Scale: Part of my job is determining whether samples we get for the catalog are proper scale and I always translate the inches into feet to see if the item would be appropriate in full-scale. But that doesn't mean that all 1/12th items will look right in all settings. In full-scale, hutches, for instance, come in different heights and widths; some are 5' tall, others are 7' tall. The big ones look great in large dining rooms with high ceilings and loom like monsters in a small apartment breakfast nook. This is true in dollhouses and room boxes, too. A piece could be a perfectly scaled replica of Chippendale hutch and still be too large for one of the little Greenleaf cottages...

Sometimes, a piece is right in all its measurements but still looks "wrong."

In translating full-scale into miniature, it is sometimes better to go slightly smaller than the real thing. I am thinking of the hands and feet on dolls. I made a doll with hands and feet that were true in scale but they looked too big.

Sally Cook-Thomas

Scale: The best tip that I ever saw for seeing if the scale was good, was here on this list, I'm pretty sure. :)? It was regarding the question of seeing if prints on fabrics and wallpaper were right. You cut out a one inch square from a piece of card and lay the square over the print.

I took this tip one step further. I hold up the same piece of card and hold it like a picture frame to actual items and view them with it. It works!

Leslie Peters

Scale/Perspective: One thing that I haven't heard anyone talk about is the fact of perspective. We are, in fact, creating a picture ... with perspective! (hopefully)! I do a lot of kit bashing so that the houses have more room, look more architecturally correct, etc and also fit into the customs of the day. I had done this with my NEWPORT and obtained a very large dining room with enough room to put a music room for the entertainment of the dinner guests but the only piano I had that would look right (and it had to be a grand, of course) looked smaller than my 5 ft. harpsichord ... but when it was put into the far side of the room complete with a smaller that 1" singer the room took on a whole new perspective looking about 10' deeper than it was!

By the way, on the Victorian grand that we made at the Partelow workshop he intentionally makes it less than 1" scale as to be accurate would make it look like a monster (which they usually are anyway) taking up the entire room. A grand piano is 5' wide and anywhere from 4 1/2' to 9' long and an upright has the same keyboard measurement with anywhere from 39" to 60" in height...and I thought square grands would solve the problem but they are 7-8Ft long and 4' deep (so much for theories). So what really counts is "does it look right?"

Ana Gerard

Regarding the miniatures that are too large for 1" scale, I set up a special display that has large scale items and they seem to look in scale when grouped together. Most of these things are from people who mean well and get me miniatures as gifts. So when they see how I've used them with other items they are never the wiser as to the scale.

Terri Young

Scale: I ordered bunk beds for the log house I made the grandsons. I thought it would be cute because they have bunk beds. I was dismayed because the mini beds filled the mini room. After reading the comments on Small Stuff, I went over and took a good look at the boys' room. Oh, yeah! Their bunk beds fill up their little room, but it's a lot harder to take it in when you are standing there and the beds are towering over you. Also, the boy dolls look so small on the mini bunk beds...but again, when I take a good look, the little boy looks very small on the real bed.

Bar Turner

Mary Engelbreit Clock: This kit is done by Debbie Young in 1/4" scale. Her email address is: yngathrt@gv.net. Her snail mail address is: Debbie Young, 11468 No. Bloomfield Rd., Nevada City, CA 95959. I have seen this in person and even though this "style" is not my cup of tea, the clock and its furnishings were very well done as are all of Debbie's kits.

Marlene

Scale and proportion: What you're talking about is the same thing we run into in "real" size. You buy a piece of furniture for your house, you measured it very carefully so that it will fit into the space, it gets delivered, and it looks terrible. Maybe the style is wrong for the space. A lamp may be beautiful and the correct size but it doesn't look right with the chair which is also the correct size. That's why there are interior decorators. If it was easy, they wouldn't be needed.

