Snow: For the snow on the Gingerbread House I made, I used corn starch and white glue. I just kept mixing white glue with the cornstarch until I got it more gloopy, and spread it on the roof.

Worked great, was able to make icicles, and I had a lot of comments and questions on it when I displayed it at the Miniatures West show. (But I liked the tip that someone gave here about putting talc powder over the top before it dries.)

Kaye in LA

Snow: The idea of caulking for snow seems most satisfying, however instead of dusting it with powder which would seem to make it look fairly dull and lifeless, I would suggest using diamond dust. This is actually a crushed glass or sometimes very thin and glittery pieces of plastic. Snow, being frozen water, reflects light and sparkles. Diamond dust, being small fragments of glass, does the same thing and looks very realistic. Always handle it with care since it is glass, but once it is attached to the project it would no longer present any danger and it looks very sparkly and snow like.

Marsha Hedrick

Displaying Mini Christmas Cards: I have very carefully stuck the mini Christmas cards to very thin red ribbon, and stuck the ribbon to the walls of Santa's room. They look wonderful, just like cards do in our house at Christmas with some hanging a little bit this way or that way, the sizes all jumbled as they get put on the ribbon as they come in the post. So may I recommend Christmas card printables off the web and onto red ribbon as a way of making a Christmas room scene look just the thing.

Helen from York, England

Gingerbread Men:

Materials: Ochre and Caramel Fimo

Kemper Cutter - 3/8" Flower

Fine-point Marking Pen - Brown

Toothpick

Fimo Lacquer - matte

Miniature Platter

For Gingerbread color, knead thoroughly one part ochre to one part Caramel Fimo. Roll the mixture out on a flat surface to a thickness of no more than 1/16". Cut out flowers with the Kemper cutter. Hold a flower between your fingers and gently stretch two of the petals to form legs. Place on baking pan and score eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons with a toothpick. Bake your cookies at 250 degrees for ten minutes. When cool, accent the eyes, etc. with a brown marker. Glue onto platter.

Mary Eccher

How to use our minis in Christmas decorating: I have two large printer's boxes hung on the wall. Usually they are made of dark wood, at least mine were. So I took small scraps of leftover wallpaper, real-life paper and even the inside of envelopes which are patterned. In other words, anything which had a small print, and covered the back and sides of each square or rectangle. It really didn't take long to do at all. Don't use too many different colors and stick to various shades or complimentary colors. This really brightens up and shows off any minis. During the year I display any minis which are not in a roombox or house, and even my swaps. Then at the beginning of December I put them all away in a box and display just Christmas minis. I've been doing this for quite a number of years, but when I first started I didn't have that much Christmas stuff, so I used little plastic figures, or mini Christmas cards, or anything at all. As the years went on and I collected a few more 'precious' minis, I then exchanged it for the plastic run-of-the-mill. I keep the display up until after the New Year.

Another way to display minis is to create a 'scene in a ball.' You can purchase those clear plastic balls and can create a scene such as a rocking chair with an afghan over it, or something more elaborate as a complete room if you work in a smaller scale.

Carol Jones

It's easy to make miniature icicles. All you need is waxed paper, tacky glue and a pin or small nail. Squeeze out a thin line of Tacky glue, as long as you like, onto the waxed paper. Give it a few minutes to start setting up, then take your nail or pin and carefully pull down a bit of glue from the main line. Do this every so far along the line to make the icicle formation you want. Let the glue dry completely, then carefully peel it off the waxed paper. It will be flexible enough to go around shapes, you can cut it to the size you need, and it will last. I have some done many years ago that are still in askew shape. Works in any scale!

Beth

Suggestion for Xmas decorating with minis: If you've made a mini tree, gifts and toys, you could use it as a dinner table centerpiece or on a living room table. Also I have a free standing florist shop that I have decorated with lots of Xmas florals and during the rest of the year the sign outside the shop says "Xmas in July." It's a nice decoration in the humans house all the time. I hate to have my things hidden away in another room after spending lots of time putting them together.

Elise Mueck

I visited a Christmas store last week. It reminded me that we don't have to put all our mini ornaments on our mini tree. They had lots of garlands and wreaths decorated with Christmas ornaments. We can do the same with our minis. Wouldn't our mini front door be cute with a wreath decorated with tiny gingerbread men and tiny little candy canes?

Kay Baughman

Handprint Holiday Wreath: I saw this full-size as a child's craft idea, but I think it would go nicely in a classroom scene or kitchen scene with Mama and child, or hanging on the wall of Grannie's house.

Make imaginary child's hand prints and cut out of green paper. Depending on the size of your wreath, which is cut from cardboard, you cut out pairs of hands and glue them, wrist to wrist, all around the cardboard circle - just enough to make it full but not enough to cover the fact they are hand prints. Then put tiny red dots for berries (full size would be thumb prints).

Joan Bramsch

Candy Wrapper Tip: The Hershey's Hugs striped foil wrappers make pretty neat covers for your poinsettia's pots! Add a little silk ribbon and bow, and voila! A perfect, little 'florist-type' holiday planter!

