Working Fountain: For those of you interested in having a working, running fountain in your doll house, go to an aquarium store--an actual aquarium store-not Wal-Mart or K-Mart or Home Depot. The people in a real aquarium store are experts on fountains and power heads and the things that you will need to get your fountain working. Good luck.

Carol

Working Fountain: I make table fountains and one thing you have to remember is that somehow, somewhere the fountain mechanism has to be submerged in water and the water it pumps out needs to be able to find it's way back to the pump for recycling. You can find the smallest pumps at your local garden store (eg. Home Depot) for about $15. Some years ago I bought a "ready made" fountain that I thought would go perfect with my dh. When the time comes to landscape, I will incorporate it with some foliage, trees etc.

W. Marie in Edmonds, WA

Working Fountain: For anyone interested in working fountains in a garden ......if you can wait my August NN/DM, DIY article has one.... and I will say that the tinkle tinkle of the water, coming out of the fountain, does add a new dimension to a miniature garden.

Joann Swanson

RGT Lighthouse: It wasn't as hard to build as I thought it might be and was a nice change from a regular house kit. I used black/gray/white speckle paint on the foundation and stairs. It can't be seen but I love the way the floors turned out. At the suggestion of another minilist, after staining the floors I drew lines across the floor from opposite corners with a fine point black marker. Then drew lines parallel to the outer edges in each wedge all the way to the middle. Looked like a spiderweb. Then did some lines connecting the parallel ones to make it look like lengths of wood. Even though I didn't push all that hard on the marker it left the slightest indentation that still showed after three coats of polyurethane! I was so tickled! Also half blind from drawing all those lines on three floors! lol Oh, ya. One frustrating mistake while putting it together. I painted all the railing pieces and then couldn't get them to stay together!! Drove me nuts til I realized the glue wasn't holding because of the glossiness of the paint. I sanded the contact points and, voila, it stayed together.

Lita

Kitty Cat Tea Room: When I read your post about the kitty-cat themed tea room, my ears perked up and my whiskers twitched.....what a purr-fectly wonderful idea! I have Charles Wysocki's "Ethel the Gourmet" (in real life size) and have taken some ideas from it: Cookbooks - "Preparing the Canary", "Tabby Teasers", "Bye Bye Birdie Pie (4 and 20 recipes)" "Little Critter Fritters"; Gourmet items - Shoofly Flykiller & Piefiller, Mice Pudding, Long-grained Wild Mice, Flabby Tabby Diet Mix, Spay Poupon, Catprika Sour-Puss Pickles.

As for cat-people, I believe Alice Zinn does them. Hope you'll keep us posted on your progress & share pictures, too!

Jude in ND

Scratching post: The cat scratching post can be found on my site, http://www.bulback.com/personal/kim

I believe it may be under "projects".

Kim

Middle East Room: have seen the HBS arched roombox and also thought instantly of the Middle East -- it's so reminiscent of a wood-paneled room in the Cincinnati Art Museum that I've wanted to move into since the first time I saw it. A room like CAM's would need lots of mini carpets, because except for the door, the walls are completely surrounded by carved, paneled wooden banquettes covered with cushions and pillows upholstered with carpeting material. Then there's a big carpet on the floor. The ceiling and upper walls are also carved, with paneled shutters and abstract stained glass windows, with several stained glass and brass hanging lamps. Somehow the space is very serene despite a riot of color and pattern. I always fantasize that's its ready for occupancy, just need to add a few hanging plants and some handsome serving men to fetch tea and baklava, play soothing background music, and wield a fan! It should actually be fairly easy to replicate a room like that with a whole lotta jewelry filigree, paint, and carpets.

Loretta. Sniarowski

French townhouse: Here is a French miniature site showing a more modern French townhouse. It should give you an idea of the windows & railings. The one of the left is actual and the one on the right is the mini.

http://miniatures.online.fr/Maison.htm

Also, a French country mansion available for sale (but very expensive)

http://miniatures.online.fr/vente/orieux_dollhouse.htm

Old French advertising posters

http://miniatures.online.fr/impression/deco/affiches.htm

Inexpensive Plans for a dh with a French feel

http://www.u-bild.com/woodworking-plans/411.htm

Hope this helps. Sounds like we are working on similar projects, so hopefully we can share insights.

