Working Fountain: I make table fountains and one thing you have to remember is that somehow, somewhere the fountain mechanism has to be submerged in water and the water it pumps out needs to be able to find it's way back to the pump for recycling. You can find the smallest pumps at your local garden store (eg. Home Depot) for about $15. Some years ago I bought a "ready made" fountain that I thought would go perfect with my dh. When the time comes to landscape, I will incorporate it with some foliage, trees etc.

W. Marie in Edmonds, WA

Working Fountain: For anyone interested in working fountains in a garden ......if you can wait my August NN/DM, DIY article has one.... and I will say that the tinkle tinkle of the water, coming out of the fountain, does add a new dimension to a miniature garden.

Joann Swanson

Seed Beads: seed beads can be used for foodstuffs in clear jars as if they'd been canned: yellow is corn, green is peas, etc. You could also use them to make beaded lamp shades, the ornate things at the end of light pulls like on ceiling fans, drawer pulls, cupboard handles, put them at the bottom of a clear glass vase for a special flower arrangement (like marbles in "real" life), On top of lids for pans, canisters and/or cookie jars, centers of flowers, decorations on tiny little hats, and of course dresses, tops, etc. Okay, out of ideas for now!

Sloan

Bird nest foliage: Hope I am not repeating suggestions but saw note regarding material for birds nests. Barbara Ann Meyer of Mini Gems (no web site) told me she used steel wool that was painted. Buy fine steel wool in large packages in the paint section of discount stores. it costs about 2-3 dollars. if you purchase it at a craft store they will charge you 2-3 dollars for a teensy tiny pkg. Buy an inexpensive can of brown spray paint (also in the discount stores) to spray the steel wool. When dry just shape around your finger or a pencil end.

Yes, you'll have enough for a thousand nests. So, here's what you can do with some of the rest. Another hint from a dealer I met at the Dayton show and I am sorry cannot remember the name! (shame!) Either buy a can of green spray and paint over the brown or leave it like it is. Buy a can of adhesive spray. Now spread the painted and dry steel wool out on a piece of newspaper. Pull it apart so it is in a thin layer. . Spray heavily with an "adhesive spray". Remove the steel wool to a clean sheet of paper. Now sprinkle heavily with "grass mixture" and perhaps a color (pink, lavender, etc.) of foliage material. (use either foam or paper type) Now the hardest part, do not disturb for at least a week. Take the advice from this over eager individual. If you try to work with it before it's completely dry it will turn out to be one big gooey mess!

In a week check to see if it is dry. It really takes a very long time. When completely dry shake off the foliage material that hasn't stuck to the wool. You can save this foliage material for another time. Now just store your foliage wool it in a plastic bag and use for twig furniture, landscaping or in my case to dress a Faery!~ I know there are many uses. I have multiple bags of different colors. It surely is fun to use.

Lyn T

Waterfalls: I played around with waterfalls before I actually did the ponds and like you, didn't like the flat look I was getting. So,......and I hate to give this one away....I used very thin strips of plastic wrap. I put one end into the resin at the bottom, then twisted the plastic before anchoring it at the top. Used multiple strips, layered on top of each other. Worked out pretty well.....but just wait until you see what's in my workshop! I'm hoping to have it finished and at the store in about 2 weeks.

Sloan

Running Water: The saran wrap trick works very well and you can run some resin down the plastic wrap to give it a bit of depth. Probably this tip is well know by many of you but I was a happy camper when I figured it out. I was trying to give the illusion of running water out of a tap. (Chrysnbon bathroom taps to be precise) I too a some of those plastic tabs from the tags on new clothes (clear plastic stick looking things) and using plastic cement, bonded a few together for the bathtub tap and a single one for the sink tap. Looks very realistic. Took it right to the bottom of each and then added some resin. You can add some tiny bubbles around the "stream" where it enters the water using tiny glass beads. The opalescent ones look nice.

Debi in Quesnel

Landscaping Front-Opening Houses: for my townhouse, entry is very simple, a large step in front of the door, so I painted a couple of Barbie-scale crates white. They look similar to a Versailles type planter. Then glued them to either side of the step, and "planted" with shrubbery. Stuck a (non-working) street lamp in the middle of one. It gave the façade a nice, neat finished look without being too fussy.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Bird's Nests: I found Sue Ann Thwaite's address. Her company name if Lady Bug, http://ladybug-fairies.com. She has this wonderful green mossy stuff that I use all the time to make bird's nests for my birdhouse gardens or whatever. This is the one in that you put a dot of on your index finger and wrap the moss in a circular motion. Press your thumb in the center and remove. Then press the middle to make it concave. The nest's turn out so neat. Then I make little eggs out of fimo or sculpey. She sells small bags too so you don't have to make a million.

Debbie of Sunny Southern California

Outdoor lights: to make the cover for your outside posted light you could use the old single ear phone that we bought in the 70's skin color with a small wire and a little thingy that you would put in one ear. If you find one you can unscrew the earplug and it looks like a little transparent vase. Anyway, it is big enough to fit a light in there and it can be cut smaller. It has a hole at both end and is about 3/4 of an inch long by 5/8 wide. I rescued one from my son's electronic junk...good luck finding one they might still sell them at Radio Shack.

