Furnace Pattern:  For Louise and all others interested in the furnace pattern, you can find it in Scale Cabinetmaker, Vol. #12,  #3, pg. 17, and Vol. #12, #4, pg. 29.

Marjorie in CA

Gold Leafing: I just finished some leafing (an illuminated letter), so I can answer a few of your questions. You will need the glue called "gold leaf adhesive size", which should be available at an art and craft store where they sell leafing in packages. The one I bought is a water-clean-up (my favorite!) from Houston Art, Inc. I looked for their web site, and found them at  http://www.houstonart.com Click on "gold leaf". They have a book for sale on their site, but all the instructions you need are on the bottle. I have only done paper projects, though, so maybe someone else can fill in on how to prep furniture (I know that you need to paint it with a color first). Interestingly enough, I was playing around with it (and also saw on Carol Duvall's Show) and found that it will stick to a design made with a hot glue gun or Aleene's 3-D Foiling Glue, which gives you all sort of creative possibilities. The variegated foil they mention on the site is my favorite (at least for the illuminated letters I have done), although in the years since I bought my first package, the price has gone through the roof. I think the patterns are too big for miniature work, though, but it sure is fascinating stuff.

Marilyn, Wisconsin

Game Room: If anyone is planning a game room or amusement park, there are some wonderful new products out by Basic Fun. Their web site is www.basicfuninc.com

They list web sites and stores where their items can be purchased. I just received the "Prize-O-Matic" which is the stand up game with the claw where you try to pick up the prizes and drop them into the chute to win...it really works, comes with prizes and is a total hoot. They also offer miniature pinball, air hockey, foozball, and rod hockey tables.

The same company also has a refrigerator key chain that is for magnetic poetry. The Magnetic poetry sticker comes off easily, and it is an adorable older model fridge that really lights up when you open it.

Suzy

Swiftwater Crafts is Frank Preene. He also does wonderful banded inlaid furniture, and I saw he had some stained glass at he Andover show.

Frank Preene
Swiftwater Crafts
Box 182
Delaware Water Gap, PA
18327
(570)421-1910

Bill

Windsor chairs: For the person looking for Windsor chairs, try Colin Bird. He is in England. http://www.colinbird.co.uk/index.shtml

Barbara B

Furnace and stove flue pipes: For the making of flue pipes for furnaces and stoves (pot belly, etc.) use the plastic soda straws that are accordion pleated so you can bend them and still drink the fluid. Take the straw and use the accordion pleats for your flue pipe bends (right angle, etc.) and the rest of the straw for the flue pipe. Paint appropriate color.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Cheap Trunks:  I too purchased those beautiful little $.97 trunks at Wally's. The sides are a bit thick for scale so I lined the trunks with cloth and turned and glued the edges close to the inside outer edge of the trunk to give it the optical illusion of having thin walls. Hope this makes sense.

Brooke, WA

HUTCHES: I took one of the hutches from Michaels and painted it midnight blue. Then splattered it with white paint. Next I made a small kitchen table and painted it the same way. I did a little trimming with white paint, around the drawers, a little scroll work, and the knobs on the doors/drawers/table legs. They look great!

Today I had a white bookcase I'd made from mat board and splatter painted it in 3 shades of green. Looks like it would go in a kids room. (another project) Then I made another table and painted it a deep green. Put a white circle around one place on the legs, a light green on the bottom circle of the legs and put dots on the part of the leg near the table top. Now, I've got to decide which hutch I want to put with this table.

Terri Young

PERM Rods: Excellent for furniture molding, decorative corner trim, chair backs, table legs etc. Cut tiny spikes off, trim ends as desired and paint to match. Inset beside doors, backs of easy chairs, make interesting lamp bases grouped together (wire running through hollow middle) etc. Outstanding mini accessories supply of shapes and flares.

Judie - Daytona Beach, FL

Kitchen Faucets: About the one spout kitchen taps: I made mine from the bits left over from Chrysnbon kit sets. For the knobs you can use a clear facetted bead with a very small circle ( belt-hole punch) blue and red to cover the holes. The end of the spout can be drilled hollow with a small drill if you want to be very good :-)

I painted the tap with chrome paint and it all looked very realistic and modern.

Dorothee

If you want glass circles, just go to your local glass shop (not a hardware store, but the place that only sells glass) Ask them to cut you a 3" or 4" diameter circle out of single strength glass (which is probably the thinnest they will have) and SEAM the edges. That means they will run the raw edges over a wet sander or grinder to smooth the surface for you. I have made lots of mini glass topped tables in all sizes and shapes this way and I don't think I have ever paid more than 3 or 4 dollars for anything. If you have the most recent issue of Miniature Collector I have been told that one of my "cactus tables" with a round glass top is pictured in the article about Pat Arnell's collection

Bonnie Gibson

Hinge Idea: For hinges in minis where the hinge does not show, use pieces cut from Postal or Fed Ex overnight envelopes. This material is Tyvek, the same stuff they use as a house wrap in the construction business. It does not tear, takes most inks and dyes. When you look at it closely you can see the random pattern of the fibers. This is not the plastic that other overnight packages come in and it's not paper. It's especially good when working with cardboards, tag board and foam core, because it's lightweight. The Tyvek material will flex over and over and over and not tear. And it folds flat between the furniture parts. If you use it on a child's refrigerator made of wood, you may want to both glue it and tack it with small nails or short pins.