Laura

Bell Christmas Wreath: One of our club members made a darling mini wreath of tiny bells for our Christmas gift exchange, and I thought some of you might be interested in how she did it. I've see the large (life size) wreaths out of bells, and that is where she got the idea. She used the wire circles used to make earrings - about 1+ inch diameter, and strung the tiny bells on the wire. I got the stuff and made one today. The bells are the 6mm size, and come in silver or gold at Michaels. I found them in the section with doll making supplies- wiggle eyes, etc. - not in the Christmas section. It surprised me how many small bells it took. I used 4 packs of 7 each (28 bells). (Only 69 cents per pack, so not expensive.) The wires were 2 for 89 cents. I plan to glue a little bow or greenery at the top where the wires connect. Really cute!

Mary Ann

Christmas Presents: Last night while snacking on Andes chocolate covered mints I noticed that the Christmas ones were the perfect size for mini presents. Nice heavy foil with little Christmas prints on them.

Judy

Snow Globes: I bought a couple of those replacement bulbs that people use for their RV's turn signals (I think). They are rounded at the top and about 3/4 inches across. There are different sizes but I liked this size. Remove the bottom part. I used regular needle nosed pliers as I don't have any professional tools. I cracked a couple of bulbs in my first tries. Then sand the glass down to about a 1/16 inch lip. I used a dremel and coarse sandpaper. Take one of those black 1/4 inch neoprene stoppers (from the faucet fix-it pack), glue a small figurine to the top of the stopper and glue the glass dome over the top. I didn't fill it with water or "snow" but I suppose you could. Maybe even use tiny white crayon shavings for snow.

Annie

Christmas Ornaments: I use a lot of Christmas ornaments in my dollhouses. One dollhouse is a dollhouse shop with a home upstairs. Hallmark makes some neat ornaments that are just the right size to use as dollhouses in my shop. They also have tricycles in their Easter ornament collection that I use in my dollhouse. Hallmark also has miniature ornaments in their Christmas collection that I have used as sculpture. They have a small dome with a lighthouse in it that will go in my lighthouse dollhouse as soon as it is completed.

Deb

Christmas Tree Ornaments: Glass Balls: Use garlands of plastic beads fused onto string (sold as holiday garlands, or by-the-foot in some fabric accessory sections). Buy desired color, or buy silver and use permanent-ink felt-tips to color them. Clip string on one side as close as possible; leave stub on other side and paint gold or silver to suggest ornament cap. Glue globe directly to tree, or attach an inconspicuous thread loop to hang over branch.

Foil Fans: Cut sections from pleated sides of stout foil candy cups; pinch at base and flare out. Decorate as desired. Paint if you don't want foil effect. You can also use the sort that combines thinner foil with paper.

Flowers and Leaves: Try any techniques and tools you've been using to make "live" flowers to make "artificial" ones - e.g., blossom or round paper-punch to make blossoms trimmed with fine glitter, etc. Ditto for fruit and veggies.

Quickie Grape Clusters: Coat half-inch or less of bamboo skewer tip with E-600 glue; dip into mustard seeds. Shape with fingers. When dry, paint to taste; nip off excess skewer.

Fattened Sequins: Use a bit of Fun-Tac or similar stickum to hold a shaped confetti/sequin form (like a star, crescent, tree, etc.) above work surface. With needle tool, apply a coat of tacky glue. Let dry; apply additional coats to fatten form. Turn over; repeat on other side, embedding a loop of thread for hanging. Paint and trim as desired. (Possibly some of the acrylic gels or similar stuff would work for this, too.)

Mary, Oregon

Christmas Ornaments: I just ran across this site and thought I would share as it is adorable. Make your own Mini Christmas Ornaments Kit ($30) but you can buy it all finished for $35. Check it out. http://pb.quik.com/ikelleher/minikit.htm

Sheena

Garland: If you ever find a gingerbread man punch, sprinkle baby powder on it, roll gingerbread man colored fimo real thin and punch out a bunch. Then stick pins in the top and bake. When done, take pins out and string them on a fine string: a garland perfect for Xmas.

Dana

Cranberry/Popcorn Garland: String cranberry colored glass seed beads alternately with tiny pieces of white Styrofoam and you have a popcorn and cranberry garland. I did mine with 6 cranberries then two pieces of popcorn alternating back and forth. It's a great look on an old fashioned tree.

Vickie Roberts

Christmas tree: you could always make your own if you can't find one that fits your needs. I cut a dowel the right size and painted it brown. Then I cut off various links of evergreen garland (found at a dollhouse store) and glued it to the dowel. When I had circled the dowel enough times, using shorter or longer links, the effect was really nice. I then made ornaments out of jewelry pearls and caps and used gold jewelry wire to attach to the "limbs." I painted the pearls (6mm & 8mm) and then sprayed them with hi-gloss glaze. I used the tree lights from Michael's and now have a nice tree for our house. I also added a few jewelry charms as extra ornaments. I love Christmas so this was a very fun project.

Colleen in Delmar, NY

Wreath Base: To make a sturdy base for a round wreath, I use fine brown-coated wire (available by the spool at craft stores). Wrap wire tightly several times around the middle of a plastic film canister until the desired thickness is reached, add two or three more inches extra, snip off the end with a pair of sharp scissors, and wrap the extra few inches of wire in a spiral pattern around the wreath looping over and over the wreath while pinching it firmly between your fingers. Tuck the tip of the wire into the wreath. If tightly wound, this will hold its shape indefinitely.

Bev G.