Whui

Baba Yaga's House: For the person who wants chicken feet for a Baba Yaga house but is not interested in using real ones (GROSS!!!-LOL) or creating their own, decoy carving places carry cast pewter "study" bird legs for carvers to use as is or copy when creating their carvings. They may not have chicken legs, but will probably have pheasant legs or something similar that you could use. I have bought these before, and since they are cast from the real thing, they are very realistic when painted up.

Bonnie Gibson

Ideas for your inexpensive wedding scene: I did a gazebo for a wedding present and was able to decorate it inexpensively. I bought some lichen and ground foam cover from the hobby shop. The lichen is in realistic clumps that I just glued down to make bushes. You can use ground foam for grass or buy the kind that comes on a fine spider web-like mesh which will stretch out as fine as you wish to make vines, etc. Then I went to Joanne's fabrics and bought some cheap white satin roses (the smallest they carry), cut off the heads and glued them randomly into the bushes. Looked very pretty and didn't cost much at all. Plus, I had some of the lichen and stuff left over for other projects! Another nice touch is to make a placard announcing the name of the couple and the wedding date, and put it up on an stand or something. Makes it personal. Working at a florist shop, I get to see lots of wedding ideas. We just did two weddings where they each spent over eight thousand just on flowers alone. See, minis aren't so expensive after all!!

Bonnie Gibson

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.

Aga cookers:miniature Agas can be found at the website of Gable End Designs, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 7BXTheir website address is http://www.jeremy.collins. dial. pipex.com

They are lovely Aga cookers, and come both in kit form and ready made.

Annie Logan

AGA cookers: there is a company in the UK who I think ship abroad called The Dolls House Emporium who do two sizes of AGA cookers very reasonably priced at =A35. 50 for a small one and =A37. 90 for a large one, there web address is http://www.dollshouse.com

Sue, Hull, East Yorkshire

Gasoline Pumps: Aztec Imports has a number of them.

http://www.aztecimport.com/photos/Gearbox/gbgaspumpsmain. html

They only sell wholesale but you could check with your mini shop and if you don't have one, you could order from someone who represents Aztec.

Carol

GAS PUMPS: Here are a few links for the person looking for gas pumps, some come in different scale sizes

http://www.maxpages.com/pmm/Gas_Pumps

http://www.checkeredflag-gifts.com/checkeredflag/pages/gifts. htm

Good pics on this page for ideas- http://www.oldgas.com/getz/frick1. html

http://www.onmarkint.com/gaspumps_pg8. htm A free full color catalog is available as well as a Dealer case lot wholesale program from this company. Site was just updated.

http://www.corvettemuseum.com/virtual_tour/nostalgia. htm interesting gas station pictures.

Brooke, WA

Mini kiwi slices: http://lincsminiworld.bizland.com/

This site has a lot of graphics and takes time to load. You have a lot of searching to do to. They have a lot of Stix (cane) you slice, and make very tiny things. Very cute !I'm not sure if there is kiwi fruit or not. Very interesting though.

Debbie

Sheets of bricks & stones: Hobby Builder's Supply catalog has them also on their website at: http://www.miniatures.com

They offer plastic brick sheets 7" x 11" (item # 0016) and pebble (item # 0011) and fieldstone (item # 0018) sheets that are 7" x 24". I just used the pebbled sheets for the flooring in my garden shop. They all come plain tannish gray. . . and you paint them however you want.

John Medeiros

Yellow Raincoats. Jean's Wee things, 157 Glen Street Rowley MA 01969.

Susan

Rain Slicker: Sylvia Rountree does business as The Doll's Cobbler, and I know I have seen a yellow rain slicker (with matching hat and boots) on her table at shows. I have never seen her on any of the digests, but her mailing address (or at least the last one I have for her) is P. O. Box 906, Berlin, MD 21811.

Janet in Baltimore