Janine

3/4" Scale Sink: I just made a sink that's about 3/4" scale out of odds and ends. Pried the lid off an Altoids container and found some plastic bubble pack that fit inside one half for the basin, glued some more bubble pack acetate to the other half and topped by it with a rectangle of plastic canvas for the drain board. Four shaker pegs from Joann's for legs and a piece of egg carton for the splashboard. A couple of coats of white acrylic, a few spritzes of clear gloss acrylic, a snap drain inside basin, silver-painted grommet and bendy straw drainpipe underneath, and I had a nice early 20th century sink that fits where needed better than the longer commercial versions. Plan to rag-paint the Altoids lid and glue on four more peg legs for a tin-top work table. I love making things out of junk; I want to be Joann Swanson when I grow up! You can make old-fashioned stoves from various bits and pieces, too (jewelry findings, covered button pieces, band-aid or tea cans. Use your imagination..

Loretta Sniarowski

Masking Tape Leather; I have the instructions for making leather from masking tape. I have used it for table tops and wastepaper baskets. It looks really good! I can't remember who I got them from, so I hope the owner will claim them - sorry!

Leather effect:

Take masking tape and tear into very small pieces and overlap them on whatever you want to look "leathery". Now rub in and on the paste shoe polish color of your choice. The more you rub on the deeper the color. Now seal it with dull or semi gloss and Voila ! This works as a "distressed" leather look. For things like leather table tops or book covers, don't tear the tape. (I had trouble getting the masking tape to stick to very smooth wood, so I rubbed a glue stick on the wood, let it dry and then it stuck just fine. I also used a stain stick instead of the shoe polish.)

Carole Pierce

Paper Trunk Directions

On our State Day a member from Jonesboro displayed a trunk that looked like an old metal footlocker....only she had made it from a brown grocery sack! To the best of our ability, several club members and friends got together at my house the evening of our program and constructed trunks of our own.

The method needs to be done in a well ventilated area....for the fumes from the candles gets pretty thick.

First we took a piece of brown bag approximately 10 inches square to prepare for cutting out the trunk. We spread a generous coat of tacky glue over the paper and let it dry for a short time....just to a good tacky touch. We then lit votive candles and proceeded to blacken our paper with smoke from the candle.....but, be patient, for this is quite time consuming. Some got their paper good and black, some got black and brown spotted material, and some like yours truly caught their bag on fire and had to start all over. This is not recommended for children...nor some hard headed older women!!! (I was close enough to get it out the back door and stomp it out!)

When your paper is blackened to your satisfaction, you take a soft cloth and buff your material to bring up a good shine...thus the metal look. My sack was very lumpy or out of shape, so I took an iron on a very low setting and ironed it between sheets of wax paper.

Then we selected small print wall paper and glued to the back....flattening it with books until dry enough to cut out our trunks. I used a pattern from a trunk kit that I had already purchased.

Since our paper pieces were thinner than wood, we used coffee stirrers to frame each piece of the trunk with the exception of the lid. In other words, we framed the bottom and all four sides of the trunk. This when dried, gave us something solid to glue together.

We cut the rounded ends of the trunk from balsa and used balsa on the side pieces of the trunk lid as well. Fit your pieces as you work. This was not an exact science and we found fitting often was necessary!

We used a gold paper doily for our metal trims and locks. A piece of black electrical tape became our hinges. You may choose to use leather....we used leather for handles on the sides of the trunk.

This was a fun project for we didn't have any great expense, nor did we have any firm or set pattern with instructions to follow. I wish you all luck, and let us see your results.

Katherine Furqueron

To "enamel" your appliances, try gluing aluminum flashing (sold in the home improvement stores) onto the wood. It's very thin and can be lightly scored/bent ...but only once! Bending it back in the other direction will snap it apart. I've used the stainless kind to simulate stovetops, hoods, etc. It's also available on a roll in reversible white/brown for white appliances! The aluminum color can be spray painted also (be sure to prime first so paint doesn't chip off). I just finished my "modern" range ... looks like a Viking complete with grill top!

Jan Harris

Chess Men: The bottom of a chess man can become a sundial. Make a round top of thin cardboard then top that with a smaller octatgon of thin card. Then make the little stand up dial of card. Paint the card board with gold paint, cover it with origami paper, or try to get a piece of mat board that is metallic! If you use a piece that can be used totally, like a castle, that is better since it is taller. A cake decorating column can be used also.

Martha Simpson Nock

Round or odd shaped glass table tops: You can clean the backs off mirrors that are the size glass table top you want. You can find mini mirrors of different size and shapes at Joanns

To clean mirrors . Use paint stripper to remove the backing, Under the paint will be a layer of copper and then a layer of silver. In our factory we use sulfuric acid and Chromium Trioxide but I wouldn't recommend these for home use, but instead use vinegar or weak battery top up fluid ( not distilled water) . It would help if the fluid was warm

Marc

Hanging Kitchen Cabinets: Insert small, pins with points at both ends into the cabinets and then put very small amounts of glue between the pins. Then press the cabinet into the wall. The pins will hold it in place and the glue will keep it there.

Bob in Hollywood, FL

Ring Box Cushioned Seat: I took a ribbed twill with satin cording and put all around edge, then made a skirt out of cream colored satin ribbon with pleats on each corner. Added some antique looking beads for legs and there you have it!

Lisa Lynn