Hard Paint: I had some acrylic paints in screw top jars go hard too. I put the rest in squeeze bottles and they lasted much longer. Acrylic paint is plastic so once hard there is not much you can do to salvage it as paint. However.. being a miniaturist you might try shredding the hard paint with a knife to use as foliage, slicing it into shapes as you would cooked FIMO. It makes interesting grass for small scenes. I sometimes dry a thin layer of acrylic paint on glass and scrape it off with a knife for paper thin leaves for plants, it's very flexible.

Jean Day

Tiny bows:  Tiny bows can be made exactly the same way one makes bigger bows. It just takes a bit of patience to keep pulling the ends to make the loops smaller and smaller, tightening the center knot as you go. Tweezers help. If  you have long nails, use your thumb nail against the knot each time you pull  the bow smaller. The narrower the medium you use, the smaller you can make  the bows. The tiny toy poodles I make have bows that are made of a single  strand of embroidery thread!

Alice Zinn

Ribbon bows: Here's still another way of making lovely, easy bows with SILK ribbon.  Make a running stitch of same color thread through the center of the length of silk ribbon you want for whatever size bow you want.  Pull the thread to "gather" the ribbon, secure with a knot and voila, you are done.  The more regular the running stitches are, the more even the bow will be.   For a wreath bow, you can take another piece of same ribbon the desired length and tie knots at the ends and glue that on the wreath and then glue the gathered bow on top.  I don't think this would work well with a stiff ribbon such as satin though.

Jeanette in Wauwatosa, WI

Dropped Brads: If you drop a bunch of brads, don't try to pick them up. Just put some Scotch tape around a couple fingers with the sticky side up and dab it on the area where the brads fell. Just put the tape in your tool box lint and all and remove them as you need them.

Deanna, Thiensville

Bows:   Who asked about bows?   I can't make them either, but have foundthat  squiggles of frayed bunka make nice gift box attachments/bows.  If you twist several strands together, it will look like those fancy bow collages that now sell for a bunch of $ in real life.  I even used bunka as bows with some 1/144 gifts and it worked well.

Paula

Ballentine: The person describing BALLENTINE must have said they look like non-pareils. Ballentine is tiny glass balls. No holes. They come in many colors. I first saw them used by eggers who sprayed their egg exteriors with glue, then rolled them in these tiny, tiny beads to give their piece a smooth but faceted texture. Very effective. One lady on our minidolls list gave her fairy a beaded cap this way. They can also be used as miniature jewelry with wire and findings. A very nice material to have around.

Laurie Sisson

Disposable Aluminum Pans: A friend brought me a dessert in one of those rectangular pans, and I noticed this one had a fancy, scrolled design on the bottom. They aren't pierced, of course, but thought they could be for hutch inserts, etc. since the design is already there. Maybe washes added for the old look.

Theresa Thomas

Rolling Base for Dollhouses: For my biggest, oldest dollhouse, I bought a breakfast bar table. It's 18" wide by 48" long and 36" high. To make it easy to roll on carpet, I got the big, wide casters and a drill bit big enough to accommodate the caster posts.

For my San Franciscan, I made a table with full-scale staircase spindles for the legs. The braces are 2x4's. Because the spindles were so narrow and delicate, I couldn't use the big casters but the little ones roll on carpet just as well. The tops of the spindles have round knobs on top that are meant to fit inside of stair railing. Instead of shaving them off, I drilled holes -- not all the way thru -- into the plywood sheet that goes on top of the table so it fits over the knobs. The house is glued and screwed to the plywood but the plywood can be lifted off the base. I finished off the plywood edges with moulding. I actually built the base before starting the house. It made it easy to work on because I could roll it over to where I was working and turn it around as needed.

For my Christmas Shop, I used an old wooden stool I got at a garage sale for $2. I drilled a hole thru the middle of the seat. Attached a 9" turntable to seat and dollhouse. Ran the electric cord thru the hole. For a small house, I think turning the house is easier than turning a table. I plan to use stools and turntables for all my small houses.

