Upholstery trim: Some of the most wonderful upholstered furniture I have came from

Sally Hardy. She would pull threads from the fabric to be used and after the piece was upholstered, she twisted several of these threads together to make the cording. It is amazing! The absolutely right cording for the piece. Sadly, Sally died some years ago. Her furniture was wonderful and contemporary!

Fannye in TX

Modern toilets: The WC isn't really a modern invention - in fact Elizabeth I was presented with a toilet that could flush - can't remember the name of the inventor, hang on a minute... just looked it up - Sir John Harington made the design. Elizabeth installed one in her palace at Richmond with his book as a users manual chained to the wall next to it. For some reason the idea never caught on...

Saga in Sweden

Loom: Sammy and Jerry Smith make an 1850 Swedish 4 harness loom in 1/12 scale:
http://happinessisminiatures.com/loom.htm

Sir Thomas Thumb: I believe that Sir Thomas Thumb is now in Canada.
Sir Thomas Thumb
161 Canterbury Street
Ingersoll, ON N5C 1E2
Canada
519-425-1926
519-425-0488

Grace Shaw

144 scale Furniture: the 144th scale houses can be furnished by buying unpainted pewter and painting them. There is a lot of this pewter around and I have furnished almost a complete house with it. You can also get tiny "H" wood from a miniature railroad shop and get creative. Cut off one "leg" of it and slice in thickness desired and you have a set of chairs. Make it longer and you'll have a couch. You just have to not only think small but smaller. You can't get too much detail, illusion is the thing.

Irene

Re-Painting Shiny Furniture:  You said you have sanded the gloss away.  Have you tried cleaning it with TSP cleaner.  Cleaning with TSP is recommended if you plan to paint paneling (which has a very high gloss).  Be sure to use rubber gloves while cleaning with the solution.

Then a coat of primer, and your paint should stick like glue.

Debbie

The Canadian kitchen -- that was probably very close to the rural American kitchen in many ways, though you probably would see more English influence, since we were just out of being a colony at that point in our history -- you would see variations in kitchen set up as well depending on who your ancestors were, but if you are interested in the settlers of PEI, then your best bet would be English / Scottish / Irish. If you can, find the   film "Anne of Green Gables", the CBC production with Megan Follows as Anne. I know it has been aired on American PBS channels, so you might have a bit more than a   "less than a snow ball's chance" of finding it. I know that they had Merilla's kitchen shown in a few scenes.

From what I can remember from some of the "historic towns" I have visited on my travels, a rural kitchen would have a wood cook stove, usually something pretty functional and basic, although there were pump sinks popping up in various homes at the time .   You need a pantry, which is technically your "refrigerator" to keep your various leftovers and cooking supplies (if you think about how germ phobic the world is right now, it is amazing that people lived so long without something to refrigerate their creams et al!). Think wooden furniture, nothing too elaborate. Canadians had far more British influence than what would be found in the US at the turn of the century, most definitely. You would see wood plank floors, no wallpaper on the walls. You might even get a fireplace in the odd kitchen.

That is a few things I can remember, I am sure others will have something to contribute.

Kim from Canada

Instead of balsa: I often use the foam trays that meat come packaged in. Unlike balsa, it can be cut in any direction and does not split. It can be sanded on the ends if needed, stained or painted. I have made shelves, cabinets and wood cook stoves from it for my roomboxes. Cut with scissors or X-acto knife, use foam glue or Elmer's school glue. Use spring clothespins for clamps.

