need a very little of one of the chemicals used in making  Fimo.  It is Dybutal Phthylate ( I could have the spelling wrong) but that is close.  I purchase it from a Co. who sells smaller  amounts of chemicals to small Labs. otherwise it is sold in Drums. you need only  drams.  This is  a liquid  if you first  grate( with a fine grater or even a nutmeg grater) your choice of Fimo color - straight from the block without softening it, in to a small  wide mouth   glass  jar  then sprinkle a little of this chemical on   it will soften the Fimo - leave it  COVERED  for a few hours then test it, not soft enough - add more chemical. This  'soft' Fimo  if it is made of transparent Fimo - makes wonderful Fimo 'glue' just dab a bit on the piece you want to glue on another piece of Fimo and  cook it again. I MUST MUST MUST  REMIND YOU THAT THIS IS A DANGEROUS  CHEMICAL IT IS NOT FOR THE CHILDREN TO PLAY WITH, OR FOR YOU TO TAKE  CHANCES WITH.  IT IS HARMFULL  TO YOUR  RESPITORY SYSTEM. THERFORE YOU SHOULD USE A DEDICATED TOASTER OVEN AND 'BAKE'  OUTSIDE, FOR GOODNESS SAKE TAKE A LITTLE PRECAUTION WITH THESE  HEMICALS.  FIMO FUMES ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU.  If you  take the appropriate care, there are endless uses for this thinned Fimo,  imagine!!!

Paddy

Making Lettuce: One of the tips on my video (Tips & Techniques for the Miniaturist by MindStorm) is called "Hamster Salad".

Go to your local pet store and buy a bag of shavings for a hamster cage.  It is finely shredded pine with chlorophyll added.  This gives different shades of green.  Chop up even finer, mix with slightly diluted Elmer's white glue (this will give it a shine, looking wet), and pile in your bowl.  Add a few cherry tomatoes from FIMO.  For salad tongs, find a small cotter pin (at an auto supply store), trim the points as short as you want and insert in the lettuce.  Looks good enough to eat!

Ruth Mazur

Making Grapes: Here is how I learned to make grapes.

Melissa

Porridge: You might try mixing some vermiculite (a component of potting soil) into some white glue to simulate porridge.

Alice Zinn

Porridge: How about mixing white glue with a bit of sawdust for the oatmeal, and then, if necessary, a drop or two of white nail polish for the milk?

Dani, in Bradshaw

Making grapes: The easiest and best way to make grapes that I know and have done, is to retrieve from the herb garden, some fine little sticks from, i.e. thyme, as it has tiny branches on it. Then, dip this twig into glue and dip it then into a little container of mustard seeds. They look wonderful. The rest is for you to decide what colour you want your grapes, purple, green etc. I have used these on a cheese platter and they do look authentic.

Pauline (Downunder)