Mini Decals: The site for miniature decals is http://home.earthlink.net/~digger11/decal.html

Linda

Bubble Bath: For bubbles, I used a mixture of clear beads and iridescent beads. I put wadded up paper toweling in the bottom of the tub, then added glue as I added beads.

Carole Pierce

Shell Scouring: The Joy of Cooking has directions on cleaning crab shells so you can use them to serve food. It sounds like it would get rid of smells, making them good for minis. Scrub the shells with a brush, then boil in water to cover, with a tsp of baking soda added. Cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes, then rinse and dry.

Lee

Things sticking to work surfaces: I use Kitchen Parchment Paper to cover my work table or whatever surface I'm working on and it works great to keep things (glue, paint etc) from sticking.

It's also my favorite "press cloth" for fusing fabrics or using Stitch Witchery, Heat and Bond and that sort of thing. Lots of uses for this wonderful product besides cooking! It can be found at most grocery stores, although some tend to not stock it except for the Fall and Winter months.

Ronni

Glass Domes: I have glass domes in stock in the following sizes: 8x10, 4x7, 4x4, 3x4. The second number is the height. They all have walnut bases and they are fairly inexpensive, especially the smaller sizes.

Mary Kay

Glass Domes: Glass domes are carried by Michael's and in the NW at Eagle stores. The only ones I had trouble finding are the larger ones that are short for larger small scenes.

Anita

Cleaning Creamer Containers: Those little creamers from IHOP and other restaurants can be washed in the dishwasher! Make a cage out of those square, plastic strawberry baskets (bend the sides of the top one in so that it will fit inside the bottom one) and stick the creamers inside. They come out fresh and clean and ready for another life!

Laura

Peacock Feathers: Some time ago BJ wrote in to this (or some other) group about making peacock feathers very successfully, and as I recall it, she did the following: 1 x small dark feather "Rub and Buff"-type metallic colors (a waxy type of highlight touch up often used for gilding effects). Use blue metallic first and spread out the feathers a little. Add a touch of gold metallic to the dark spot part at the top Paint 'eye' with acrylic colors - first a black dot and then a smaller blue one.

Heather J

Washing Small Things: For washing other small things, you can use plastic canvas that you use for needle point and make small boxes for items like silverware you can use nylon fish line to sew pieces together and then when you have made your box, make a lid and sew it on so you don't lose any of your things. You can hot glue the knot, to keep lid shut, then when done, cut and open ,ready to use your box next time .You can make assorted sizes

Heather Norton

Enlarging Patterns: Take the 1/4" pattern to a place like "Office Depot" and use a copy machine to enlarge it. 1/4" X 100% = 1/2" 1/4 "X 400%= 1" (I think).

Bob

A tip to raise mini money: We had our Mini Club Christmas Party on Sunday and the gal in charge of videos ran a raffle to raise money to buy more. BUT not quite like an ordinary raffle! The tickets were quite big and one ticket was $2 but for $5 you got a strip of tickets that reached from your shoulder seam to the finger tips. Longer arms got more tickets. I only measured for 14. With a gimmick like this no-one bought just one and $115 was raised from 25 people.

Pat Morrison

Don't let your sons throw away the scraps from their model cars and planes. The burrs might even be a faucet!

Marcie Cumberland

Holeless Beads: There are many uses for holeless beads, I've listed some below:

Buttons on clothing of scale dolls.
Eyes for teddy bears.
Glue around 1&" ladies neck as necklace, as well as other jewelry.
Shoe buttons.

MaParke2u

Holeless Beads: I glue them onto dresses and fabric frames in patterns meant to look as if they were stitched on. The gold and silver ones work well as accents around trays. I also use them in glass containers to look like bath beads.

Debi Kolenchuk

Holeless Beads: How about using them for the knobs on jewelry box drawers, or on quarter scale furniture. Or the eyes on Fimo dollhouse toy dolls or stuffed animals.

Jean Berry

Mini Crystals: Once I bought some real sapphires, rubies and emeralds in the smallest sizes available, but I was disappointed in the mini jewelry I made with them. Even the smallest sized "real" stones were a bit too big (like maybe an 8pp), and also they seemed to "lack luster" compared to crystals, which usually have a gold foil backing. This made me realize how much, in "real" jewelry, we depend on the setting to bring light into facets to show off the stone.

I also found an interesting alternative stone worth mentioning. Three years ago, while doing Molly Cromwell's January Sarasota show, I found some faceted glass stones and cabachons that I was told were used to make "paste" duplicates of fine jewelry. Sandy Manwell (who does quarter scale) and I each had good success finding stones to meet our particular needs, and the source was the travelling "gem" show that makes the circuit around Florida and the East Cost each winter. In fact, for those going to Molly's show in January [although I will miss it for the first time this year :-(], the gem show has been at the Sarasota Civic Center that same weekend for 2-3 years. I've also found it in St. Petersburg the following weekend. (Once I also found real mini opals there, but usually the smallest size are too big for minis.)

At least one table, usually near the entrance, has a little bin marked "small glass" and while it includes stones up to a quarter inch, there are also small sizes (2pp round and 1mm x 1mm square, e.g.). Easy to spot in large sizes, there are unusual shapes (ovals, triangles, squares, etc.), and a rich variety of colors (sapphire, emerald, ruby, topaz, amethyst), and in the small sizes, these usually fall to the bottom. So have fun. It's worth it.

Another source...While the dealer said he didn't believe these stones were made anymore, I found identical ones (though not in the sizes I wanted) in a stained glass store while I was shopping with Lady Jane. They are used in kaleidoscopes. By the way, beads have a designation after the number. Crystals have "pp" for point back or an "ss" for flat back.

Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Turntable for Dollhouse: Go to a Hardware, Home Improvement type store. Buy a ball bearing turntable. It is actually a mechanism for a bar stool. The one I use is only 12" diameter and about 1/2" tall. Just great for not showing up. If your house is exceptionally large, you can find them a little larger for making a "lazy jerry" (wasn't that tactful of me to rename it?) Some are meant for table centers.

Fannye

Turntable: I found, what is perfect for my doll house, an older rotating TV table. It has a little extra space for a small front and back yard which I covered in "lawn". I found it at a used furniture/consignment store.

Earlene Lane

Turntable for Dollhouse: Hobby Builders Supply catalog has turntables. They also have a website: http://www.miniatures.com And I've seen the zero-clearance turntables advertised in Dollhouse Miniatures.

Linda Roebke

Postal Rates: First class mail is much cheaper than priority for the first 13 ounces. After that it is only a nickel cheaper. There is a rate calculator at www.usps.gov for those of you who want to know more.

Barb Jones