For the smell in the dh try this: Place the dh in a large plastic bag (similar to a large trash [garbage bag])  Before you tie the bag shut place a few pieces of charcoal briquettes and some sheets of Bounce in the bag with the dh. Tie shut and leave it for a few  days. Every few days open the bag for a "sniff test". The Bounce works for me  in my tool boxes here in humid Florida. Bounce also makes a good tack cloth.  Sawdust clings to it. so I wipe everything down prior to applying any paint   or stain.

If the dh smells from "cats" as was stated and you are referring to cat  urine. GOOD LUCK!

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

Cat urine odor or any stinky organic matter: For the person who had something marked with cat urine. The best product for removing animal smells or any organic matter odor, is Nature's Miracle by Pets 'N People, Inc.(310/ 544-7125).  I buy it by the gallon ($25.) at PetSmart or PetCo.  It's an enzyme and it actually "eats" the organic matter that is causing the odor.  It takes several applications and you can NOT apply detergent or cleaning solution to the area as well because it will kill the enzyme.

Kathy in Wisconsin

Urine odor:  I got an idea from another person here in SS. I have three small dogs and the last one we got, a Yorkie, has been very difficult to train. The people who had him didn't try to train him or take care of his ailments. So I'd find "accidents" frequently. I shampoo my carpets frequently but I could still smell the odor of urine. So, I had read a hint from someone on the SS talk about how coffee removed odors. I tried it in a bit larger scale and it's absolutely right. I bought a can of cheap coffee and spread a lot of the fresh grounds on the area of the carpet that seemed the worst. I covered it with a towel and left it overnight, and behold! no more odor! I have since repeated the procedure on other areas and a second time on the worst area and it's almost miraculous. I scrubbed the stain with an oxygen cleaner and got rid of most of the stain. But the coffee directly onto the carpet and leave it covered for 24 or more hours is the answer for odors. Then I vacuum it up and there are no coffee stains. (This is using FRESH coffee, not the used grounds.) And when I vacuum now the air takes on a fresh coffee scent from the grounds in the vacuum bag! I would think this procedure could be used in many different ways.

Becky Winsor

Dollhouse odor:  if I had the smell of cat urine in the old dollhouse, I would paint it with Kilz first--especially if you have a cat in the house.   I doubt that anything else will get rid of that odor and you certainly wouldn't want your cat to be attracted by the smell of another cat after you finish the house.   If you do use Kilz, I suggest painting outside and allowing it to dry outside as the Kilz can be pretty strong.  It will have no odor after it dries.

Carol

"Cat" Odor: I used to work for a company that provided medical supplies.   Among the  product lines we offered were products for people with colostomies and urostomies (when your body's "elimination" parts stop working, sometimes surgically creating a new opening is the only solution). There are a number of different brands of "ostomy deodorant" available for those patients.  A couple of drops placed in the ostomy bag are very effective in eliminating the odors of urine and feces.

Check your yellow pages for a pharmacy or medical/surgical supply house that sells ostomy supplies.  Often they will be the ones who also carry walkers and wheelchairs, canes and crutches, motorized wheelchairs, etc.   They should have some deodorant available. You can put a bit on a small piece of paper towel or cloth on top of a piece of plastic (just to protect any finish on your house), and put the house in a plastic bag for a couple of days.  Never tried it on cat urine, but its very effective on human.

Dave

NO STICK'UM TIP: I wish someone told me that if I spread a tiny bit of VASELINE around the threads of a paint bottle or glue bottle, it will keep the top from sticking to the bottle. Now I do not need my pliers to get the caps off, just some plain old elbow grease.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

Seashells: Don't bleach your little shells. After you glue them down, seal them with clear acrylic so they don't lose their delicate colors.  You can rinse them in clear water to clean out the grit.

Havana (FL) Holly

Metal wagon wheels: I made a "Prairie Schooner" that required metal rims to the wooden wheel. What I did was to take some solder That was in a roll and about 1/8" in diameter and pounded it with a hammer. This flattened out the solder and made it pliable enough to place around the rim of the wheel. Any more questions email me privately.

Drbob...Delray Beach FL

bunka substitute: Barbara Morrison asked about bunka and I assume she means the thread that unravels to such a nice curly thread and makes wonderful miniature rugs.   If you truly want to do the punch needle work that is called bunka in Japan (and here) look for punch needle and/or iglotchki (am not sure of the spelling) which is very similar and uses the same technique.   If you are not using it for a punch needle and only need it  for trim, any kind of cord that unravels by pulling a thread will work.   I have bought fancy tassels and pulled them apart just to get the thread that is then unraveled.  It is like taking out crochet chain.

Jacqui, Goddess of Chaos

MicroStitchery News:   Just letting you know that I have added 10 new needlepoint kits to my web site.  They are: a Grapes pillow, a small Unicorn wall hanging, 4 Oriental carpets and 3 new rugs of Noah's Ark, Bunnies and Sheep Pulltoys.