However, it is true that not all 1" scale items are indeed, 1" scale. Those of us who have been doing this for a while seem to develop an eye for it. Not every craftsperson gets the scale exactly correct. There are certain artisans or commercial brands I stay away from because I feel that they're off scale. German made minis are often 1/10 scale.

Some pieces are off scale on purpose. In some tea sets that are reproductions of full size sets, the sugar bowl is unusually large. The reason, I've been told, is that in the era that the original set was made, sugar was expensive and a large sugar bowl was a sign of wealth. To me, the sugar bowl is off scale but it's supposed to be.

Carol, S P Miniatures

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.

Greenhouse Structures: I just wanted to share an idea that I'm planning on doing someday with the Vertical IKEA Greenhouse. Actually, it requires buying another one. The greenhouse has a front-opening door, and I'm planning to get another one, reverse the hinges on that one, then attach the two greenhouses together in the middle. That would give me a front-opening house. The only problem is, unless I want the house to be completely "see-through", I'll need to cover the outside with brick sheets of something. Once again, no problem! But I'm thinking for the price it's not a bad idea. Also, it's wall hanging, and closed in.

Cheryl

Terrariums: For terrariums/conservatories,etc; a company called Roman Inc. has a nice one. They have a web site that could help you find a local dealer of their products. The web site is www.roman.com/Roman imports Fontaninni. They are also a major gift and Christmas supplier. Through my business I could special order these.

Deborah

Dollhouse Plans: I found more dollhouse plans than I knew there were plus all the ones I knew there were! Anyway, the site is http://www.dollhouseminiatures.com/info/plans.htm. It's a huge site but this address goes directly to the dollhouse plans.

Mary Lynne Simpson in Huntington, WV

Tools; I've noted a lot of you talk about tools and not knowing what to do with them. I think most women are in the same boat. Men seem to have been born with the knowledge on how to use tools. Don't fear! You too can learn. When I was first married I was so ignorant about tools, that it was, well, embarrassing. I even thought all screwdrivers were supposed to be rounded on the corners. You see, my father was a painter and all of our screwdrivers were worn from opening paint cans. Now one of my prized possessions is a cordless screwdriver that I use constantly and not to open cans with <grin>.

Dremels-I prefer the variable speed one. I have several that I have set up for various uses. I have a flexible shaft that I put those tiny little burrs in to do carving, or the drum sanding disks to do sanding (I use lower speed for this). I have a couple in drill presses that I use for different things. One is set up to drill tiny holes. Another in the drill press I have put a fence (flat stick) along the back to run boards along. That way I can make a piece of molding, route a groove, "plane" a board, make fancy furniture joints called mortise and tenon (like slots and tabs) all with that silly old dremel. I've even used the lowly old dremel in the stand to make incised carving such as in my Connecticut sunflower chest and court cupboard. I've learned all that from practice and from books on full sized tools and from watching more experienced people.

Now as to the band saw. This tool is not for the light at heart. Remember that the band saw is what they use to cut meat and bone with at the grocery store. YOU MUST RESPECT ALL TOOLS! BE SAFE! A band saw has a

continuous blade. It is good for cutting things on the outside. You can't cut say the middle from the letter "O" without cutting through the side of the "O". The width of the blade also determines how little of a circle you can cut. In other words if you have a 1/4" blade you have to make a bigger "O" than you can with a 1/8" blade. Now you can do mini work with it, but it is harder than with a saw like the dremel scroll saw. I have cut cabriole legs (the kind with "S"es on two adjoining sides) on a bandsaw, but I don't recommend it. The blade is too close to your fingers. Didn't mean to write a novel here. Just wanted to pass along "Girls can learn too"

Shannon Moore

Dremel: I have several Dremels including the cordless which has it's uses.

But.......my favorite is the Heavy Duty Flex Shaft. I have a Flex Shaft Stand that clamps to my worktable, extends from 12" to 42" that I hang the Dremel from. This is connected to a Foot Control Pedal. So........The Dremel hangs at the right height for me to use inside or outside the dollhouse or on any other project. I usually leave the stand extended so that I can reach the Dremel to turn it on, but the handpiece is the right height to reach the project.

