Miscellaneous Page: 17 |
Working grandfather's clocks: As someone pointed out Orvin Fjare does make some beautiful grandfather's clocks which are quite pricey. I have one (not for sale) in my dollhouse which you can see at http://www.spminiatures.com/house/livingroom.html. There are working grandfather's clocks that sell for about $70 which I think are in Dee's catalog. Carol |
working grandfather clock: I found a web site for a craft store called Crafts, Etc. that has a working grandfather clock. They are temporarily out of stock, but maybe they will get some in soon. It sells for $24.99. The web page address is: http://catalog.craftsetc.com/viewProduct.cfm?item_id=378278. I just placed an order with them today on the telephone, and they were very nice to deal with. They have quite a few miniatures listed under the crafts section of their catalog. I hope this helps the person who was looking for the grandfather clock. Terry T. in WV |
working clocks: Both Dee's and Aztec have working grandfather clocks. They are usually in the $40 to $70 range and look very good. The working part is a quartz watch. I think one of them even has a working mantel clock. Contact your local mini store to get them. I keep them in stock all the time and think most other retailers probably do, too. Dottie in Tucson |
Dried Apple Wreath: Dip a 3" piece of twine in a mix of half glue and half water. Wrap it around a plastic aspirin bottle or similar size and tie it ....not tight but firm. Let dry completely. You can use two pieces for a twisted look. Slice a few cranberries very thin. lay out to dry naturally or in a warm oven. you might want to dip them in lemon juice and water first to preserve the *white* inner side. When everything is dry. place *apple* slices around *wreath* until you feel good about how it looks then glue them in place. Add little pieces of baby's breath sprigs between the slices, and decorate to please. Finish with a small bow at bottom with little one inch tails. Voila'...a pretty wreath for your front door ...:) Mary Ann |
Cloth Covered Wire: I've had a small business making wedding cakes and I make the hand molded gumpaste (sugarpaste) flowers for my cakes. I use the wire that you are talking about. I order it from a wonderful place in Virginia called: Beryl's Cake Decorating & Pastry Supplies Web page: http://www.beryls.com They carry the wire in the smaller gauges 28, 30, 32. Also they carry petal powder colors we use on the sugar flowers-not sure if they will last, but I have some flowers on display that have been colored for 8 years and they still are bright and fresh. Also, in their catalog they have all kinds of texture makers, such as cobblestone, brick, basket weave, to name a few. She specializes in European roll fondant supplies for making really unique cakes a lot of which are decorated with scenes of mini items. A wealth of possibilities! Ginny |
Gatorboard and Foam Core: Gatorboard and Foam Core are similar in that they are approximately 1/4" thick (or can come 1/2" and thicker from specialty display suppliers) - and they both have a smooth poster board type surface on each side. BUT - the difference ends there. Gatorboard has a hard, dense, fine-grained core. You can stick a straight pin into it, with about as much effort as you would into balsa - but the pin will hold, even under pressure. It is a sturdier board than the Foam Core boards. Foam Core has a more open, loose, softer core. You can easily press a fingernail into it - like the white foam packing material called 'peanuts'. It will not hold a straight pin well - nor will it hold it's shape when pressed very hard, especially at the edges. It is good for small projects - or 'mockups' of bigger projects, to see how they will look. It is definitely not as'permanent' a product as the Gatorboard - but has it's place for small vignettes, small boxes, the base for larger items as fireplaces, etc., which are then finished with other materials to look like a fireplace.... etc. Foam Core tends to warp - particularly if not sealed on BOTH sides for larger projects (i.e., gesso, paint, or something similar that will keep moisture from penetrating). You must seal BOTH sides, even if you intend to only wallpaper, for example, one side. Gatorboard must also be sealed - because it will warp, also, but has less of a tendency to do so than Foam Core. There is also, as someone mentioned, a corrugated plastic-surfaced Foam Core type board from which real estate signs are made....not good for miniature work, to my thinking. Gatorboard, being a denser, 'tougher' product than Foam Core, can also be easily cut with X-Acto knife, scroll or table saw, and then holds a good edge - whereas the Foam Core edges can be 'mashed down' or distorted with pressure. Both products can be found in arts/crafts shops - although you are more likely to find Foam Core at these types of shops (i.e., Michael's, Joanne's, etc.) then Gatorboard. You will probably have to go to a good ART or DISPLAY (for store window displays, scenery, etc.) store to get Gatorboard (and Foam Core) in large pieces - up to 4' x 8'. You can usually find smaller pieces (poster board size) at art/craft stores. You can have the art or display store cut a 4' x 8' sheet of Gatorboard for you, to fit in your car - or simply score it and 'pop' it, as you would do sheet rock or glass. (We suggest, though, that to be on the safe side, until you have tried this with scraps, that you ask them to cut it.) Both products will stay very useable for years - if stored either on end, absolutely FLAT against a wall, supported so it won't sag and warp, or FLAT on a shelf. (I cut 4 x 8 sheets into the width I normally use for a box room, for example - approximately 12" deep by 4 feet wide - and then can cut that down to use however I need it.) They are both useful to have - and once you work with them, you will probably discover more ways to use them that we've thought of so far! (I have even used both of them for 'cornice boards' on small windows (real sized!) that I upholstered....much easier and lighter to work with than 1" x 8" lumber!) Linda Gale |
