Painting Upholstery: If you like ready made furniture but don't like the fabric it's upholstered in, all you have to do is paint the fabric with undiluted acrylic paint to the colour of your choice. Saves a lot of dismembering of furniture.

Helen

Glass block windows: I read the response from Carol to Pat about the glass blocks. She mentioned grids for light fixtures and I instinctively looked up at the fluorescent fixtures in my office. Voila! The fixtures are those 2'x4' jobs common everywhere. The covering panels look just like those glass blocks turned on the diagonal! I know they sell those replacement panels at Lowe's and I bet they sell them at Home Depot and hundreds of other hardware stores. You might see if they would work for your purposes.

Sonia

Glass Bricks: Some years ago I needed a glass block window. Went to a home improvement store and bought a sheet of plastic grid that is used for light fixtures. It was white, about 1/4 of an inch thick and the spaces were about 1/2 inch square. Cut the size I needed and sealed one side with tape. Mixed some clear resin, poured a little in and after it hardened filled it up. Looked real. The grid is handy for other minis too.

Carol

JoAnn's Bird Cage: Maybe someone suggested this and I missed it, but I bought a birdcage at JoAnn's today which is shaped like a house.  Can be hung or sat, but I like having all four walls and can hang it or sit it down as an unusual room box.  Also, allows me to change whatever I am interested in at the moment or my newest things or oldest and dearest things.  They are at 40 percent off here, which took a $22.99 item down to $13.  I know it would go lower eventually but the $13 is a bargain to me.

Arched Doorways: I purchased an Art Ply house once and all the doors were arched. I left the arches from the center hallway into the living room and dining room, but cut all the others to accept Housework's doors. Even had the foresight to do it before I put the house together! The kit did not include frames for any of these doors, so I had to make my own. I traced the top of punched out bit onto a sheet of balsa wood, and used flat strips for the sides; I made the balsa arch the same width as the strips, obviously. I used balsa because I could cut it with a scalpel; I don't have very much luck using a power saw for that sort of thing. I painted all the pieces before I glued them in place. After the glue was dry, I measured the depth of frames and wall, and cut a long strip of white poster board to glue inside the arch to finish it up neatly.Some folks call it tag board, but it's heavier than paper, but lighter than cardboard. A quick touch up with paint to clean up any smudges and fingerprints, and it looks fairly respectable. If you want 'carving' you could glue crochet-type lace or even paper doily bits around the frame; it would help to hide the seam where the arched piece and the strips join.

Dani

Spiral Stairs: The current issue (June/July 2000) of "Classic American Homes" Magazine has some items of interest in the back advertising section. One is a color ad showing 3 styles of real sized spiral staircases. Looking at this picture, I think it would be easy to make mini versions.

Anne Gerdes

Staircases: As for the stairs, my dollhouse is an old one which is really just a series of wooden boxes with dividers in them, stacked one on top of the other. It does not have stairs, which always bothered me as a kid. Recently I built a false wall at the back of each room, with a door cut out so that it looks like it leads into a hallway, and I pretend there is a staircase back there.

Celeste

Curved Banister: You can make curved banisters from cording rope that you can purchase from Joanne's or other fabric outlets. Just coat the cording rope several times with white glue, like Tacky. As it starts to stiffen, arrange it in the curve you want and let it set up. Then paint it.

Anita Myers, Arnold, MD

Curved Bannister: When you have placed your banisters on the end of the steps, take a piece of round electric wire (copper inside, white plastic outside) and glue that on the top following the curve. Clean the surface well and paint in the desired color. You can even finish the end at the bottom in a nice curve. To bend your copper, you could use a metal ruler to fold along. You can score copper sheeting just like paper to get a nice fold.

Dorothee

How to make a mini lampshade: Determine the desired diameter of the top opening, diameter of the bottom opening, and height of the shade. Find or make 2 wire rings, one for the top opening and the other for the bottom opening.  Measure carefully.

On paper that is not going to be the lampshade, make a diagram (If only I could draw on the darned computer!) as follows:  Make an inverted "T", i.e., horizontal line with perpendicular vertical line going up from the center point.

Mark the intersecting point"A." Measuring from that point going up the vertical, mark the height of the shade as "B."  (The vertical will need to be higher than that point, so if it's not, elongate it.)
Mark the width of the bottom opening on the horizontal line, with A as the exact mid-point.  The outer points will be "C" on the left and "D" on the right.

At point B, and using B as the mid-point, mark the width of the top opening with points "E" on the left and "F" on the right.  This will be parallel to the bottom horizontal.
Connect C and E, continuing that line until it meets the center vertical, and then do the same with D and F.  The point on the vertical where they meet will be point "G."

Cut a strip of cardstock (index card works well) about 1/4" wide x 3" long, depending on the height and size of your shade.  Down the center of the strip, mark three points to correspond with points G, E, and C (or G, F and D -- same diff).  Put a decent-sized pin hole (large enough to accommodate a sharp pencil point) at points C and E.
Pin the paper you will be using for the shade to a piece of cardboard, cork board, or other surface to which the paper can be pinned.

