Cobwebs. Drugstores or chemists as they say in Great Britain, used to sell very fine hair nets in different colours. Grey would work best and they stretch out nicely. Haven't checked lately so don't know if the stores still carry them. Do people still wear hairnets?

Donna

Gingerbread Men: you can punch your gingerbread men from brown fun foam. Works great and then you can string them for your tree after adding any details you may wish to use. Get the punch from Hooked on Miniatures (no, she's not related).

Dottie in Tucson

Shows: Attending a miniatures show is really pretty simple: wear comfortable shoes, and just bring lots of money!! No, seriously, remember the shoes part, but leave your bulky purse at home, maybe bring a cloth tote bag for all your little bags, they can be hard to keep track of. You also might want to make a little list (hah!) of what you're specifically looking for. There'll be lots of dealers with things you never knew existed, and it will be easy to forget what you really had in mind when you walked in the door.

That said, also be prepared to buy whatever really "calls your name". Lots of things at a show like this are one of a kind, we creative types often hate to repeat things, or else it was so **%^$ to make the first time, we swear we'll never do it again!

And if you're very organized, pick up one of those little Grandma's Brag Book photo albums, and put your wallpaper swatches, fabric and paint samples, along with room diagrams and/or measurements for each room or roombox you're doing or planning. It's easy to carry and I can't tell you how many customers have looked at me with that lost, dazed expression, saying "I see that house everyday, but I have no idea what paper is in the hallway!

I'm not sure why we call them miniatures *shows*, they're really sales, and different from the house parties you've read descriptions of here. There'll be table after table of everything imaginable (and some beyond imagining) and lots of fellow miniaturists shopping till they drop. Sometimes shows have displays in a special area, but at most shows all the "displays" are wares brought in by fools like me who travel to sell our things.

Bonni in Jersey City, NJ

Grapevine Wreaths: I make grapevine wreaths by wrapping wire with the brown floral tape. The irregularities in the wrapping make it more realistic. After you cover about a foot or two of wire, wrap it around some sort of container to give it shape (film canister, pill bottle, etc.). After two or three wraps, remove from container and cut wire another foot or two. Finish wrapping wire with floral tape and then wrap in and out of the circle. I've even wrapped smaller wire around a pin and painted it brown to make the tendrils. This makes a beautiful wreath to decorate, but could also serve as a base for any other wreath material.

Martha South

Holly wreaths - a really easy DIY base: the plastic rings left on plastic Bottles when the cap is removed - Water, Pepsi etc. These can be covered in florist tape, ribbon or tinsel. They look very effective over fireplaces.

Chrissie London

One more wreath technique. If you don't want a deep, dimensional one - I have made them by using either a rubber gasket (many sizes) or cutting a ring out of card board and also cutting out the inner circle and painted it green before gluing the lycopodium or Finescale to it and any other trims you want.

Jeanette in Wauwatosa, WI

Camping Articles: I checked thru back issues of Nutshell News (now Dollhouse Miniatures) and found some articles for the lady asking for ideas for camping/beach scenes. So here goes.

Aug/95 - lantern, campstove, ice chest

Aug/94 - sleeping bags

Oct/82 tent, campfire, coleman lantern, canoe

Also in Miniature Showcase:

Summer/91 - hot tub, deck and accessories for the person who asked about this in a previous digest.

Spring/87, Summer/91, July/93 - all very good landscaping and perspective issues with tips from experts.

Donna

Lycopodium: I have used lots of this and found that coating with a sealer is great; however some of them shrivel up the Lycopodium - Decoart Sealer will shrivel it. The one that I use that DOES NOT shrivel it is Patricia Nimock's Matte Spray Sealer by Plaid and I use it for sealing everything that I make!

Roz Weitzman

Scrimshaw Carving: There are two products that are great when carved in miniature. One is a plastic called "ivorine" and the other is the Columbian vegetable ivory known as "tagua nut." Ivorine you can get through some art supply houses and tagua nut can often be obtained from places that specialize in wood and inlay materials. I bought a few pieces from "Woodcrafters" catalogue a few years ago and have never tried them, but I have seen extraordinarily beautiful bowls made from it sold at CJ Galleries.

The thing I like about Tagua nut is that it polishes like ivory when you turn it on a lathe, and it has a really beautiful "miniature" grain as well. The disadvantage is that it has a hole down the center so it needs to be sliced into sections that avoid the hole before being turned on a lathe. Someone I talked to also mentioned that it was best to soak the nut before using it, but I cannot confirm this

Lynn O'Shaughnessy, Princeton, NJ

Carving/Turning: I read Lynns' note about Ivory (Tagua) Nut - she is right, it is a nice substitute for real ivory. You can't make really big items out of it, but for miniaturists that shouldn't be a problem. In fact, on the scimshaw globe on my miniatures album, I turned tagua nut on my lathe to make the decorative finials. I have seen tiny goblets and such made from it and it does scrimshaw well. You can also do scrimshaw on other items such as turquoise and other soft stones, antler and bone, but ivory is still the easiest to work.