Hiding Piano Hinges: If you bi-fold your side wall with piano hinges, the end hinge will be at the back of the house and may not need to be hidden if you leave the back featureless to be up against a wall. The middle hinge should have its pin plate toward the interior of the house and, again, need not be hidden if you align that fold with an interior wall so that, when closed, that edge of the hinge simply reaches into a milled slot in that wall. Now I tell you how to build a clock in response to being asked what time it is. - - - - - - - If you mount piano hinges to the butt edges of all panels rather than flush on the flat faces of the walls - - - they will help limit warping. The screws, however, are likely to not hold well screwed endwise into plywood. I would strongly urge you to fully frame the plywood panels with a quality hardwood capping all edges. Use dowels and a top line wood glue such as Gorilla Glue and clamping techniques to prefabricate the hingeable plywood panels. Install magnets into the shell of the dollhouse to align with iron slugs inset into the wall panels. This will help hold your walls closed and give some added stability against warping even though slight. If the panels are large, you may even inset angle steel the full length of top and bottom edges rather than just slugs. Wherever hinge pin ends are exposed and need to be hidden, make the architectural corner trim removable with inset magnets and slugs to hold it in place OVER the hinges. Lift off the corner trim before opening the hinged panels. Finally, once your row house is to a point where it VERY seldom needs to be opened, I would suggest screwing the panels closed in several places to (again) provide maximum support against warpage. Hide the screw heads with gingerbread rosettes painted a uniquely different color and leave a note in the house's history log as to how it can be opened up by family archeologists of the future. Mel K. |
Cleaning Plexiglass: There is a special cleaner for Plexiglass. Most Plexiglass places have it. I got mine from Iris Broyles at Buffalo Creek minis. Their web site is http://www.bcminiatures.com and email is bison7@bcminiatures.com I also got some great cleaning cloths from them. Fannye in TX |
printables site in French: here is a beautiful site for printables don't worry you don't need to speak French just click away. It does have printable windows and doors food stickers etc. etc... check it out it is fantastic http://users.skynet.be/sudene/imprimables.html. Gisèle Nadeau |
Studs in Houses: I have built several structures in the way you mentioned, with studs, 1/16" plywood for the walls, wiring run inside the walls etc. Makes for an extremely lightweight house. I learned this method from Keith Long, who sometimes teaches classes at the Gulf South show in New Orleans. Most of the houses are in 1/2" scale, though the first one we did was 1" and I have built an oversize roombox in 1" this way. Keith will be doing another class next March at Gulf South. Beth, In A Miniature Manor |
Building Greenleaf kits. Well I am jealous, I wish I had gotten the Garfield. Like I have room for it! Don't be scared if you have the will you can do it! I am building the Annabelle and I secretly wish I could "accidentally" ruin it so I can go get the Garfield........I can only imagine 1 dollhouse amongst my cats and daughter and my husband's stuff.... well here is what I can offer you in advice hope it helps, and I would love to see picture's of your house someday! Sealing the pieces - I know people say it helps prevent warping of the big pieces when you paint them but I don't think it's a tragedy not to seal them. You may want to seal the small trim pieces IF you plan on spray painting them, which makes faster work, especially with all the window trim. The wood will suck up so much paint if you don't seal them you'll need about 5 coats to cover it! BUT if you're going to paint the pieces by hand using a thickly applied coat of paint, I say the heck with sealing. DO NOT punch out the pieces till you're going to use them! Leave them in the sheets! I learned this the hard way. Sounds obvious I guess but I must think I am "special". The die cut luan is a pain. Punch out carefully. I had some pieces that just weren't punched all the way through so I am sure you will too. I had my hubby get them out with a Dremel (I am afraid of it) and a hacksaw. But don't despair if you break a piece you can glue it or use spackle or putty to fix it. If you want a super final finish you'll want to use spackle or putty to smooth out the edges of the pieces; this is due to the poor quality of the luan. Are you electrifying? This will change the whole way you build the house and their instructions will be useless. This will also affect how you wallpaper, which is tricky in itself with these houses - some of it must be added before assembly on certain