Reducing wood thickness: To those interested, The thickness of wood can be accurately reduced by a method I have been using for some time now. Try to understand the following;

NEEDED;

The wood to be reduced in thickness etc.

A Dremel drill press

A Dremel rotary tool to fit into the drill press.

Sanding drums of various grits to go into the Dremel rotary tool.

Small "C" clamp

From a piece of wood that has a 'true side," grind out (using the sanding drums) a half circle on the "true side".

With the "C" clamp place the wood with the cut out on to the base of the drill press so that when the Dremel rotary tool is lowered the drum that has been inserted into the chuck will nest into the cutout.

CONCEPT:

The more of the drum that is nested in the cutout will have less of its surface protruding past the "true side" of the jig. That is what this piece of wood with the cutout is now called. Therefore by moving the jig so that more or less of the sanding drum surface is protruding past the cutout allows me (you)to adjust how much wood you will remove from the stock you pass along the "true side" and pass it in front of the rotating sanding drum. The sanding drum can be replaced with a router bit and the drill press can be used as a router/shaper in this configuration.

DrBob...Delray Beach, Fl

Cherry Wood.    I have planed to 1/16 th,   You have to watch the grain that is the key.   Place the wood so that is cutting with the grain. I use cherry wood a lot, I have found a way to make the wood   dark red without stain. I use  1/4th lye (buy it in any grocery store) to 3/4^th water, brush this on your wood. With a damp cloth wipe it off. The more coats you use the darker it gets. Use rubber gloves, keep out of reach of children.

Dan & Jane   Greendale WI

Lighthouse Furniture: I can tell you how I furnished my lighthouse if it will help you. Mine has 4 floors. Top floor has a Chart Table/Charts and telescope and binoculars. Next floor is Table/2 Chairs, Bookcase/books, Coffee pot/cups and charts on the walls. Next floor is Bunkbed, Hooked rug, First aid box, nautical pictures on the  wall.   Bottom floor is Row boat, hooks on wall for ropes, raingear, etc., bucket, barrels.  Mine has an attached Lighthouse Keepers room too.  In there I have a couch, table, desk, fireplace, rocking chair, another hooked rug, lamp, dog, and nautical pictures. I forgot, I have lanterns in the actual lighthouse too.

I bought those key rings that have those little battery run lanterns attached to them...took off the rings and set them around.(Got them at Wal-Mart) It looks really nice...wish I had a picture on here to show you.

Anita...BelAir, MD

Chinese Miniatures: I am happy to inform you all that I am going to run a miniature shop in Hong Kong ,hoping to bring back alive the unforgettable past--- the East meet West culture of Hong Kong of the bygone years, and also the contemporary designs of the city. I have had a very simple website of my own at the moment. Do come to visit my site if you feel interested in Chinese cultures.
http://www.loisminitreasures.com

Loi, Hong Kong

Miniature stencils: at my local art store they have stencils for fingernail designs. I bought a couple of them - flowers, etc. to stencil a blanket box and they are the perfect scale.

Vi in Hamilton

Miniature stencils: Try the sugar craft / cake decorating supply shops for stencils in very small scale

Sharon in S. Africa

Miniature stencils: Many of the glass etching stencils are very small and also flexible. I have seen many with tiny leaves and flowers or other designs! I have also seen several of the tiny "laser-cut stencils" (the sheets  are only about 4 or 5 inches square but with quite a few items and patterns in them) in the   scrapbooking section complete with tiny beach scenes, music notes, fleur-de-lis, floral patterns,  checkerboard patterns, etc. just the perfect size for minis.

Chrissy

SHINY FURNITURE: I have finally found the solution for shiny furniture which works for me. I used the Rust-Oleum spray clear top coat protective finish in MATTE. This seems to do a world of good to make that inexpensive furniture look more expensive. Other companies also have a form of this finish, but since this is available at Home Depot I thought it might be the best brand to mention.

Dolores

144 scale furniture: Look at http://www.anitamoriginals.comfor fantastic furniture, kits to make, and metal minis. Anita does great work and is a member of this digest.

Debby

Harry Smith Book: I want to say that I recently received Harry Smith's book "The Art of Making Furniture in Miniature". The best part is that it is one of the best books I have seen for crafting miniature furniture. This book is for making fine furniture indeed - no drawer pulls fashioned from beads, no balsa wood, etc. It is clear, concise, very well illustrated and quite inspiring. I recommend it to anyone who considers building from scratch, as well as to those who build from kits. In fact, it is especially good for kit builders, because it gives you information on assembly, sanding and finishing, which will allow you to build that kit at a much higher level.

Jonathan in Israel

30's-40's Farmhouse: It wouldn't hurt to have some Victorian furnishings in it because people were far more frugal back then and if something was still in good condition there was no reason to replace it. Consider using rag rugs, a linoleum floor in the kitchen, a water pump on the porch, a cabbage rose print fabric for living room carpet, speckled enamel pots and pans, and a Victrola. (No, I wasn't around then, but my grandmother sure saved a lot of stuff and had a lot of pictures.)