Bonnie in Tucson

Turning ivory nut: I've turned it many times, and it carves and turns marvelously, but it smells like burnt toast. But it looks good, although a bit more white than ivory. There is a hole, which if properly planned, can be put to your advantage. (I've never soaked it first)...once I carved a baby dragon "hatching" from the nut, and I glued a cool crystal into the space in the center. It looked like he was wrapped around the crystal, and the outside of the nut, which is rough and brown, made up the bottom of the"egg" in which he lay. I called it "born in fire". The fellow I know who does the narwhal tusks works in beef bone. I've never heard of ivorine, but as an old Alaskan, I have a goodly supply of walrus teeth, which are still legal to jewelers and craftsman, as most can be found on certain beaches in AK if you know where to look.

Dave Pierce

Scrimshaw: Art Werner's miniature ivory scrimshaw has to be seen to be believed! He has whaling tools and other ships items too. You can contact him by mail:

Arthur F Werner,172 Louvaine Drive, Kenmore, NY 14223

Leslie, in Buffalo NY

Shop signs: You could get some very thin craft wood in different shapes and write on them and hang outside the shop. Fine old junk Jewelry chains, for hanging the sign should be about the right size. If you are very talented you could make a wood burning type and stain it. This looks like the old time shop signs. The wood can be bought at a hobby store and comes in a bag with all shapes and sizes. The wood doesn't need much sanding if any. You can stain it paint it and burn it.

Sandra S.

Nail decals: I was at Walgreen's and noticed some nail art for kids that were absolutely wonderful little butterfly decals. Makes me think that nail art would provide miniaturists with a lot of miniature graphics.

W. Marie

Gypsy Caravans: To the person who wanted gypsy caravan patterns, there are three different sized patterns in the *HOBBYS* magazine that comes from Britain. They vary in price for the pattern, but I think are quite reasonable. If you want their address or e-mail, e-mail me privately.

Diana

Odors: As to odors in the house and miniatures, try placing cups of vinegar in all corners of the house. It will remove lots of odors. I have used apple cider vinegar or regular. Place a small dish or open jar of it in a box with the minis or inside a dollhouse.

Dorothy

Cleaning Silver:

1) Baking soda and water made into a paste. This is a rather coarse grit polish and may scratch fine silver; I use it for cheap-o stuff from the thrift store.

2) Never-Dull silver polish. It's cotton wadding soaked with an oily cleaner that cuts through tarnish quickly, and you can take off as much or as little as you like. Wash with hot soapy water after polishing. Cleans brass and copper, too. Doesn't leave that white stuff in the deep parts of the design, either.

3) The magic of chemistry: line a pan with aluminum foil. Place tarnished silver in the pan, and sprinkle baking soda over it (about a quarter cup for a 13x9" pan). Pour *boiling* water to cover the silver (hot tap water won't do it). It smells like sulfur. This takes out ALL the tarnish, even in the deepest crevices. I *think* that this method actually removes the oxygen from the tarnish, leaving behind all the silver. Other polishes remove the tarnish, which means you lose a little bit of silver every time.

Lee

Odors: Just thought I would mention a great product for skunk smell removal - our vet has a product called "skunk off" and it can be used for washing the dog or cat, washing clothes and to be put on outside furniture where a skunk has sprayed. Everything smells like peppermint afterwards but better than skunk right? Maybe it would work if put into a small container and set under a porch or whatever. It neutralizes the smell immediately on an animal.

Donna

Smoke Filled Room: I have seen at a quilt shop here in Omaha some very, very fine silk organza type fabric that is used in quilt restoration. It is stitched over the decaying fabric of old quilts to stabilize it and keep it from further deterioration. From a few feet away it is indiscernible on the quilt. I wonder if some of that , or something very like that could be put directly behind the glass to give the room a smoky haze. I also wonder if you were to stretch a panel of the organza out in the middle of the scene and then another right on the glass if it would create an illusion of depth to the smoke so that the things further in the room are more obscure than the things up close to the glass.

Another tip is to color the ceiling of the room a cigarette tar yellow and put a yellow wash over what ever wall treatment you use. In Amsterdam there are coffee shops known as Brown cafes because the ceilings and walls are so tar stained from years and years of smoking.

Kellie in Omaha

Smoke Filled Room: Modeling a smoke filled room. You have set your self a challenge. Here's my thoughts:

Smoke rises, it's usually quite thick at the top of the room. Rather than using smoked glass in front maybe using a clear sheet and painting the top with a mix of clear and smoky coloured glass stain so it is darker at the top.

Walls and fittings should also be murkier at the top, maybe a wash will do the trick, I'm not sure what colour would be best. Maybe a grey if I recall smoke tends to be light.

Mirrors or anything shiny should be matt at the top - maybe a puff of hairspray might tone them down (use something to protect the lower portion, maybe hold a ragged edged sheet of paper up)

Lighting - if you have a stage it should have the brightest lighting, Ideally a spot lit singer, the rest of the room should be fairly dark, maybe a few dim candles in glasses on the tables. Cirkit do a spotlight, I have bought some but not used them yet so I don't know how good they are at only throwing light forward, you might want to build a little tube to go round a bulb maybe attaching little flaps like real stage lights have to direct the light only onto your performer.

To make the effect of dim candles run the lights to the tables from a separate transformer to the spotlight, the spotlight should run at the usual 12 volts, but run the candles at a lower voltage, 9v or maybe 6v that way they will be dimmer and more orange. (they will also last longer)

Sandra Monk