Gisèle Nadeau, BC. Canada

Thanks to all...Thanks to all of you for your nice comments on the tile house. This really isn't a totally unique idea - I have seen some other mini scenes made from weird stuff (including eggs, tiles, tin cans, tree stumps, gift bags, and on and on....) and I bet we could turn almost anything into a cool scene. And I can't begin to tell you the times I have been inspired by the projects made by people on this digest. OK, everyone give yourself a big pat on the back!

Someone asked how I cut the openings - that was the hard part!!!! I cut the holes with a tile drill. I went around the opening and made a bunch of holes close to each other. Then I broke out the inside area with a hammer. Broke the tile in a few places, too.... But I wanted that rustic look so a few cracks didn't matter. I used a coarse file to smooth the openings. I wanted to use a tile saw I have, but it fits in a hacksaw and the throat depth wasn't enough to allow me to cut the openings that way.

Someone else asked how I distressed the wood on the Michael's hutch. It isn't actually distressed at all, but rather sponged painted to give it that blotchy look. The base coat just looked too flat and boring, and this doctored it up nicely.

Another person mentioned the cactus. That is made from some pod that I collected. My husband and son were with me and they are trained enough now that they don't even bat an eye when they see me picking up weird stuff. I don't know the name of it, but I bet someone on the list knows what it is. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=345686&a=4165987&f=0 (link to tile house)

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Other uses for flocking: I spread glue under a big tree that would be all shade and sprinkled the flocking on it and it made a great ground cover. turned out really nice

Annette Long

Laminate samples: The first thing that sprang to my mind is paving/decking for landscaping--use the stone-like ones for paving, and the wood-like ones for decking?

Molly/StormBorn

Bees: My bees made from rice were from uncooked rice. I made them about 8 months ago and so far no bugs, no crumbles. I did worry about that but so far so good.

Pauline

Bees: There is a product on the market made by Sun Rice called 3 minute rice a bit like 2 minute noodles its a precooked then dried product this would make ideal bees

Carol Downunder

House façade and slate shingles: Wanted to share something I did yesterday that came out really well. Not long ago, I made a garden room in a Joann garden 'birdcage'. I wanted a slate floor and to make it, I used inexpensive, slate-like peel and press flooring tiles. I cut them up and mounted the slates on the underside (sticky side) of another tile. Put spackle in between and then did color washes in green and brown to take away the gloss. Sprinkled on landscape moss while it was wet, etc. Came out great. So, I decided to do something similar with the facade of my dollhouse. I bought a 3/8 plywood shell on eBay. The lady I bought from said it is the American Craft Maplehill; it looks just like the RGT farmhouse. I'm doing it colonial. (I know that's 'wrong'. Don't care. I love that house style and that time period, so I'm mixing them :).)
For the stone facade, I cut up mostly gray tile, but also some browns and beiges, and stuck it right on the primed surface. Stuck really well and looks just as I wanted it to. WAHOO!! When I get a new photo-hosting site, I will post pictures of that, the garden room, my lilies, and some Michael's hutches I've been playing with.

Linda in Leroy, OH

I'm not sure what your ponds are made of, but here's an easy way to see if resin will hurt them. Just snip off a scrap from the display and dip it in some resin....if it melts, I'd suggest that you use 50 Year Clear Caulk.

And, as for what kind of glue to use....I personally like Zap-A-Gap. It is what I use in my ponds to secure rocks, shells, fish, etc. in place. Just be sure to let it cure completely.....24 hours is my rule....before adding resin. I would not try tacky (white) glue as I'd be afraid the resin would make it cloud.

Sloan

Front Opening Houses: You can get around the landscaping issues by having very low foundation landscaping with the sidewalk directly in front of the house and creating a yard/garden on the side. Cut some windows in the back and cover the outsides with pretty postcards so you are not looking at the wall. Another idea I saw somewhere and an still "thinking on" was a front opening house that had a tiny ledge extending into the room over the floor. Then when you open the front a tiny bit of the room comes away with it. They had small things on it, like perhaps a stool, some vases, and stuff like that. This way the hinged front had sort of a vignette effect.

Linda in GA

Outdoor Lights: Dollshouse World , Issue 66 of March 1998 has directions for a street lamp with a "lantern" top. They use an empty cotton reel, disposable ballpoint pen, rubber tap washer, and grain of wheat light bulb. cocktail stick, cardboard, thin Perspex, adhesive tape, black paint, glue. The (Gutermans) reel forms the base, with the emptied ballpoint pen forming the pole. It has diagrams for cutting the Perspex and the roof. Looks like the real thing.

Betsie

Jackie

Planting Mini Flowers: A long, long time ago I used floral clay in a few miniature plant pots. THE PLANTS FELL OUT!! Floral clay is too wet to hold. When I plant flowers, I use Sculpey in the pots. I put a good amount of thick white glue on the top, spoon on model train dirt, push plant in place and let dry before dumping off the excess dirt. Many people use coffee grounds but if you live in Florida it is not a good idea! I won't go into details about the mold and bugs here!

Mary