Petite Princess Furniture: I recently found this website for Petite Princess items: http://www.yesterdaystoys.com/petite.htm

Stacey-Marie Torres

Two tips: I'm fairly new to this digest, and two indispensable tools have come into my collection. The first is a photocopy of my 1/12 scale. It folds easily in my wallet and is there to measure unexpected finds when I am out shopping for other things. I've even taken the step to cover the photocopy strip with clear contact paper to prolong its usability. The second is using a room planning kit designed to plot out furniture placement in real size rooms. There are a lot of versions out there in the marketplace, but the one I have is magnetic. I like to move pieces around as if I were shifting real furniture. And believe me, moving around magnetic symbols on a metal board is a lot easier on my back than moving around real furniture in a real room

Gina in No Va

Mother-of-pearl buttons, suitable for putting on underwear: I can't help with real, but for real looking I have made them with pearlized fabric paint in dots on plastic, when dry pick off and poke desired number of holes with needle or push pin. very real looking. Glue on with the back facing up that was stuck to plastic if you want flat buttons and use the other side if you want rounded.

Debbie

Bible Size: I have one of the big soft padded leather coffee table Bibles and it measures 12 x 9-1/2 x 3-3/4. If you want to try making it for the experience, which you say, and I'm sure that you already know this, I find that it is easier to learn to do things larger (I can actually see what I'm doing size) and then use the knowledge to miniaturize.

Rusty in Ky

Leather Books:
1. Get hold of a phone book [people in Australia if Australia post don't get rid of all of theirs they throw them down the tip at the end of each year race in and grab them before they do]
2. tear off a few pages with glue intact
3. if you wish place little strips of crochet thread across binding to represent ridging glue in place
4. take a strip of leather or fabric and glue down the entire length of page or as fabric allows
5. cut out books to desired size great for when you need to make a lot in one go

Carol Downunder

Lamp Shades: Just go to Jim Collins site and click on printables then listed under furniture you will find various lamp shades that you may print out.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/1832/

Marilyn from Michigan

Lamp Shades: Material/technique chosen depends if the lamp will be lit or not. If not lit, a lot of "found art" items make useful lampshades. In 1/12th size, a toothpaste cap makes an interesting "smaller" fluted shade for bedside night table etc. Other plastic screw caps for household cleaners and such make larger shades and many have appropriate tapers (smaller at top than bottom) I know there are some lampshade "printies" out there also.

For lighted fixtures, translucence in interesting tones becomes important and a bit of framework to give shadow lines is also helpful in achieving realism. For the most simple shades, roll a slightly conical shape using velum, tracing or parchment paper, interesting colored stationary papers, etc. If you try to glue just at one "meeting edge" the glue line will be ugly when the light shows through. Rather, make the cone oversize and trim so the paper is two layers thick but with the two edges precisely aligned. This will assure you only get one "splice line" and evenly modified translucence all the way around. Dope the whole thing with clear model airplane dope and clip to dry using alligator clips above and below the portion you will keep. If you work your roll so it wants to go tighter than finished on the outside and looser on the inside, the edges should draw together tightly. WARNING: If you are like me, you will mess up many attempts before getting the feel for it all. As you practice, you will begin to experiment with techniques to get fancy with the paper and to cover the paper form with gathered fabrics, etc. When you are getting really good at it, contact me for illustrated techniques to make "concave" silk shades and such.

Carefully form a bit of thin brass wire into a pair of circles the interior size of the lampshade top and bottom. If you are skilled at soldering, use steel wool and paint thinner to remove the protective coating from the brass while it is still straight and easy to clean. If you will "glue" your frame, leave the coating on. When the paper form is fully dried, carefully drop your rings into it and position them with a small probe to be perfectly parallel with each other, perpendicular to the center line of the shade.

Cut two straight pieces of wire to precisely fit from small "upper" ring to larger "lower" ring. Position opposite each other with tweezers and a probe. Align one of these directly over the "paper splice" line. Spray additional coats of clear dope to bond these in place and allow to dry. If you can avoid its getting onto the paper, you may choose to add tiny drops of gap filing super glue where the straight and ring pieces come together and where the rings close on themselves.

When dope is FULLY (!!!!!) cured, clip most of the excess paper from top and bottom using iris or cuticle scissors. Finish with very fine sand paper so edges are within 1/32" of the rings. Set the shade bottom side up. Make and install two straight pieces of brass wire across the inside of the top rings so that they are approximately 1/32" apart. These will be the "span" upon which your shade will hang over the bulb. Obviously, you will need to create a "harp" to reach up from the lamp body, around the bulb, and support the shade.

