Plexiglass Boxes: I have ordered from them and the product is top quality and the service super fast if product is in stock. http://www.jule-art.com

Linda

Keeping Cabinets/Mirrors on Walls: How about using velcro? I'm going to try some velcro for holding up my mirrors on the walls and my kitchen cabinets. It's the only thing I can think of that might keep the things from flopping down in the floor.

Susan

Doilies: I wonder if you can make them by either making a pencil rubbing of a crocheted doily or drawing the doily on appropriate white paper, then putting the paper on a piece of Styrofoam and punching out the drawn design with something larger than a sewing needle -- maybe a tapestry needle or the tip of a nail file. After it's punched, cut out the design. I haven't tried it, but I can't see why it wouldn't work.

Rosemary

Lite Brite Pegs: Can be found at just about any thrift store, yard sale, flea market, or you can look for the refill packs at any toystore or Wal-mart (over in the toys near the Play-Doh.) RoseArt made an Peg Light set near Christmas but don't know if it is still on the market.

Anna

Doilies: I got my mini doilies for free. When you go to www.cottonridge.com you click on miniature scale and gallery after, at the bottom of the picture you will see the offer for different gifts if you send them a picture of your minis. There is 6 laser cut mini doilies. It took 2 weeks for me to get it and they are beautiful.

Gisèle

Fall Projects - Corn Husks Continued: Wanted to tell you that when I tried to shred corn husks, in the green stage, they were a little clumpy. I used a ribbon shredder as you may remember. Looked like a nice beginning for a hula skirt though, Norieta in Hawaii. Don't shred the first inch of the bottom of the husk, then pull the rest through, and put on the Hawaiian music. (Always clean out the shredder, it rusts).

When I shredded in a semi green stage it was a little smother. I weighted down one side of the strands, but not the other side, which turned out rather wavy. They are still slightly green.

When I shredded even dryer husks, things started tearing and breaking. So now I'll wait for the slightly green shreds to completely dry and try to remember to tell you the outcome. Sorry if this is too lengthy.

MAP in Puyallup

Moving Dollhouses: Seven years ago we moved from Denver to Knoxville and we moved four completed dollhouses, one huge dollhouse shell and many roomboxes. The only tragedy was a stair rail that was wiped out by a bathtub I thought was glued tight. I took everything out of the rooms and wrapped most things in paper towels and then in shoe boxes by room and then packed those boxes in a bigger box by house. Paper towels are soft and I used them later for cleaning when we moved in. My DH did the actual boxing of the houses, using big packing

boxes when we could, but creating a couple of the larger ones. Padding is everything! We padded with newspapers, bubble wrap, extra bath towels and anything else that took up space. Be sure the boxes are sturdy! We also followed those movers like shadows to make sure nothing huge was loaded on top of a dollhouse. We moved our house, my mother-in-law's house and my '87 Fiero, packed with houseplants, in that van and nothing was lost or damaged.

Linda Peterson in TN

Screw Eyes: The nearest I've found to 1/12 scale screw eyes are model railway accessories called eye bolts. They don't have a screw thread, and have to be super glued into a hole drilled with a #80 bit (the smallest in most drill sets, thinner than most needles). The 'eye' part is about 1/32 of an inch across. They are silver-colored (stainless steel perhaps?) They come in two lengths, about 3/16" and about 5/16" long, and they are parts numbers SA 2206 and SA 2222 respectively of a line made by Detail Associates, P.O. Bos 5357, San Luis Obispo, CA 93403. A good model railroad store should have them, in the HO scale section.

Frances Armstrong, Erin, Ontario

Holes in Plastic: If you ever want a whole in plastic again. Here is a tip I found. Get a burning candle & a ice pick. Hold the ice pick over the flame until it is hot. Then press the ice pick on the place where you want the hole to be. Keep doing this until it goes all the way through. It works & won't break the plastic. I know I have done it.

Granny Debbie

Bending Metal Tubing: Another idea might be to fill the tube with sand; again, it would in effect be a solid rod, rather than a tube. This is an old moon-shiner maker's trick - and never mind how I know!