Roy

Printable furniture: http://vmprint. mousepadkids.com/house/index.htm

Gisèle Nadeau, BC. Canada

Basic Bed Making Instructions: You can use 1/2" ceiling tile cut into two 6 x 4 inch rectangles for a nice-sized 'box spring' on which to place a 1/2" foam mattress.  This makes the bed a size that looks 'right' in a miniature setting - it is not quite as large as a regular full size bed, and not quite as small as a twin size. Put a 6 x 4 piece of poster board under the foam to stabilize the mattress while you put on the sheet, etc., then glue to the ceiling tile box springs after putting a coat of gesso on the 'springs' and then dressing it with dust ruffle, if you're using this style.  Headboards can be made of anything basswood, Gator board (the DENSE- inside core board from art supply shops), metal, wicker, etc.   Posts are tricky you notch 1/4" into the box spring end corners to support the post and then glue and pin in place with a gold straight pin.   Use the headboard to support the head-end posts. Choose fabric that easily crushes and holds the wrinkles with as little nylon, polyesters, or other man-made fiber in it as possible.   Use a QUICK-DRYING tacky WHITE water-soluble clear- drying glue (Aileen makes one as well as a generic version) for fast fabric holding.

There have been several articles on 'bed making' over the years - but I think that Judee Williamson's book, Judee's Beds, shows the 'cream of the crop' for canopied designs.   Unfortunately, the book is a little short on 'hold-your-hand' instructions -- but with a little common sense, you can figure it out.   Many bed makers now use the 'extra-crisp' type of Magic Sizing (a type of spray starch) found in the grocery store - or a matte finish clear acrylic spray (I like Plaid's Patricia Nimoc's) to hold fabrics exactly where you want them to be.   You'll have to make some 'trial and error' samples before committing these skills to the 'real thing' - unless you have someone to help guide you 'in person'. Start with a 1/4" graph paper drawing of the actual size bed and how you want it to appear - then figure out the construction details.   Much easier on paper than once you have started gluing!    Make a balsa or illustration board mockup before you commit to really fine wood or fabric - using cotton muslin.   Use good quality fabric-like paper towel to act as pseudo-fabric in designing specifics for a bed.

Linda Gale

Cork Crafts: Slicing, painting or spackling to make special-occasion cakes. Also, a classic homecraft dollhouse use is seating (proportions are closer to 1:24 or child-size 1:12). Slice the cork in half lengthwise for 2 settees, or in 4 horizontal rounds for chairs. Glue fabric over the top for a cushion. Stick corsage pins along the top of one side for backrest slats. Stick four into the bottom for legs. Wrap and glue heavy cotton thread around the legs. Then weave the thread back and forth among the back slats for the backrest, tying or gluing ends to finish. Works best with an uneven number of pins (5, not 4). Results: child-size "wicker."

Using a horizontal slice, stick in leg pins and round-headed straight pins all around the side edges. Weave the thread as for a chair, and you have a table. These were probably the very first miniatures I ever made, over 40 years ago as a Brownie Scout! Wish I still had them; crude, but made a kid feel pretty crafty! Better directions and illustrations in Audrey Johnson's book Furnishing Dolls Houses (see library, it's out of print.).If you have a really good cutting tool that can slice evenly, you could probably make your own cork tiles from lengthwise slices cut into squares; ditto for corkboards, frame the slices in scrap wood.

For a mini-fisherman, carve tiny balls, add toothpick ends, and paint red and white for a bobber that will really float.

Slice and then cut sole-shaped pieces, use sequin pins and glue to attach ribbon uppers for platform sandals.

Loretta Sniarowski

dollhouse bathroom furniture recalled: posted here in case anyone bought this...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Minnesota company is recalling about 10,000 sets of dollhouse bathroom furniture because yellow paint on the furniture contains lead, putting children at risk for lead poisoning.

XL Machine Ltd., of Eden Prairie, Minn., has not received reports of any injuries relating to the furniture set, the Consumer Product Safety
Commission said.

The Little Tree natural wood dollhouse bathroom furniture sets contain a tub, sink with mirror, toilet, shower, bench, towel rack and a wooden doll. The doll has hair made of yarn and wire legs and arms. The fixtures on the furniture are painted yellow.

The packaging for the set reads ``Little Tree,'' ``Distributed by Target Corporation,'' and ``MADE IN CHINA.'' Target stores nationwide sold these furniture sets from August 2000 through June 2001 for about $15. The safety commission advises consumers to return the furniture sets to the Target storewhere they purchased them from for a refund.