You may choose to "finish" even the simplest shade in any number of ways. A very fine hem of paper, embroidery floss, marking pen color, or some such would be minimal. Fringe or crystal pendants would probably go on more ornate examples. During some periods, it was fashionable to have painted or decal illustrations and designs on some shades. This may be a simple geometric pattern along the hems or a decal such as those intended for fingernails or miniature tiles right smack in the middle of two or three faces.

Useful tools are:
-A wire roller, ring sizer, and flush-cut wire cutters (frame)
-iris or cuticle scissors and a very fine emery board (trimming edges)
-spray booth (cardboard box) to paint and let dry - Use ventilated area
-small size alligator clips (clamp paper and suspend shades while paint dries)
-dental probe and tweezers (positioning frame parts)
-sewing needle with half of eye ground away and handle added at point end (used to precisely apply super glue)
-penlight flashlight with bulb extended beyond the end (home made) used to check shadow lines and papers.

Mel Koplin

Lamp Shades: I carry Lamp Shade Kits by Tec Innovations. Go to their web site, http://misc.home.mindspring.com/page8.htm , to see their products. I carry #348, 347 & 328 all of the time. I can order any of the others.

Eileen Vernon

Lamp Shades: back when Dollhouse Miniatures was still Nutshell News, Joann Swanson had a project with dozens of lampshades. If you contact DM's web site, you may be able to get a copy of the article, as I'm sure the issue is out of print by now. Also, check your local library. Helen Ruthberg's and Joan McElroy's books (out of print, alas) also have patterns and instructions for shades and may be available there.

Loretta Sniarowski

Flocking: flocking is my middle name! Perhaps I can help. I never use the adhesive that comes with the flocking as it does NOT as you've seen put on a thick enough coat. Paint the critter the color or colors of the flocking you will be outing on it. Then drill a hole in the bottom of the piece you want to coat and put the flocking in a plastic sandwich baggie. Put a toothpick in the hole on your critter. I use regular Tacky glue (not thin, not designer Tacky) and spread on a layer that has some depth and is as even as possible with a toothpick or brush and lower it into the flocking in the bag. Gently twirl your critter. As you take it out of the bag, tap the toothpick as you would to get ashes off a cigarette to remove excess flocking. This should give you a thicker, but even coating. Let dry and blow additional excess flocking away.

Alice Zinn

Hot tub: I think an above-ground hot tub would be straightforward and inexpensive to make. Get a solid colored porcelain bowl in the appropriate size - tiny dog dish works well as it has the sides slanted outward - or consider a small condiment bowl - in the solid color of your choice, then cut a bunch of thin strip wood to the appropriate length and glue vertically to the outside of the bowl. Most hot tubs of this style seem to be made of unfinished cedar, so that shouldn't be to hard to find....just split into strips and sand a bit for scale... Or you can always use the trusty Starbuck's coffee stirrers (much stronger than the ones you buy in bulk at Sam's Club/Costco) but these will require a bit of stain or color. If you want a bench seat inside, make of the same wood, rather like a stair, with strips for the bench and strips for the support. Stairs leading up to the tub (if necessary) could be made of the same wood. Then stick a few snaps painted appropriately on the sides as water jets...(the little round notions used for sewing) and a tiny painted flat washer for the drain...don't forget the water inlet valve by the drain

Whui

Hot Tub: I didn't see the original post about hot tubs, but here is how I made my 'Mississippi River' hot tub. I used stained mini fencing material ( 1/4' pieces cut from a larger piece) and glued it around a wooden circle (4") gluing them up each side. I had a round bottle inside to keep the shape and used rubber bands around it until it dried. I then put brown bathroom caulking (from a small tube) on the inside to seal it. Since I filled it with 'water' I didn't put in the seats as they would not have been visible as I made the top frothy. I used the banding plastic that holds wires together to band the outside. Didn't like the way it looked so bought a roll of quarter inch copper and molded it over the plastic band. I used the drink straws from the cardboard drink cartons for the pipes on the outside. They have the pleated bend in them. Since our hot tub was done in PVC pipe they were white - so no painting on the straws. Drilled tiny indentations in the wood outside to glue them to and drilled holes completely through a cologne cap that looked like the filter system that was on our real one. Made a ladder from the same material as the sides for the steps. In the setting I made 'Tiki' torches from toothpaste caps and drink stirrers. I filled the caps with the brown caulking stuck the stirrers and some greenery down in it and let it harden. I painted the whole assembly brown. Stuck a piece of tan wool yarn into the stirrer at the top, arranged some flat wheat straw (1 1/2" long) around the outside of the top of the stirrer leaving it just enough above the top of stirrer to conceal it. Wrapped string around it at the bottom. The string started on the stirrer and went up onto the straw about 3/4". Wrapped 2 thin copper wires at even intervals on the rest of the straw I shaped the tip of the yarn to a ragged point and colored it with a black marker. It stuck up above the straw about a quarter of an inch. I was rather pleased with the results.

