Mini 'Jello' molds:
- Candy molds, for small drop-size candies. Look in the candy-making supplies at a craft or specialty cooking supply store. You might have to hunt a bit.
- Push molds for polyclay in fun shapes.
- Or paint the inside of a mini bundt pan with mold release and use that to make a tiny Jello ring. I have had several and seen them several times in shops, so I'm pretty sure they are still around.

Maura Bass

Acrylic Turning Material: Keith uses this technique for making some of our symmetrical originals. Some suggestions from Keith are:
- -check the ad sections in wood turning or lathe magazines for non-wood blank suppliers
- -get in touch with the Ornamental Turning Society, as they use plastics as ivory substitutes
- -search out button manufacturers as they machine plastics for their tooling-up and may be able to steer you in the right direction-unless you are going to make buttons!
- -solid Corian type counter top off cuts may be useful if you want marbled or obsidian effects
- -check Lee Valley Tool catalog. They have sold marbled pen making kits. Also jewelry suppliers, ditto.
- -other plastics to try are Teflon, Acetal, etc. Check Internet or yellow pages for plastic (rod) suppliers
- -Here in the UK there is a supplier " for alternative ivory, horn & tortoiseshell in rod, bar or sheet" called GPS Agencies Units 3 & 3A Hambrook Business Centre Cheesmans Lane, Hambrook, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 8XP Tel: +44 (O) 1243-574444 Fax: +44(O)1243-574313 The (O) is for England; you leave it out from America Mail order including postage should be bearable for small weights; one of the perks of minis!
I just phoned GPS and they also make an "alternative black grained ebony" (he experiences pain if you call it plastic) and said they usually deal with larger amounts than you might want BUT have just sent a shipment of 12" rods to CRAFT SUPPLIES Provost, Utah Tel: 801 3730919 ?? They also supply MASECRAFT SUPPLY Berlin, Connecticut Contact Bill Veley 203 2383049

Donna from Devon

1/2" glasses: Char Lee - Linden-Swiss Miniatures carries 1/2" scale glasses, among many other neat things. Their products are turned acrylic, but when painted with clear nail polish, look just like glass. Here is their web site: http://hometown.aol.com/LinSwisMin/LSM.HTML

Ruth, Grass Valley, CA

Synthetic Turning Material: Here is another idea you might want to check out. I do jewelry inlay, and there is a "synthetic stone" made for this purpose. It is actually more plastic or some type of resin than stone, but looks very realistic. I know it can be turned, because it is turned into the most beautiful heishi strands and you'd have to really look close to tell that it isn't real turquoise, ivory, jet, etc. Some come with the veining you find in natural stone and some are more solid colors. It is usually sold at stores that sell jewelry making supplies. I suspect you could get it online from Rio Grande. It is usually sold by the pound, and you can probably order it cut to approximate sizes.

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Acrylic Turning Material: contact Nicole Walton-Marble concerning a source for the acrylic turning material. She uses that material for some of her work. Their address is: nmarble@sprynet.com

Jackie

Baking Pans: I got my set of tin baking pans from http://www.cottonridge.com. They didn't come in a set but came separately, like pie tins, bread pans etc.

Linda in GA

Wine Goblets: I have painted vitamin capsules with tinted nail varnish, clear will do as well. Paint the capsule inside and out, they can be made into wine goblets. Glue one to a bugle bead, the bead to a sequin. I have only painted mine so far, this was an idea from a friend.

Gloria in Australia

Tea: for a cup of tea you can use a real tea bag. try for a pyramid bag, the latest craze over here! You can use varnish, PVA or anything which dries solid and clear and then use the tea itself (a strong infusion) to color it. It should be a bit lighter than coffee. BTW, most tea is made in a pot. 2-3 tea bags per pot, but if we're in a hurry we'll put it in a cup. It never tastes the same, though. The tea leaves from tea bags also make great soil to put round your plants! And it smells nice!