Sally Cook-Thomas

Rolling Base for Dollhouses: I designed a rollable cupboard for my dollhouse which my very talented wood working hubster made for me.

I was very limited for space to display my Dollhouse. The only spot I could find was to have it wedged at the end of a hallway. I ran into a problem displaying it because once I set it there if I wanted to see the inside it was such a chore (and also a risk for ruining the floor) to turn it.

The cupboard I designed looks the same on both sides and is mounted on casters wheels. They are hidden by the trim molding along the bottom. Its so easy to turn, move and is attractive from either side. On one side the doors open with shelves inside for storing minis. The other side the doors are faked. They don't open but they look as if they do.

Leslie, in Buffalo

Rolling Base for Dollhouses: I don't remember what site it was but it had absolutely fabulous dh's - the lady who created them said she gets unfinished bathroom sink cabinets and puts them on castors. I thought this was a great idea, 'specially since my DH is not the wood-working type! All I'd have to do is put a back on the cabinet and finish it to match the dh. I often seem them on clearance at Home Depot or Lowes, too, so I think it could be fairly inexpensive.

Linda in NC

Rolling Base for Dollhouses: Another idea for a rolling dollhouse is an old microwave cart. I have seen them for as low as thirty dollars brand new at the discount stores, and even cheaper at garage sales.

Billie (OK)

Cobwebs: A great cob web is a gray hair net, if you have a lot of time on your hands they make even better spider webs.

Velvet

To make "dust": Visit the art section of any craft/hobby store and look for pastels or charcoal sticks in the gray shade. Rub this with sandpaper and you get all the dust you can use. One stick of gray charcoal should last a heap of time.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL..

Dust: Try getting your dust to stay in place with out the glue showing by not using glue but paint the floor the color or stain you want and before it dries; let the dust settle;-)

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

dust- dirt footprints: What I did to make dusty or dirty footprints in a scene: cut a template out of paper looking like a footprint from a right gumboot (mine was in the shed).

Put the template on the floor and give a light spray of glue, lift the template and sprinkle with dirt. Turn the template over (when the glue on it has dried) and do the left foot.

Dorothee, Katikati

Getting Dust in Corners: Load an old soft bristle brush with your "dust," then gently shake it wherever you want the dust to be. I'm having to "dust" my old house that way and it works. I'm not gluing it down, but I just now wondered about spraying with hair spray. Reckon that would sort of "glue" it in place without the glue mess? Even without the "glue," the dust would stay put as long as the barn (or my house) stayed indoors, but don't think it would last through our West Texas winds if taken outside

Rita Pierce

To clean out a pecan: - The best pecans are the dark red ones. Their shells are the hardest. The meat inside a pecan is similar to walnuts in that it is divided by membranes. These membranes all hook to the shell at the pointed end. File off the pointed end of the nut, with a fairly course file until you have a hole about 1/8" wide by about 1/4" long. Once you file into them they come out fairly easy. Use nut picks and a sharp knife blade and carefully dig out the meat. Go slow and shake the pieces out a little at a time. The great thing about it is you get dessert while you work. I love pecans.

****WARNING****

Do not try to cut the pecans with a dremel or any other power cutting tool as the shell is very brittle and will shatter. It could end up causing the cutter to cut into your hand. If you want to cut the shell in half use a jeweler's saw with a medium blade.

Bill Hudson

Rolling Base for Dollhouses: we purchased a furniture dolly from the hardware store, and screwed on a base. It has heavy duty castors which work well on the carpet, and the dollhouse is low enough that the children have easy access, without me worrying about them standing on chairs.

Marie Anne in Indiana

Packing Material: I find that plastic of any sort (grocery bags, ones newspapers come in, etc) does very well as packing material. It is light, fluffy and has no rigid bulk to press against fragile items. I pack it in pretty solid, but gently.

Dawn Weaver

Packing to ship: It is a good idea to cut pieces of cardboard or foamcore the size of your shelves and tape or otherwise fasten them in place to hold small items, like books in the shelves. Then fill the rest of the box with styrofoam peanuts to hold everything in place!

Alice Zinn