Carol Shea

Furniture Kits: Kallisti asked about the differences in available furniture kits. House of Miniatures kits and Shenandoah kits are produced by Houseworks and both lines are available through HBS & www.miniatures.com as well as through local miniature shops and show dealers. Almost every piece of these kits is made by the same company in Thailand. The only difference between them is their original designers and the quality of the instructions that come with them. I have been slowly, but surely, re-doing the instructions for all of these kits and it's on an as-needed-phase-in basis so it's hit or miss, depending on which kit you order, as to whether you get the new instructions or not. As I have reviewed these instruction sheets, I have to say the Shenandoah Kitchen and Outdoor Collections have had the worst. The Chippendale, Colonial and Federal Collections have needed few revisions and were pretty darn good to start with; I just improved some of the line drawings and re-formatted them. But, the quality of the individual pieces, no matter what Collection or kit, is excellent! Outstanding, really! I'm not being paid to say these things; this is based on experience.

Sally Cook-Thomas

Wheels: I have something to share for the people looking for great wheels. I find Midwest Carriage has wonderful wooden wagon wheels. Someone wanted to doauthentic covered wagons. His e-mail is mcarriage@aol.com

April Locker, Cleveland, OH

Taps and Faucets: try http://www.jojays.co.uk they have a lovely selection of taps, etc.

Micki

Taps and Faucets: I am able to get first rate modern taps/faucets. Mixer type. Swivel mixer type. Separate hot and cold. Shower handset etc. Contact me privately for more info and prices but be warned these things are rare and wellmade so do not come cheap. http://www.littlebylittle.co.uk

Karon

African Art: And to the person looking for African Art (missed that one), I specialize in masks from all over, including Japan, Black Forest, Africa and New Guinea. I also do busts that are reproductions of museum pieces from Africa. All of my pieces are researched and authentic. maji13@dreamscape.com

Dave Pierce

Leather Books:
1. Get hold of a phone book [people in Australia if Australia post don't get rid of all of theirs they throw them down the tip at the end of each year race in and grab them before they do]
2. tear off a few pages with glue intact
3. if you wish place little strips of crochet thread across binding to represent ridging glue in place
4. take a strip of leather or fabric and glue down the entire length of page or as fabric allows
5. cut out books to desired size
great for when you need to make a lot in one go

Carol Downunder

Lamp Shades: Just go to Jim Collins site and click on printables then listed under furniture you will find various lamp shades that you may print out.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/1832/

Marilyn from Michigan

Laser Cut: There are dollhouse and mini-furniture kits that are laser cut. That means, the individual pieces are cut out by a focused laser beam that cuts by burning through the wood. Because the laser beam can be focused into a beam that is finer than a saw blade, the precision of laser cut parts is amazing. The cut edges have a shiny, burned appearance. The thicker the wood, the longer it takes the laser to burn through it; the more charred the edges.

When you first open a laser cut kit, the smell of burned wood can be overpowering and some people have allergic reactions to it. If you let the pieces air out for a couple of days, the noxious smell goes away. The charred edges can be eliminated by lightly sanding. This is necessary if you are going to stain a furniture kit. With dollhouse kits, you can simply use a primer like Kilz and paint over the charred edges.

I have been fortunate in working with a local company, LaserTech, designing and building some of their prototype mini kits. The laser cutting machine is a marvel of space age invention. It can slice through wood, plastic and metal like they were foam board. It is huge and expensive and a little frightening to watch it in action. The operator must wear thick, tinted goggles because staring at the laser beam can cause permanent eye damage. The beam is directed by a computer using a program similar to AutoCad.

In my dreams, I imagine there some day being a smaller, home crafter version of a laser cutter available but the safety issues would probably keep it out of the marketplace.

Sally Cook-Thomas