Fannye in TX

Removing odors from your work: I use the dryer product called "Bounce" in my tool boxes and it keeps a fresh smell instead of that dank humid Florida aroma. I imagine it would be less daunting then spraying a product onto surfaces. I just take a sheet of bounce and toss it into the tool box. To reduce moisture and odor, try a charcoal briquette. I break a few briquettes and toss them into the tool boxes also. Tools can handle the loose charcoal. For the mini's, the broken briquette can be placed in a "sack" of old panty hose to keep the charcoal from getting onto things.

Dr. Bob

aluminum flared glasses: There is a tool at the hardware store designed to flare the ends of copper tubing for water lines. It also works on aluminum and brass. Get a piece of 1/4" tubing, flare the end, use a tubing cutter to cut it off at 3/4" long, and put a bottom in with a dab of glue. You can have all the flared glasses you want, even colored with glass paint.

Rebecca in Texas

Dremels: My favorite "Dremel" is one I got from Sears during one of their many sales and at a much lower price than you can buy them for at a most other places. Their tools are Sears brand - supposedly made by Dremel but with the Craftsman name on it. It came in a nice carrying case with slots for accessories. All Dremel accessories fit the tool.

It has some great features. The one I find the most important to have is variable speeds. Woods, plastics, metals all should be cut at different speeds. The second feature (that is an-add on available for many Dremel models) is a keyless chuck. I used to get impatient switching from bit to bit and searching for the chuck key, the right sized collet, etc. Now it is a snap to switch from drill bit to cutter, etc.

I use my Dremel tool almost every day! I do multiple kinds of crafts and find this to be one of those "can't live without" tools. I use the high speed steel cutters to carve on gourds and wood, the grinding stones for working on metal, the sanders for anything wood, the cut off wheels for metal, buffing wheels for jewelry, plastic etc, etc. You are only limited by your imagination. The expression that office people use is "thinking outside the box" or something like that... (sort of like seeing minis in a button or other weird things.)

I also own a Foredom tool with a flexible shaft. The Foredom has lots more torque than a Dremel, so it seems to work better with a flexible shaft. (I don't use the flex shaft on my Dremel.) I use the Foredom for woodcarving and stone carving, working on things that require me to run the tool for multiple hours. It keeps your hand from getting cramped or overheated. It costs much more than a Dremel, so it isn't a tool for a casual user.

Bonnie Gibson

Dremel Cords: I also have one of the older models with a cord. To solve the problem, I use one of the clamp attachments with a spring rod that were made to attach to the ironing board and keep the cord out of the way. Works great for the dremel and is east to transport.

Becky

Starting with Tools: You need tools, instruction and practice to develop skills. You may need talent for some things, but that talent is often hidden under the veil of ignorance. Working with someone who has a skill and the right tools will unleash talent with practice. Find someone who knows how to use a Dremel and ask them to show you how to make something with it. Your teacher will love showing you and demonstrating a skill. Then you will need to acquire tools and practice, practice, practice.

My advice to those of you who get discouraged or can't figure out how to use a Dremel, turn a leg, wire a room or use an air brush is to join (or start) a club if you can. Most people who have developed skills enjoy sharing them. It is possible to gain skills in a vacuum, but needlessly hard in most cases. As far as talent goes, you may discover that you have plenty of hidden talent once you have developed a skill.

Pete Boorum

Dremel: I have both the cordless and corded models and find that the corded has much more power. In fact, best results are when using a motor speed control unit. This gives much more control depending on the project. Needles to say the cordless is much handier to use.

Lexie

Learning to use tools: For videotape instructions on tool usage, and many other topics including dollhouse tours, N.A.M.E. has lots of videotapes you can borrow. If you are not already a member, this would be a good excuse to join.

Dean Jenson