Also new is that you may now order silk gauze by the 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 or 1 yard from the Shopping Basket on my site.  Shipping is included in the price.   Therefore, if you are not comfortable working on 40 count or want your   finished piece to be larger or smaller than the kit designates, then order a chart for the pattern and a piece of the appropriate count silk gauze.   You can then supply your own DMC, either in the colors set forth on my chart or come up with your own.   If you need help in changing sizes, drop me a line.

FINALLY, stroll on over to my site and take a look at the wonderful "face lift" that SS's own, Anne, has given to my Go Shopping section.  This should improve loading and scrolling times.  We aim to please! http://www.micro-stitchery.com

Bobbie Schoonmaker, IGMA Fellow

Flat part of Mansard Roof: my childhood neighbors' house was mansard. The flat part was tar paper, which can be faked easily with heavy-weight black sandpaper.  Other options are metal (which would have ridges where the sheets were crimped together, and probably wasn't preferable on a flat roof) or rubber.   My current house has a flat rubber roof over the laundry room; it looks like a big heavy duty black tarp glued into place.

Loretta_Sniarowski

Mansard roof suggestions: the Foxhall Manor has a large mansard roof and I shingled the sloping edges and used Fleckstone paint in a charcoal for the flat part - looks like a flat roof that was tarred and had stones put on top which is how many flat roofs are done.   I think it looks great as it is in scale and blends well with the black modern shingles I used on the slopes.  Of course, my house is contemporary and if you are doing an older time period, I don't know if the tar and stone idea would work for that.  The paint is that granite look spray stuff and I don't know if it is available in your area.

Jo from the Poconos

Mansard roof:  In a Bluette Meloney class with mansard roof, the flat part was covered with black sandpaper, with molding strips around it, you could also use those little metal decorative strips, that look like small fences only much shorter, don't know what to call them, obviously. They give it a very ginger-bready look. Just cut four of them to butt up with each other.

Molly Cromwell

Mansard roofs:  we have a lot of mansard roofs in my area, the 4 walls meet at an angle at the top and have a slight drop to the center. the center is usually just tarred (is that right?).

Aletha

Roofing: In Home Depot I found what they call Non skid strips. These are made by 3M and are adhesive backed. What made me notice them is that they are textured. The black strips comes in rolls of varying widths. 1"or 3"   etc. The black is textured like sand. The gray color comes in same the sizes and is a more pronounced texture. Finally, the bone color (us girls know that color is) between the two as far as texture is concerned. It sells for$  0.85/ft. for the 1" size. You can purchase any length you want or buy it in complete rolls. I used the black 1" to shingle a roof. Cut it into 1" pieces and stuck it on the roof. Makes good looking roofing shingles.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Plank flooring:   we have used this and did not remove the backing paper, just glued the product down as it was.   so far after several years we have not noticed any changes and it looks as flat as when we did it.

Mary B

Fretwork designs: You asked about designs for doors. You did not say if it is a frame and the fretwork becomes the filler inside the frame or if the fretwork lies on the solid face of the door. What I have done is two things. For fancy screen work (grill work). I take normal window screening and rotate it 90 degrees. This results in the squares in the screen becoming diamonds. Second. I have taken paper doilies and cut out the paper fretwork and used that to fill in the frame of the door. Usually on a cabinet type doors.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

No brush strokes:  I only use foam brushes because I always had that problem.   You have to apply more coats but it gives a very smooth finish.  The brushes are reasonably priced and you can get them at a craft store.   Also, the paint might be a little too thick and you could try watering it down a bit.

Carol

No brush strokes: Acrylic paints dry quickly, which is one of their attractive traits. Another of their attractive qualities is that they can be thinned with water. Something to remember is that the warmer it is, the faster they dry. Also that in the winter, they thicken with the cold.

What I would suggest is thin the paint a little at a time until you can paint a coat without brush strokes showing. Two or more thin coats is much better than one heavy coat. Sand lightly between coats, a brown paper grocery sack is really good for the sanding.

Rusty in Ky

Painting your doors:  Just some thoughts here.  I usually paint everything with a sponge brush which does not leave brush strokes or I sometimes use a tiny-tiny artist brush.  I like the sponge brush better because I don't have to clean it, just throw it away when I am finished.   I sand after each coat of anything. I use either 150 or 240 sandpaper, I think you can probably get it even smaller.  I use a trick I learned in a furniture making class regarding sanding.  Basically we made tiny, tiny implements to fit in small corners and edges. We tacky glued some sandpaper to these and could just about sand anywhere. Of course you had to put a piece of wood on these to use as a handle so you could use them.   Sometimes the handle was bigger than the sander!  Oh also I wait for 48 hours between coats and sanding.

Kathryn from Virginia