parts, like bay windows and towers, or eaves, 'cause you'll never get your hands in there after it's glued together! PLAN - go slow! I also recommend, if you can stand the wait, to put the house shell (walls and floors) together in one "spurt" of work and not to do a little at a time (like on Thanksgiving break!) and then leave it for weeks. You need to get the whole thing together and clamp it (I used old tights tied around the walls) to make sure it all fits and stays and doesn't warp or separate. Fit all the pieces before gluing! You will have to make adjustments! The parts are supposed to fit but they don't sometimes. I used a wire-snipping pliers to "snip" the wood, usually the tabs had to be trimmed a wee bit. Because of this you want to avoid wallpapering or painting over the tabs, they won't fit. Don't go mental - paint can be sanded off, I'm not suggesting you tape off all the little tabs when you paint! And remember - boo boos with fitting, gluing or wallpaper or flooring can be hidden with baseboards, crown moldings, wainscoting, etc. If I think of anything else I'll post. Oh watch out for splinters - keep tweezers handy. Karyn |
Mini Hold Remover: I use a steel tool designed to remove ear wax. It has a small metal loop at one end and a tiny metal cup at the other. It is the best thing I've ever found for removing Mini Hold from the container. The loop will shave a small sliver and the cup will scoop a perfect ball. The fellow at the swap meet has these goodies. They are $2 each. If you want one, let me know and I'll pop over and pick one up for you. Becky |
Cork Crafts: Slicing, painting or spackling to make special-occasion cakes. Also, a classic homecraft dollhouse use is seating (proportions are closer to 1:24 or child-size 1:12). Slice the cork in half lengthwise for 2 settees, or in 4 horizontal rounds for chairs. Glue fabric over the top for a cushion. Stick corsage pins along the top of one side for backrest slats. Stick four into the bottom for legs. Wrap and glue heavy cotton thread around the legs. Then weave the thread back and forth among the back slats for the backrest, tying or gluing ends to finish. Works best with an uneven number of pins (5, not 4). Results: child-size "wicker." Using a horizontal slice, stick in leg pins and round-headed straight pins all around the side edges. Weave the thread as for a chair, and you have a table. These were probably the very first miniatures I ever made, over 40 years ago as a Brownie Scout! Wish I still had them; crude, but made a kid feel pretty crafty! Better directions and illustrations in Audrey Johnson's book Furnishing Dolls Houses (see library, it's out of print.).If you have a really good cutting tool that can slice evenly, you could probably make your own cork tiles from lengthwise slices cut into squares; ditto for corkboards, frame the slices in scrap wood. For a mini-fisherman, carve tiny balls, add toothpick ends, and paint red and white for a bobber that will really float. Slice and then cut sole-shaped pieces, use sequin pins and glue to attach ribbon uppers for platform sandals. Loretta Sniarowski |
Brass Stair Rods: I've been meaning to add the directions for making the rods to my web site. I do give out printed instructions along with any stair runners I sell. For the rods, I recommend using 1/16" K&S brass rod, available at some hardware stores, many art supply stores and most model train/hobby supply stores, for about 30¢ for a 12" piece. Cut the rod to a length about 1/4" longer than the width of your stair runner. Then buy a spool of 28 ga. brass wire, about a dollar (US). When you unhook the wire from the spool, it will uncoil itself for a dozen turns or so. Gently pull those up above the spool, and holding the loops together, cut at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock, this will give you 24 or so lengths of wire cut to about 1-1/2". Use one of your brass rods to form the screw eyes to hold the rods in place. Fold the cut wire into a U, then cross the arms of the U snugly around the rod and hold the cut ends in one hand, while turning the rod with the other. After you've twisted 1/2" beyond the rod, trim off the V of the two ends, and you have a nice little screw eye. You'll need to drill a small hole in the stair tread, right alongside the edge of your runner, near the riser, on each side. The screw eye will actually "screw" down into the hole if you've got the right drill bit, or a drop of super glue holds the screw eye in place, with just the eye sitting above the stair tread. Make a casing at the top end of your runner (sew or glue under about a 1/4" with Designer Tacky so it doesn't bleed through). Slide a brass rod into the casing, then into the screw eyes on the top step. Work your way down the staircase, putting the rods on top of the runner, then through the eyes. At the bottom, it's your call as to whether the runner ends at the floor, or just under the bottom tread's lip (real houses have either). Mark where the bottom casing should be, then trim to the proper length, make a casing and slide the last rod in. Note that you'll need one more rod than you have stair steps. I've found that in miniature it's not really necessary to put the end caps on the rods. At that scale, it's neat enough to have the rods, no one seems to miss the fancy ends. To make fabric fuzzy or napped, you can also use sandpaper. Glue 120 grit sandpaper to a wood block (a small 2" square chunk will do), then use it to 'rough up' whatever fabric you find for your runner. (I put it on my thigh to sand, dangerous in shorts weather!) If you can't find a ribbon you like, iron on the thinnest iron-on interfacing you can find (it comes in black, too, for dark colored runners) to a piece of uncut corduroy or other fabric and then trim to the width you want. The interfacing will control raveling on the edges. If you can, cut the runner with a rotary cutter, (a quilter's tool, like a pizza cutter) to get the edges perfectly straight. Sandpaper is how I get the Hudson Bay blankets to look like wool, even though they're rayon (don't tell!) http://weevings.com/Hudson_Bay_white.jpg Bonni in NH |