Dani, Bradshaw

Bending Metal Tubing: I had to bend some tubing, and I had it for weeks and then my brother-in-law came along and I asked him for ideas. He stoked up our coal range and shoved my tubing in. When it had got red hot, he whipped it out and turned the cold tap onto it. It was then able to be carefully bent around a top of a plastic bottle. But once I had bent it once, it had to go back into the fire for more adjustments. It is great, not kinked - although it did kink because I wasn't confident enough to bend it firmly. But we straightened it out with heating it again. Just be careful that you hold it in the flames with something like tongs or such.

Diana in NZ.

Sharp Edges on Cut Tins: To finish cut edges on tins, an easy finish is to take some electrical flex, slit down one side and remove the wires, slip the hollow sleeve over the edges of the tin, maybe with a dab of glue to hold in place.

Maureen in Hemel, U.K.

1/12 Scale Models: I wanted to remind people that 1/12 scale models are available in such things as snowmobiles and ATV’s (4 wheelers). I'm going to use snowmobiles and atvs with the log cabin I'm building and landscaping and I've found that e-bay frequently has these types of models for sale at relatively inexpensive prices.

Kathy in Houston

Decals: I have an odd method of making decals, and it always works for me. I know I couldn't of thought of this on my own, so I must of read it somewhere. I take any mini-picture I like (wallpaper is great) and coat it with about 5-10 coats of clear nail polish. When its dry, soak in water, and peel off the polish. Somehow, it picks up the ink, and leaves the paper behind. Works, oh, 90% of the time

Sarah Nice

Decals: Micro Scale has decals for Chrysonbon, or at least they did a few years ago. I don't have an address, but perhaps there are some model railroaders reading this that can furnish an address. Or maybe some miniature shops will have them.

Dean Jenson

Decals for plates: why not try small transfers that the egg people use. These can be used for putting on painted furniture, trays, etc. They are pretty small and you can even cut the images out to make then even smaller...is in flowers, one floor at a time. These can then be coated with a sealer. They even have transfers at the beauty shops!

Hazel Dowd

Painting small items: I just finished painting a large number of wheels about 1/8 inch diameter. To hold them, I cut off the end of a toothpick (round are much easier to twirl) sanded it smooth, then used wood glue to attach the plastic wheel. The wood glue holds the wheel while painting, but pops off leaving the glue on the toothpick. I put the toothpick in styrofoam while drying.

Dean Jenson

Organizational Tip: I am in the process of cleaning up my craft room, and have discovered many projects in progress. I also discovered that I now have quite a few of those cardboard magazine organizers, since I've weeded out a lot there too. So, I have put each of the unfinished projects in a large ziploc bag with all of the instructions, materials, etc. that pertain to it, and file them in the magazine boxes. Now if the spirit moves me to pick up an unfinished project and work on it, I'll now exactly where it is, and I won't have to look for all of the materials and directions. Hope this helps someone who might have a lot of "stuff" lying around!

Cheryl Loaring

Cleaning brass: Soak the brass item in ammonia. Make sure it is completely covered with ammonia. If not, you will get an ugly, dark ring where the ammonia stops. Soak the brass for several hours. I use to soak stuff overnight. Keep checking it. The paint will practically slide off. Cleaning and polishing the brass will be much easier after the ammonia soak. You can use lemon scented ammonia if you like. If you plan on spraying a clear finish on it: DO NOT POLISH WITH BRASSO OR OTHER BRASS POLISH BEFOREHAND. I did this once and the whole finish started blistering off.

Gloria

Moleskin: Look where they sell Dr. Scholl's shoe stuff in the grocery or K-Mart type places. It comes in a single piece (you know how big the package is) and you cut off what you need, peel the backing and apply it. If you are using it to keep, oh, a piece of pottery from scratching your good table, you can often find 'dots' of various sizes in the sewing aisle or JoAnn's. I generally go that route as it is less expensive and the material is thinner. You can also just glue a smidge of felt to the bottom of your item.

Jim & Dani Rice