Wooden snowmen: Are they the tiny 5/8" ones? If they are take one, hold it upside down (hat end down) squint at it and say "Sofa leg, Sofa leg, coffee table, coffee table" Yup - wonderful turned legs for modern repro or old style furniture. (some snowmen perform this trick better than others - the ones I got at "Spotlight" work really well.)

Sandra Monk

BED:  2 boxes from pudding mix ( I used Jell-O chocolate pudding boxes). The narrow measurement is just under 3" for the width of a "single" bed (child's or Nanny’s room). Lay 2 boxes end to end and tape together (this is between 6" and 7" long). I use strips of brown paper bag and glue for "tape".

Cut a headboard ( and foot board, if you want one ) from cereal-box cardboard. I like to cut two for strength and put the colored sides together, this leaves the plain side to be painted or covered with pretty paper.

To get a Quilted Headboard, lay some padding (thin quilt batting, fleece,  an old shirt tail, or whatever is handy) on one layer of the cardboard headboard and put your pretty cloth on top. Start on the bottom (under the cardboard ) and sew UP through ALL layers. Then go through a seed bead and back down through ALL layers. If you don't want to use a bead, just put the needle Down about 1/8th inch from where it came Up. When you have finished stitching, tie the ending thread to the beginning one or to a nearby thread. THEN cut the Second cardboard headboard. Wrap a piece of your pretty cloth around it & glue on the Back ONLY. This keeps the glue from leaking through the fabric where it might show.  NOW glue the headboard pieces together, WRONG sides matching.  When you put padding and some pretty cloth on the boxes, bring the cloth down far enough that it will touch the "floor" all around. This way you will never see the boxes.

If you want to, you can cover the box unit with fabric or paper before you put on the padding & pretty cloth. Then it looks "finished" if someone looks at the bottom of the bed.  BOXES... If you think about it most of our wooden furniture is box-like. Dressers, TV cabinets, night stands, hutches, kitchen cabinets & etc. You get the picture.  If you don't want the colored side to show TAKE THE BOX APART, turn it inside out & glue it back together. I have even cut an opening in a box for a Fireplace and bent some other cardboard for the firebox, then added some twigs for logs. I glued these in as this was for a two-year-old's doll house.

Ann in AZ

Vintage Appliances: The ones you are probably referring to are by  K&J Miniature Metal Works, 329 Los Cabos Lane, Ventura, Ca., 93001.  Their web site is: http://www.kandjminmet.com

They also make a very authentic top-of -the- stove percolator with removable lid and coffee ground basket interior.  You can also order an electric toaster from them.  I believe they have added metal kitchen table and chair sets too.

Juanita in Missouri

Victorian Sinks: I'm not an expert on Victorian sinks but I have the new one by Stokesay Ware and it might be what you're looking for.  It's on my web site at http://www.spminiatures.com/kitchfurnother.htm  It's in the middle of the page.

Carol

Victorian Sinks: we also make a Victorian 'Belfast' or 'stone' sink: http://www.stokesayware.com/. These are incredibly common in full size here in the UK. The 'real' Victorian house that we moved into about 16 years ago still had 2 in situ. (One is now in the garden planted with flowers and the other is still in my studio from when I took measurements to make the miniature). You may not have had this kind of sink in America - there seems to be a 'sink divide'. I read lots of references to 'dry sinks' which are not familiar to me.

Karen

Hinges:  Hinges are easy to install if some  care is used. For the ones set into mortises (spaces cut out to accommodate  the hinge plates) be sure the mortises are just as deep as needed for the  hinge plate and the ends of the mortise are perfectly square. Be sure the hinge plate will sit right down into the mortise.

  To make the mortise mark the end of the mortise using the knife to make  thin cuts. Make the cuts deeper, then lay the knife almost flat and  carefully cut from the centre to one end cut. Do the same going from the  centre to the other end cut. Keep doing this until the mortise is as deep  as the hinge plate which isn't very deep. Use a narrow flat file to make  certain the mortise is flat in the centre. Use sandpaper or the flat file  to rough up the back of the hinge plate. Apply a thin coat of 5 minute  epoxy glue to the hinge plate being careful not to get any glue in the  barrel of the hinge. Place the hinge in the mortise. Allow glue to set. It  is set in about 5 min. but not fully cured for 24 hours. When it is cured place the wee nails in the teeth of a pair of pliers and file the domed top flat. Make a pilot hole using a pin in the holes of the hinge plate. Hold the wee nail with sharp pointed tweezers, dip it in a bit of 5 min. epoxy and place it in the pilot hole pressing it in a bit. Reverse the tweezers and place the flat end on the nail and carefully press it into the hole until it is flat into place. Always prepare extra nails because some of  them will fly off into space never to be seen again. Extra nails can be purchased separately.

  If this procedure is done with care the nails will stay on without any trouble. Of course, they are delicate so if the hinges are forced they will come off. For a chest the mortise for the lid has to be cut out on the flat of the lid and this requires extra care, but it can be done successfully. For Canadians Lepages' 5 min. epoxy is the best.