Lynne Connolly

Nuts: Try rolling a very thin rope of tan-colored polymer clay. Roll it up inside a VERY thin sheet of brown polymer clay, so that the inside of the rope is tan and the outside is brown. Roll the rope out so it is about as thick as a piece of spaghetti and bake. (you may need to cut it into 6" lengths or so, to get it to fit on your baking sheet.) When baked, slice very thin slices and use for sliced almonds, or chop up the slices and roll your cakes in them. This is a time-consuming method, but it makes great nuts. (this is how I make the nuts for my miniature cheese balls.)

Celeste in Boston

Milk: white glue mixed with a little white paint works great. I'm not sure about the lemonade, but I'm sure you'll hear a great suggestion from somebody here! (Hope so...I'd like to know!)

Crystal

AQARIUM TUBING - GLASSES: Cut small lengths of tubing. Press one end on a hot iron for a moment. This curls the plastic over for a believable rim... with a bit of imagination and some quick finger work you can make pitchers and such as well. The tubing comes in soft and rigid.. different sizes and diameters. The rigid is thin wall. Good for lamps, glasses, posts, etc. Can be painted if you spray with Acrylic sealer first. Neat stuff,

Judie

Ice blocks and cubes: I keep an eyedropper and an empty, open pimento jar half-filled with bleach in a lidded ceramic container next to my kitchen sink for emergency spot   removal purposes.  A few months ago I needed to use the bleach, but found the jar empty except for several perfectly shaped cubes and cube-arrangements of clear bleach crystals, just the right size for 1" scale.  I scooped them out to save, then refilled the jar.  After a few weeks the same thing happened, but I imagine it would occur more quickly if I didn't close the container the jar is kept in.  They look so much like ice cubes I'm almost sorry I don't work in 1" scale anymore.

Pam

Ice:  Try the melting crystals in your craft store- the kind that make sun catchers   or plastic needlepoint canvas can be cut up in a pinch

Gail

Easy Salad Making: To make an easy salad, just find the silk flower section of your favorite store.. Dollar is mine... and look for the variegated leaves that look somewhat like a lettuce leaf COLOR. From there, you remove the spine of the leaf and crinkle up the leaf, then proceed to cut into lettuce strips some long, some short. Salads don't always look evenly torn or cut. So vary the sizes and lengths to create realness. Add tomatoes and you are set. For sandwiches, cut a squiggled form and place between bread slices. Have fun!

bon from Sunny Alberta

How-to-make-bitter melon: I just posted how to make bitter melon in my website.

Krisana M.

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

Making beer:: If you don't want to buy the Environtex(liquidy stuff) to make your beer, you could use a bit of clear caulking tinted with food coloring or clear nail polish with food colorings. Add a tiny bit of Styrofoam on top to replicate foam. However, I do not think these products will last a long time.

Pearl

Faking Beer:  to use what's on hand for this, use clear nail polish or tacky glue, tinting it with a tiny bit of yellow and red food coloring or Kool-Aid; you may have to keep it in a covered container and add to the mini glass and pitcher in layers so it will dry in a reasonable amount of time.   ("Covered container" can be just a jar lid with plastic wrap snugged airtight around it.)  Then whip up some soap flakes with very little water and apply on top for foam.   It's true clear nail polish will yellow over time, but who'll know if your beer goes from lager to bock?

Loretta.Sniarowski

Filling Punch bowls & cups: A teeny tiny small amount of paint and your clear liquid should work for your punch bowl and cups. (or since you need such a small amount you might want to use clear fingernail polish....you might even find a polish the color you want the punch to be ; ) Try one of those glue syringes for getting it into the cups.

Shani Nelson

Canning jars/mason jars: I remember someone was looking for canning jars or mason jars. Cotton Ridge at http://cottonridge.safeshopper.com/89/cat89.htm?385 has Mason jars with removable lids Stock #FAR-40002. Glass canning jar with wire closure Stock #DHS-8299. Set of Two Canning Jars with removable lids Stock #FAR-40134.

Karen in PA