Mason Jars: I bought a glass one exactly like you're describing this past weekend at Mayfest/Dallas Dollhouse Miniature Event. I got it from Precious Little Things. Looks like it's catalog number AA 11192. The woman is Faith Rogers, and her email is minisbyplt@vermontel.net

Tere Perry in Texas

Plain Plates for mini Food: Hobby Builders Supply sells individual plate sizes in sets of 2...meaning, you can buy 12 salad plates or 12 dinner plates or even 12 cups & saucers. They look a lot like Chrysnbon plates and say they are of molded plastic. They are inexpensive, too, and you can dress them up as you choose. If you look at the HBS online site http://www.miniatures.com do a search on plates, not dishes. Or, use their stock numbers for faster retrieval. I'm looking now for you.... Salad plates are item #40261, dinner plates are item #40252, and cups & saucers are item #40254.

Alix in San Francisco

Cherries: At one of our club meetings, we used red seed beads on top of a white frothy cake. The beads looked like cherries. It was a Valentine project. The frothy part was built up a little on the top outer edge, the cherries were placed on top of a smooth area, and glazed with clear sealer, or nail polish.

MAP in Puyallup

Janet Uyetake: Tiny Towne Hawaii 871 Kulani St. Honolulu, Hi 96825 Janet.Uyetake@gte.net She was in Chicago and ha some gorgeous stuff!

Peter Bugg

Cabbage: Molly asked for a bushel basket of cabbages...try Precious Little Things--Faith Rogers, PO Box 1006 Chester, VT 05143 802-875-4127 or 800-732-7894.

Alice Zinn

Fimo and Model magic - whoever was asking about the hot dogs and buns (I think that's what it was anyway) -- make your hot dogs first, cook them and then glue them to your model magic rolls.  

Sue in NC

Filling Punch Cups: The clear/tinted nail polish sounds like a winner. However, BEWARE - if there's a way to test it. Some plastics/acrylics just don't jive. Last summer I made a doll for a show in Atlanta ("Madam Martini"). I found some of those little clear plastic champagne glasses in a party store (about 2" tall?), and thought if I filled it with clear polish, and garnished with a bead/olive, I'd have a great martini. It looked fabulous - that night - the next morning I figured that was sufficient time to 'set up' and harden, not only did it not set up, but it completely melted the cup into a grotesque Salvador Dali thingee. Madam Martini looked equally crestfallen. With the tiny Chrysnbon cups if you're just PAINTING them with tinted/clear polish it may be okay, but be careful of FILLING them. All nail polishes are not made the same. Good luck.

dollladie

Jars: Try using some clear plastic straws (cut in various lengths)....coat the inside of the straw with clear fingernail polish....this turns the cloudy straw into a clear one...fimo could be used to make a lid.

Shani Nelson

For almonds on sweets - cakes use Sesame seeds

Gail

Nuts: Try sawdust or finely ground cork. Have fun!

Tricia

Nuts: I have used bird gravel to make mini nuts. It has different colors and shapes just like ground mixed nuts.

Carol

Sandwiches: I've made sandwiches to order in 1:12 scale for people who asked. I'll do whatever meat or filling you want with mayo, mustard, lettuce, chips even the olive and tooth pick on the top.

http://home.att.net/~stuff22/index.html

Gail

Food Sites: Your best bet would be to go to Mary Eccher's site 1st, as she has been in the business of showing people how to do mini food for many years: http://www.pannikins.com/

If you click on the catalog, and then on 'Mary's menus', you will find information and directions for some foods.

Tom of Earth & Tree Miniatures carries some quite good booklets on making food; Fimo Sweets, Petite Eats...and Meyer's Homemade Meals: http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com

And, this great site about polymer clays...more info here than you can shake a Fimo stick at: http://www.glassattic.com

And, finally, (although there is certainly more info out there!)

Angie Scarr's site...where I learned how to make peelable oranges: http://www.compclub.demon.co.uk/asmini.htm

Kaye in L.A.

Peeps: Marshmallow peeps are easy to make! Make a small box out of cardstock or pretty paper. Using yellow fabric paint (the kind that comes in a squeeze bottle), create a lump the size of the birds body. On top of that create another lump for the head and pull the nozzle away at an angle, forming a tiny pointed "beak". While still wet, sprinkle with yellow scenic sand! A little practice first on a piece of paper, before you do them in the box should yield great results!

Alice Zinn

Peeps: For Easter, I also like to make the little "chick peeps". They are nothing more than a yellow 3. m and a 5. m pompom glued together. Place a dot on each side of small pompom for eyes, and add a tiny triangle of orange felt for beak.

Dolores

Peeps: I have had some success in making Peeps out of Model Magic (sorry to keep touting this material, but it's great for a lot of things!) One benefit is that you can stick all of the Peeps together in a string when wet. Then sprinkle with yellow scenic sand. After they are dry, you can break them apart if desired. This gives the realistic "white" sides.

Celeste in Boston

Easter fill batts--the stuff that looks like polyester pillow fill is great in colors for mini cotton candy. . . just roll a 1/2" piece of paper for the stem (stick) and glue a small wad of your favorite color (flavor) on it. . . a little goes a long, long way, and your little hands never get gooey and sticky!

Xmas Carol

Oreos: I used to make Oreos using the Kemper small round cutter but it's really to scale for those Ice cream sandwiches. To make tiny ones I use a cocktail straw/stirrer and try this: Roll out Chocolate clay real thin, then lay white real thin over it- punch out the cookies and punch out a bunch of just chocolate ones. If you try to make a sandwich of all three layers the color will drag from the white to the Brown and make it look smeared. Put them together before baking and only bake for a few minutes on a coolish oven.

Gail

Pizza Cheese: Transparent Fimo will give you the look of cheese on your pizza- Spraying with a fixative will make it shiny or try floor wax like Future. Let me know if you need a pizza cutter though I've made those with a silver sequin, tiny wire- stuck in a wooden handle painted silver.

Gail

Cantelope: For whole cantelope, just mix a bit of ochre fimo into white fimo or Sculpey, .add more ochre as needed. Roll on a piece of Velcro to texture the skin, then run a round toothpick vertically down the cantelope for those natural grooves. Bake and when cool, you may want to "wash" your cantelope with watered down green acrylic paint.

Mary (Eccher)