June in London Ontario Canada

Furniture Patterns: Peter Wescott has written a series of 10 pamphlets that contain plans and instructions for building several different styles. Each booklet has about 10 plans in it for a particular style of furniture. They are called the "Mitre Box" series, because a miter box (with saw) is the only tool you need to build these pieces. Find them on my web site Earth & Tree Miniatures http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com

Tom Berkner

Craftsman Style Furniture: Frank Preene (Swiftwater Crafts) makes excellent and authentic furniture in the style of Arts & Crafts, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Rennie Macintosh, Biedermeier, Stickley and Wooten. He uses exotic wood inlay and marquetry. All are limited edition. His prices are not, I repeat, *not* outrageous. They are quite reasonable for such quality. I promise you I am not making a commission off any of his sales, I just don't want such a great resource to be overlooked. http://www.swiftwatercrafts.com/

Anne Gerdes

Fernwood kits: The Fernwood kits are great and fun. I was having difficulty finding furniture for my southwest room and the kits are great. Some are authentic replicas, easy to build. I used Tung oil for the finish of a chest with beautiful turnings that I painted turquoise and white. Now I am working on the spanish chairs and the pueblo day bed. Michaels has small, reasonably priced, thin leather for the seats. Fernwood also have Gustave Stickley pieces as well as colonial and country.

Sari

1950s Appliances: Try K&J Miniature Metal Works, web address is www.kandjminmet.com They have a neat refrigerator and stove from the fifties. They also have a neat dining set, a toaster that lights up (the refrigerator does too!) and a coffee pot.

Connie

1950s Appliances: One idea I read was to make a fridge and chrome table from an Altoids container. Also, I have a friend I actually wrote about a few weeks ago who is custom making all of my 50's furniture for my dollhouse. She is always interested in new projects and does a GREAT job. Her name is Anita Oltman and her email is aoltmans@yahoo.com.

Traci

1950s Appliances: For those of you looking for 1950's kitchen appliances, I can highly recommend having a look at the site for K&J Metal Miniatures. These are wonderful things - crafted beautifully by a really talented artisan named Karen Fuller. The site can be viewed at:

http://www.kandjminmet.com/

Ann Hendricks

1950s Appliances: The refrigerators in the 50's did not have the round top freezer (motors) on top - those were in the 30's. We had one in 1934. The one we got new in 1941 had the freezer on top inside but no separate door. The door was all in one piece.

Kathleen

Chrysnbon stove: I have successfully wired several of the stove kits. I used a "flickering" light unit in the stove and painted the bulbs different colors with stained glass paint. This unit can be found with screw type bulbs.I also lined the lower part of the stove with finely crumpled aluminum foil pressed around the inside of the stove. It reflects the light in more random patterns. I glued the bottom of the unit in place to help secure the wires (run them down and glue to the inside of one of the legs).Then I secure the top in place with Will-hold (or similar product).

Lloyd Cooper

1950s Appliances: Dollhouse Miniatures May'98 has an article on a 50's breadbox and they used an Altoids tin to make the refrigrator and a silver pen clip for the handle.

Valerie

Crysnbon china cabinet - First, pre-stain the parts you want stained, but leave the areas that will be glued clean, or clean them with some fine sandpaper. Second, use model cement - the kind used on model car kits. If you are talking about the bow-fronted cabinet, the shelves are a bit of a pain - they rest on little tabs. Sometimes it's better to glue them down or use little blobs of min-wax to keep them from falling.

Beverly Michie

Wicker Chairs: I've made a few pieces of wicker furniture but never a wheelchair. All my chairs are made of 24 gauge cloth-covered wire and waxed linen cord. I usually spray it with a matte acrylic clear finish and that adds strength. My chairs can definitely take the weight of a porcelain doll.

Paula

Wicker: A substitute for waxed linen for wicker: Try a slightly heavier crochet cotton for 1" scale or the real fine cotton for the smaller scales.

Mary Lou

Furniture Kits: The House of Miniature Furniture Kits are advertised in the magazines at www.miniatures.com, but I could not find them on the HBS site when I looked for them a while back. I used to get their "kit of the month" a few years ago, and my dollhouse is full of them. They were very easy and a lot of fun to do, and very reasonably priced. I would suggest calling them.  Their ad lists the following information: The House of Miniatures, 2388 Pleastantdale Road, Atlanta, GA, 30340-3126, 800-679-9090.

Michelle Fox

Circles for Table Tops: If you go to a good art store, they have clear acrylic sheets in a lot of different weights. And one of these heavier weights would certainly do well for a glass table top. Course you're going to have to cut out the circle, but that's nothing that a good, sharp x-acto knife can't handle. Find a good circular item to use as a template and draw around it with a washable marker...then start cutting. Also, any clear acrylic you have left over can be used to make windows for stained glass using the Gallery Glass. I went stained glass happy last fall making windows for my Buttercup Lamp Shoppe and the results were so good...actually, it was down-right addictive!

Joy in Pointe Claire