Put a straight pin through point G on the strip, and pin it to the lampshade paper. With a sharp pencil point in point E on the strip, and carefully keeping the strip attached to the paper and board at point G, draw a large arc.  Make a complete circle if you wish; you can always trip later.
With the same sharp pencil (or a different one -- knock yourself out!) in point C on the strip, make another large arc or circle.  BINGO! You now have the correct shape to cut out.
To determine the length of the paper, measure the circumference of the two openings, and then measure out the same distances on the respective arcs, keeping the beginning and ending points of each arc in line with good old point G.  Don't cut on these lines, though; leave a bit(1/4"-ish) to overlap and glue.

Glue ends together to get your conical shape. Using thin strips of tape -- and a lot of patience -- tape the metal rings to the openings.

Rosemary

Attaching Shelves to Walls: I drilled through the wall, glued sewing pins into the holes, then glued the shelves resting atop the pins.

Lee

Attaching Shelves to Walls: I used Elmer's Wood Glue to hold cabinets, pictures and mirrors. I sanded the area where they were to attach, then placed glue on both surfaces. I waited a couple of minutes and then held them together tight a full minute. Or, try Crazy Glue. It holds a man in midair, so it might hold cabinets as well.

Leslie

Contemporary minis: Hi to all those interested in contemporary miniatures. Just ran across an interesting art site that offers an architects idea of a dollhouse with a very different view - it is fun to look at and they also offer interesting accessories. The URL is as follows:

http://www.bozart.com

Ann Hendricks

Slanted Wall: I went on a Christmas candlelight tour of homes this last weekend. I toured an 1800's home where there was a bathroom on the second story that had a slanted wall. The owners had taken a large piece of lace and attached it at the top of the wall and the bottom of the slant. When they attached it they had gathered the lace. It really looked wonderful. It looked like a curtain that you would put on a door that has a window in it and the curtain would be on spring rods at the top and bottom.

Tracey

Slanted wall bathroom: Move the towel rack on the back wall to go between the toilet and the sink. Build shelving from top to bottom, side to side on the back wall. You could have towels, maybe a vase or shells, etc. on the shelving and on the top wall have an ivy spilling over and even having it come on to the slanted wall. On the slanted wall, use sponges and stencils to have ivy leaves to carry the color on. Over the tub have a small bracketed shelf to hold bubble bath, etc. and a towel rack.

Carol Jones

Contemporary Art Gallery: An inexpensive item (actually I guess it is free!) for your mini contemporary gallery...

I go to the places that sell fine limited edition prints, a lot of time frame shops or art galleries that sell lithographs and such. The publishers of the prints put out monthly newsletters showing their artwork that is being featured. They are free. Most of these are printed on lovely heavy smooth glossy stock, and the pictures are often a great size for dollhouse scale. Sometimes if they are a bit big or have printing on the image, they can be trimmed to a nice dollhouse sized print.

I take these mini prints and place them on a slightly larger sized piece of cardstock and then wrap with saran wrap or such and stack them in a bin for browsing, just like in the full sized stores that sell posters and art. I also frame them using the super thin glass, a mat made from cardstock and mini frame molding. I have a few Western prints in my Red Feather Traders roombox and it adds just the right touch. I also have a few framed prints in my other settings.

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Contemporary Art Gallery: An inexpensive item (actually I guess it is free!) for your mini contemporary gallery...

I go to the places that sell fine limited edition prints, a lot of time frame shops or art galleries that sell lithographs and such. The publishers of the prints put out monthly newsletters showing their artwork that is being featured. They are free. Most of these are printed on lovely heavy smooth glossy stock, and the pictures are often a great size for dollhouse scale. Sometimes if they are a bit big or have printing on the image, they can be trimmed to a nice dollhouse sized print.

I take these mini prints and place them on a slightly larger sized piece of cardstock and then wrap with saran wrap or such and stack them in a bin for browsing, just like in the full sized stores that sell posters and art. I also frame them using the super thin glass, a mat made from cardstock and mini frame molding. I have a few Western prints in my Red Feather Traders roombox and it adds just the right touch. I also have a few framed prints in my other settings.

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Bird cage: Don't be scared of the idea of using wire.  I haven't done it but I imagine the base would be made like the wicker furniture projects (I think DHM had an article in the past year or two - and I know Kiwis who have run workshops at NZAME convention). Anyway start with a rectangle / square of wood. drill little holes around the edge.  Glue in short lengths of florists wire for the bars. (different lengths on two sides to make gables) The roof would be two rectangles/squares of florist wire with more wire glued on to make bars.  then glue the roof to the "walls".  You can get painted florist wire - (I've seen white and green, I think brown too) or you may want to paint your own to avoid rust.   or more expensive you can buy fine aluminum, brass or copper rod at model and railroad shops. I can almost visualize myself making a simple modern bird cage. (but first I have to visualize myself actually making time to get into my minis room)

Sandra Monk

Pictures: For pictures in my dollhouses, I go to http://www.homedecorators.artselect.com  and I print off the selections I like on my printer with ink jet canvas paper.  You can get a very realistic "painting" this way, and frame it yourself for practically nothing.

Linda Gibeault

Hurricane Lamps: Ask your doctor or receptionist for outdated or empty ampoules from allergy serums. These are flared at the bottom and curve in nicely at the top. They are scored to snap off, but can be used 'as is'.

Dani Rice