For more information, consumers can call XL Machine at 1-866-746-8097 between9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CDT Monday through Friday.

On the Net:
Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov
Target: http://www.target.com/
AP-NY-08-21-01 1722EDT

Pat in SC

Oriental Furnishings: In the Sept. 1998 Dollhouse Miniatures Magazine there is a wonderful array of Oriental miniatures. On page 40 is the beginning of a great article about the Orient, and on page 41, bottom, there is a picture of an Emperor's bedroom. The next pages cover how the entire building is decorated. Further in the back of the magazine are ideas on how to make a room divider, and then on page 71 there is a Mini Cutout of a Folding Screen, a chair, and a fan.

Marilyn J Cole

Japanese style miniatures: There a place called Japanese Miniatures there web site is http://www.japaneseminiatures.com they have some great stuff. I love their chop sticks. Check them out.

Pam in North Ga.

Reupholster: See if your library has a copy of Michal Morse's Decorate a Dolls House. She has an idea you may want to try -- don't reupholster, just make a slipcover! No specific directions given, but if your smallish sofa is a square sided tuxedo style, it should be pretty easy if you can sew; lay the sofa on a piece of tissue paper to trace a pattern and add a quarter-inch seam allowance, then follow directions for a full-size slipcover (refer to DIY upholstery books at library). Or even easier, do what I did for a contemporary rehab house that needed a yellow sofa when I had a blue plaid. Make a mini version of the popular easy-fit slip covers. All I did was use a rectangle of craft felt, which I folded and smoothed over the sofa, then held in place with straight pins while I slipped a gold elastic gift-wrap band over it to hold in place. Looked just like a "Sure-Fit" in the catalogs. If I hadn't had the fancy elastic, I would have made a gathered felt dust ruffle twice the circumference of the sofa and used a casing to hide regular elastic, then slipped the dust ruffle into place over the folded felt.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Reupholstering furniture: I have done this and it is not too hard. I use vinegar to soften the glue and pull it apart. Use the old cloth as a pattern and just redo it. Best to scrap off the softened glue before regluing (the voice of experience).

Gracia in California

Stove/hot plate: the burners on many commercial mini stoves are just plumbing washers available at any hardware store (metal rings with little spokes that point toward the center around the inner edge instead of rays that point outward). For a hot plate, pry the lid off a smaller-size Altoids tin, paint it brushed steel, white, black (or your preferred color), turn upside down and glue on the washer "burners", glue a couple of beads for controls, and if you want, a snip of bunka with a bead plug on the end for the cord.

Loretta.Sniarowski

gluing technique: >>I have a question for some of you experts who make fine mini-furniture. I just read a tip in SSD that you wipe the excess glue that squeezes out of a joint after it is clamped using a damp rag. Years ago I took a millwork class and was taught that you should always wait until glue dries, then scrape it off because wiping it pushes it into the wood and prevents the stain or other finish from penetrating properly. My question - which is the correct way to clean up the glue? <<

Jacqui in Hilo, Goddess of Chaos

Glue seepage: > How do you keep the glue bumps away when you connect 2 pieces of wood using wood glue?? Give me some ideas on what you do!"
- -From watching The New Yankee Workshop on PBS and classes with Brooke Tucker.......Best Solution......Keep a damp rag on work bench. Glue up your pieces.. Press together ....Clamp. Wipe off excess glue immediately with damp rag.

Patricia / Redwood City, CA

Glue Seepage: - I have received two personal answers so far that I haven't yet seen in SSD - both are from long time woodworkers who say they would always let the glue dry and then carefully scrape it off. Also, if there is only just enough glue for the joint it won't seep and the problem will not occur. This is what I was taught and makes more sense.

Jacqui in Hilo

Gluing Furniture: [ I'm trying to make my own furniture and the wood glue does not hold]
- Use Aileen's tacky glue. any excess you get on the wood can be wiped off with a damp rag, and the glue sets up fast. i never actually MADE furniture, just repaired it, and that is what i used.

Judy London