Edwardian Toys: You might try the book by Jim Dorset, its on my web site http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com/ under books>miniatures The Best of The Scale Cabinetmaker Vol. 1 The Toys of Christmas.

Tom Berkner

Miniature Flowers Book: Someone recommended the book "Making Miniature Flowers with Polymer Clay" by Barbara Quast - - it is a BEAUTIFUL book but it is not 1/12th scale - something much larger.

Lesley, Johannesburg, South Africa

My list of all time favorite books:

- Original Interiors for 25 Dolls' Houses
By Caroline Hamilton - for sheer enthusiasm and variety of ideas on the subject

- The Collector's History of Dolls' Houses
By Vivien Greene & Margaret Towner - History of doll houses, lifetime of research. Such a shame the collection has now been sold.

- Mansions in Miniature 4 Centuries of Doll Houses
By Leonie von Wilckens - Historical with lots of pictures

- Building Masterpiece Miniatures
By Joseph Daniele - lots of detailed woodworking instructions

- The Book of Miniatures, Furniture & Accessories
By Helen Ruthberg - Lots of D. I. Y. instructions

- The Complete Book of Making Miniatures
By Thelma R. Newman & Virginia Merrill - Room settings & doll houses D. I. Y.

- Dolls' House Needlecrafts
By Venus A. Dodge- Over 250 sewing, embroidery & knitting projects (Sadly Venus is deceased)

- Making Miniatures in 1/12 scale
Venus & Martin Dodge - excellent full size patterns for vignettes & furniture

- Making & Dressing Dolls
By Sue Atkinson - 1/12th scale with patterns covering a variety of styles

- Miniature Embroidery for the Victorian Doll House
By Pamela Warne - Many patterns

Pat in Cheyenne

Corrugated tin for roofs is available, although the sheets are not very big and it is quite expensive if I remember correctly. I have seen it at our miniature shop, so probably can be ordered. A substitute might be: the inside of heavy cardboard is corrugated. If you can dampen one side it will soften then you can remove the outer "skin," let the rest dry well, and spray with a silver paint. Also for anyone interested, Cherry Tree (a woodworking catalog) used to carry aluminum sheets both plain and embossed to look like shingles. Also comes in copper. I ordered some in 1996 priced at $4.90 and $5.95. I'm sure the price has gone up but worth checking out. Their toll free number is l-800-848-4363.

Diane in SFBA

Aga Stove: There is instructions for making an aga stove from card in Dolls House World No 83, August 1999. I made the small black stove from card and it think it turned out better than the picture. A lot depends on the trouble you go to with finishing, and it would look even better made with wood.

Elizabeth in New Zealand

Measurements: I see postings once in a while asking what size a queen bed is, a bed spread, a kitchen counter, etc etc. Here's a handy hint for that (because I need the same answers all the time!). I keep an old JC Penney catalog, and several Lowes/Home Depot catalogs by my bench - everything has dimensions in the catalogs! In Penney’s or Sears you will find bedding, basic furniture, skirt lengths for dresses, etc. In the Home Depot stuff they have all the kitchen cabinet sizes, which is a life saver!

Bev

Making Porcelain Dolls: If you want to learn to make porcelain dolls using commercial molds, "Dolls & Miniatures" magazine had a very descriptive article on how to do so in the Winter 98 issue. It tells you what supplies you need, and then takes you from casting the mold to removing and cleaning the greenware, to detailing and firing, then on to polishing it and painting and ends up by showing you how to assemble the finished doll - ready to be dressed & wigged. There are also several other how-to projects in that issue.

You can order it from me, and learn more about it by going to my web page http://www.dollsminiatures. bigstep.com and clicking on "Dolls and Miniatures"

Viola

DIY Upholsered Sofas: There is a set of booklets put out by the people who use to print Scale Cabinetmakers magazine. One of the booklets is on building and upholstering sofas and chairs. It covers every era of furniture. You should be able to get it at your neighborhood miniature store. The cost is very reasonable (under $10.00). I think it is by Dorsett Publications. I would give you the address but my copy is on loan to a friend.

Louise from MI

Mother's day project: A lot of times I have taken a simple idea of what someone likes most, and built on that. What does your mother like to do? Is she a gardener, a needleworker, a golfer, avid outdoorist, tea drinker? My mom is insistent on grandchildren (married but childless couples here may know what kind of insistence I mean...) so I made her one in miniature.

I followed a very simple pattern (from an old Dollhouse Miniatures project) for a nursery made out of an embroidery hoop, a piece of foam core, lace, paint, some posterboard and some wallpaper I had left over. I added some furniture, tea and cookies, a dog (Chihuahua, model of her current dog) some greenery and a little dressed baby (all in a pink knitted outfit, used one of those anatomically correct dolls -- she even had a little blanket to carry around.

I believe I had dated it using a little needlework sampler. To see what I did, go to http://www.bulback.com/personal/kim and I think it is under "finished projects". I don't think this project took me more than a week and a half totaled to make, so it is relatively quick. It also won first prize at a fair last year, and my mom intends on taking it to others next year, so yes, she likes it and is quite proud of it;).