Wheels: CherryTree has a wide assortment of wheels in all sizes. jo |
Balloons: Plastic balloons can be purchased very reasonably at miniature, party and craft supply stores. But you also can make you own. Use a bead or plastic egg, insert some white thread covered floral wire as a string. Cover it with a real balloon, tie it off with string. There is also a miniaturist, Fay..her email is fay@fay-vourite.com who makes lovely blown glass balloons! Alice Zinn- Pt. St. Lucie FL |
Slicing Polymer Clay Canes: My experience would indicate that in most cases "limited" reheating will definitely assist in this process. The general rule would be the thicker the cane/stick, the more helpful reheating will be. I use a coffee warming tile (from Salvation Army store) to accomplish this. DO NOT use a coffee cup warmer as this it MUCH TO HOT and can result in burning the cane/stick, or even a possible fire. Another Rule: the lighter the color of the cane/stick, the more careful one must be on the reheating temperature, i.e., white or GlowInTheDark canes/sticks will display discoloration more readily. Other methods such as dropping in HOT water, hair dryers, etc., can be used, but I find them much less convenient. If the cane/stick gets too warm/hot, it will also become too "mushy/soft" to cut and may result in pattern separation, or shape distortion, just let it cool slightly. A NEW, sharp, Single edge razor blade is always a good plan also. It's the smallest $ part of the whole deal. The VERY SHARP, very thin Tissue Separator blades are also good, but require a great deal more CAUTION in using. NEVER use X-Acto knives to slice canes, as the blades tips are subject to snapping, and flying into ones eyes, face, etc. I personally use a modified version of "The Chopper". It has a portion of the "arm", between the two blade holding screws, has been removed to permit slicing thicker sticks/canes. For a more detailed description of cutting/slicing canes/sticks you can review my web page on the subject: http://lincsminiworld.bizland.com/HOWtoUSE.chtml One final note: limited reheating of the sliced pieces will usually eliminate the not uncommon "slicing marks" on the surface of the slices, and it should also refresh the color. Linc Leedy |
Potato Chip/Tote Bags: A request was made for how to make bags to hold single servings of pepper seed potato chips. So, here's how I make small bags. (And like practically everything I know, I probably learned this from Joann Swanson.) If you want identical sizes, hold your form over a piece of graph paper or a ruler as you push off your bags. This works for all different size bags, depending on the wood piece you choose, for cloth and paper as well as the cling wrap. I've made everything from chicken feed bags to Halloween treat bags to potpourri bags, etc. piece of plain white typing paper will make almost any kind of bag you want if you glue on cut out labels from ads. Of course if you want colored bag, any sheet of colored paper will do. When you use paper, this process works for open sacks, as for luminaries. Just fold in seam at bottom and glue. If you want to make totebags, cut off to desired height and glue on handles. Those scissors that cut decorative edges may be used for interesting effects. To make a candy garland, use a skinnier form and instead of gluing ends With the wood form you have control and regularity of size that's hard to get otherwise. I saved the forms I used for each type of bag, labeling them: popcorn ball/ Halloween treats; fertilizer/plant food; flour/sugar/potato chips, etc. Particularly good when you want to stock a store or make lots of (full-size) tote bag or table gifts. Wanna in El Paso |
Mini of the month club: I was getting kits from House of Miniatures until a couple of months ago, when I unsubscribed because I figured I had enough! Can't lay my hands on an invoice, but the address on the boxes is The House of Miniatures, 3890 Oakcliff Industrial Court, Atlanta, GA 30340. The tel.# they give is 1-800-679-9090, but I've never been able to get an answer from it, or their non-toll-free number. They used to advertise in the mini magazines, but I haven't seen one for a couple of months. They also do/did a 'club' for 1/144 houses which I was thinking of trying. Kay in Ottawa, Canada |
Turntables: Consider the larger turntables by Rubbermaid, sold in better household supply stores such as Linens & Things or Bed, Bath & Beyond. They are built to hold weight. I've also used the turntables sold in hardware stores in the kitchen cabinet section. I cut the lip (if there is one) off the turntable with a hot knife. I usually use Contact cement to attach it to a wood platform. This platform is the base, topped with Velcro for my miniature set. The miniature set has Velcro on the bottom. Becky |
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