Rosemary in Cleveland

60s Décor: What kind of 60s look are you after? There were so many! Clean-cut Doris Day or her "cousins" English mod and Marlo Thomas's "That Girl"? If so, rent some Doris & Rock movies or That Girl videos and look at the scenery instead of the characters. Later hippie stuff? The 60s included just about every style imaginable; it's when the concept of eclectic decor really took off, so practically anything will work, preferably tied together with a garish color scheme and lots of paisley and/or daisies. The social rank of the people inhabiting your house or scene would play a part, too. Older, wealthier people would have been into traditional furniture and art (think classic English or French country) or "tasteful", modern, neutral upholstery and carpeting (think nubbly and beige), and chrome/leather furniture, chrome/glass coffee tables, accents of boldly colored ethnic or abstract art. College kids improvised with bean bags, Goodwill household goods, and Goodwill furniture painted wildly, stacked mattress seating covered in cheap Indian bedspreads, giant floor pillows, and an ever-changing art gallery of music and political posters mixed with DIY collages tacked to the walls. Blue-collar middle-class folks like my parents and neighbors decorated with sort of light, bright (lemon, turquoise) or "colonial" (milky blue, cranberry, hunter green colors in the early 60s - think Marimekko Scandinavian fabrics), and veered toward the familiar gold/avocado/burnt orange as the 70s approached; "early American" maple furniture was popular with them.
The size and placement of the TV and stereo also changed over the decade, assuming more and more prominence, and the TV got bigger and more likely to be in color by the end of the decade. Older folks sometimes had "consoles" which combined the TV, stereo, and radio in a huge piece of furniture the size of a sideboard.

Loretta.Sniarowski

60s House: I saw a (painted lady) San Franciscan dollhouse that was decorated in a 1960s theme at a mini show 3 years ago The outside was decorated in typical sixties colors -the interior decor had beanbag chairs, huge lounge pillows on the floor, sheer fabric strung about the place - beaded doors, green shag carpet - the apple green chairs and macramé, plus tie dyes! The place was a trip - something right out of Woodstock. All it needed was a VW bus to be parked outside!! Hope this tidbit of info helps.

Elizabeth Smith

Amazing Playscale designer chairs: I was browsing thru the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) online store the other day and I discovered these amazing little modern designer chairs:
http://www.momastore.org/ go in, click on Home Accents, and the link to them is there in the bottom row.
They are not my scale (I don't play with fashion dolls any more), and they are very, very pricey (on a par with life size designer chairs), but for those who have the money and are looking for an outstanding chair for their Barbie, these are great. For the rest of us, they are worth a look. Really amazing, and I wish they were 1:12 instead of 1:6. I bet those of us who are interested in modern-style minis could really use a tiny Eames chair!

Maura Bass

Aga Stove: There is instructions for making an aga stove from card in Dolls House World No 83, August 1999. I made the small black stove from card and it think it turned out better than the picture. A lot depends on the trouble you go to with finishing, and it would look even better made with wood.

Elizabeth in New Zealand

Arts & Crafts Style: For the folks looking for Arts & Crafts style miniatures, Janet Granger has a beautiful William Morris inspired needlepoint rug chart in her book. Also, Swiftwater Crafts (by Frank Preene) has some exquisite furniture and he uses the most beautiful woods; birds eye maple - my favorite! His web site address is: www.swiftwatercrafts.com

Tammy

Arts & Crafts Style: We have a shop in Victoria called Charles Rupert that has been selling wonderful tiles and reproduction wallpaper, small furniture and accessories for many years. They have the best selection of Arts and Crafts movement books that I have ever seen. They also have a very good web site with William Morris, Victorian and Arts and Crafts other reproduction wall papers. Their web site is: http://www.charles-rupert.com/index.html

Jean Day

Modern houses: The kitchen is what sets the date of your house and possibly the bathroom too. Aside from my Victorian, which is pure vintage, my other two 1/12th scale houses have up to date kitchens but have period furniture in the other rooms - just like we do in "real" life. One house has fairly modern furniture throughout, which I made, but my Town House has period furniture in almost all of the rooms. They happen to be Colonial, Federal or Queen Anne, simply because I like those elegant styles. Dee's catalog shows lots of kitchens and living rooms with up-to-date furniture - even the chrome kitchen sets of the 1950's.

Jeanette in Wisconsin

Half scale furniture: SCALE DESIGNS http://www.scaledesigns.com has furniture and kits for your house.

Fannye

Half scale furniture: Mott's and Oakridge Hobbies have a great variety of 1/2" scale furniture, both finished and in kits. http://www.minishop.com/ MOTT'S MINIATURES & DOLLHOUSE SHOP

http://www.oakridgehobbies.com/ OAKRIDGE HOBBIES

Nertha