Kim From Canada

Feline Fancy Tearoom - menu items: Fish and Chips with Tuna Dip, Mince Mouse Pie, Pigeon Pie, Mousie Mousse, "Four and Twenty Blackbird Pie", Starling Stew, Titmouse Turnovers, Cardinal Cookies, Lemming Meringue Pie, Cockatiel Pinwheels, Cornish (Hen) Treacle Tart, Blue(berry)Bird Pie, Robin Refrigerator Cookies, Scotch Shortbread Sparrows, Sand(piper)Tarts, Devonshire Cream Pie, Charleston Chicken Hash, Squabs En Casserole, Beef Doves, Deviled Chicken Bones, Sautéed Chicken Livers, Braised Game Birds, Steak and Kidney Pie, Grilled Sardines, Creamed Salt Codfish, Spiced Salmon, Mackerel Baked in Milk, Sautéed Turkey Breast.

As you can tell some are made up, some are "altered", and some are "real" recipes from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook ( 1972). Hope you can use some of these for your feline fancy tearoom. Mangia (sp.) Kitties!!

Joanne from South Jersey

Baba Yaga's House -- I find that well illustrated Children’s books are often just the inspiration I need for a house. To compliment your family's memories of Baba Yaga, check out:

Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave by Marianna Mayer ISBN: 0688085008 wonderful illustrations of the house, inside and out, as well as period Russian clothing.

There's also a Baba Yaga book by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Vladimir Vasilevich Vagin. I haven't read this one, but I like his other illustrations so this one should be well done.

Ghia

Mask roombox idea: way back in NN there was a Halloween project that used papier mache egg cartons to make Halloween masks (egg cup bottoms cut into various shapes, painted and decorated as Dracula, clown, etc.). That could be adapted to make various ethnic masks by adding paint, beads, feathers, etc. Also, check museum or other gift shops in your area. I have a set of masks in the Deco house anthropologist's study that came from the public library gift shop!

Loretta.Sniarowski

Dover Books: Just to let you all know about Dover Publishing Company which is now on line! This company has something like over 7000 books from which to choose. Go to:

http://store.doverpublications.com/

On the left side of the page it has categories listed. Click on "crafts" then on "miniatures, dolls". This category has more than just dolls! It has 19 titles including books on miniature furniture, dollhouses, iron on transfer patterns, needlework,. . just to name a few. This site will have you busy for hours. You will enjoy and find books you didn't even know existed in all categories.

Lyn T.

Working Fountain: couldn't you do this along the same lines as those 'tabletop' fountains that are so popular now? I know there's a book out with instructions for these available through the One Spirit book club. I think a cooler pump is used for the tabletop fountains, and I don't know if you'd need a 'thingie' to control the water volume...the pump could be hidden in the 'foundation' of your house.

Molly

Photocopying from Dollhouse Miniatures: This may have been mentioned before, but the best thing to do, when in doubt, is to e-mail Dollhouse Miniatures and ask for permission. I wanted to put the article that they wrote about my dolls on my web site. I wrote and asked for permission. They gave it. Their only request was that I give credit to Nutshell News. I'm not speaking for DM when I say this, but they may charge a minimal fee to reproduce projects for you, not ecause they are trying to prevent people from sharing with their friends, but because they may get lots of requests and need to recoup the cost of making copies. Sharing with friends may be seen as a form of advertising their product. They may get more subscribers that way. What they don't want is to lose subscribers because someone is making available copies of their magazine for no charge. So ask them when you want to reproduce something. They may say "go ahead.quot; Or there may be a reason why they want you to purchase it from them. In either case, you'll know for sure. They were extremely nice when I wrote to them.

Debbie

Creative Crafts & Miniatures: In response to your inquiry about the authors and projects in Creative Crafts & Miniatures, the only one I know about is Ruth Armstrong. You would need her permission to do anything about sharing her projects. I don't believe she has an e-mail address but her snail mail address is: Ruth Armstrong, 302 South St., Jonesville, MI 49250.

Marlene

Beginner's Resources: I took a look at the Dollhouse Miniatures magazine site and it had a lot of information on basic tools and supplies, as well as techniques which would be very helpful to those of you who are new to this wonderful hobby.

http://dhminiatures.com/FAQ/Tips.html

Alice Zinn

Gypsy Caravan: For the person looking for the book, "Making Model Gypsy Caravans" by John Thompson...(on for anyone looking for books on how to make practically any wheeled old vehicle, here is a site that sells them:

http://www.ruralheritage.com/plans/booklist.htm

The Gypsy Caravan is a fantastic book...complete interiors and exteriors for two types of caravans. plans, how to's...plus history. Very good book, one of those...'if I only had the skill to do this! things.' But, I at least have the book.

Kaye in L.A.

French Houses: I've found some really great books at Borders Books in the art section. Here are some sample titles; In the heart of France, Three rivers of France, The most beautiful Villages in France, Old English farmhouses and the Most beautiful Villages in England. These have a myriad of photos of the older style cottages and in answer to your question, yes it was common to plaster over brick and plaster and yes due to the nature of the plaster used it did crack and spall off so your idea is perfectly fine and should look great.

Rik Pierce

A source that I would like to offer is The Elements of Style. It is a very large, comprehensive coverage of different architectural features through the years, broken into different decorative periods. I think it also shows the same feature in the same period as it was executed in England and as it was in America. It is not inexpensive, being about $60, so one might check the library and if they do not have it, ask them to arrange an inter-library loan. Barnes & Noble usually have it on the shelf in the Architectural section. It does not cover the furnishing, just the architectural details of the house.

Mel in Ma