Popsicle stick floors: I'd stick the popsicle sticks down on the cardboard (or whatever) base with Quickgrab, as it will hold tight and not warp.Then I'd use double faced carpet tape to attach the whole thing to the dollhouse floor. If you need to lift the floor for some reason this allows you to do it (i.e. to put wiring underneath, etc

Sue Veeder

Portada:   The actual translation is "facade" or "front (of a building)".  Here in Chile, making miniature versions is a very popular craft and they are sold in the artisans' markets and souvenir stores, sometimes for quite high prices.  They hang on the wall and are supposed to bring good luck to your home.  They are made to represent the fronts of houses, stores or other attractive or interesting buildings.   Here in Chile many properties, especially in some of the more affluent areas, have a very large and ornate gate structure, which really stands out after a long run of rather plain or rundown fence or wall.   These are the subject of many of the portada models too.  My wife loves them and has several now.

I have some portadas made of plaster that I painted with acrylics and have a few

more to go.  Most are made of wood or MDF and a variety of other things, such as clay, copper sheet, dried flowers, etc.  I guess you could say that they are really a type of caricature rather than a scale model, as they are similar in proportion to the original but not actually to scale.  The most interesting characteristics of the original are usually overly emphasized.

I bought a couple of portadas for my wife for her birthday and really fell in love with one of them myself.  It is the entrance to a ranch, but obviously one that has seen better times or has been abandoned.  When Helen and I were passing messages back and forth about modelling scenes in 144 scale in match boxes, I instantly thought of that portada and what a wonderful model it would make.  I scanned it and sent the picture to Helen and she decided to make one too.   Since then we have been trying to get poor old Cliff to make some copies of the big clay pot we need to make the model.   I finally made a sketch of it the other day and sent it to Helen so maybe Cliff can make them the right size this time.   We will keep the digest posted, won't we, Helen?   Meanwhile I managed to get some clay so I can try my hand at making it in that medium as I am not sure Cliff is going to get it right...

So that is the story of the portadas and how a poor English amateur woodworker came to be so badly maligned in a public forum.

David, Santiago, Chile

Dovecote Park: http://www.joyperkins.com/myminiatures/dovecotepark.html The Gazebo was already made, which I purchased about a year ago, so I just painted it peach outside and white inside.... I added a wooden drawer knob to the top along with some additional, stained wood strips on the roof to give it a bit of dimension. All the little white flower pots are wooden, from Lee Valley Tools, and I painted them white. The tree is from Lemax, which I painted (cuz it was white for a winter scene). I made the two Grecian benches in the Gazebo and stained them a rich green with Saman stains. The dovecote is from a separate project book from the magazine Dollshouse and Miniature Scene. And as for all those flowers, it's all dried flowers, shoved into clumps and lumps of Fimo, then glued, then more glue slathered over that, then sprinkled tea leaves over it all. I don't think that will come apart ! LOL There are a couple of things I am happy with, one of which is the planter where the green foliage runs up the side and the roof of the gazebo. The planter is porcelain, from Connie Stitt, which I bought a few of at the MEM show last year. I mixed an indigo blue wood stain and a dark brown wood stain ... to the point where the 2 colours streaked together, and just sponged it over the container. Sometimes the things we fuss the least with, come out the best.

Joy in Pointe Claire

Color and other things: After reading Kathleen Peake's excellent tips on color matching and lighting, my memory was jogged about a number of questions I've been asked concerning the various aspect of my miniatures. Soooo....If you'll bear with me I would like to " Wax the Elephant " just a bit about some philosophical and practical thoughts on minis.

This has gone on long enough so I'll save the reason I landscape every house and create a history for each one for another time.

Rik Pierce

Ceilings. I use watercolor paper on my ceilings. It is already white and has a very slight texture and is paintable. Hope this helps.

Barbara

Finishing Basics: Several folks have asked for a suggested list of steps to follow when building their first dollhouse. Here is one:

l. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, USE A GLUE GUN!
2. Instead, get a bottle of good yellow wood glue. (My personal favorite is Franklin's TiteBond, available at Ace Hardware Stores, but Elmer's or other yellow glue will work well, too.)
3. Find the directions and read them first.
4. Somewhere in the directions is a list of parts and it usually has sketches to show what they look like. Use a pencil (not a pen as the ink will run when you paint) and mark the part names or numbers on all the pieces. Don't punch out parts until you are ready to use them.
5. Check the parts to see if they need to be sanded or filled with wood filler. Some of the cheaper dollhouses (and some not so cheap) are made of flimsy, splintery, bad plywood.
6. Paint the trim pieces before you assemble them. That makes sense when you realize that it will be very hard, for example, to paint a corner piece or window trim after attaching it to the house-you will get paint from the main walls on the trim and when you paint the trim, you'll get paint from that on the main walls.
7. Again, DON'T PUNCH OUT PARTS UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO USE THEM.
8. Do not worry about painting the inside-that's later.
9. You can do the first floor flooring after assembling the foundation and flooror after the basic house is built.
10. Follow the directions to build each part of the house. Get the basic part built without the trim. Paint the main exterior walls.
11. Do the flooring on the first floor now if you didn't do it at step 9, unless you're using carpet and I would wait to do that until you do the flooring for the second and third floors as mentioned in Step 17.
12. Don't attach the windows now.
13. Now is the time to wire if you're going to. You will need to decide which room is which and where you want lights. For example, decide where the bathroom vanity/sink will be because if you want lights on each side of a mirror, you need to know where to put them. When doing wall sconces, shorten the wire, attach the lamp, but don't fasten it to the wall until you paper. Cut an X in the paper where you want them to go, slide the fixture through and then attach the paper and lamp to the wall.
14. Once the wiring is done, attach the main lamp fixtures. I like to drill holes in the ceiling for the ceiling lights and run the wires through the holes to fasten to the tape that I have put on the floor above. Attach all your lamps except the table lamps now. After papering, you can attach the outlets for the table lamps.
15. Wallpaper your rooms. Use a wallpaper paste designed to glue paper to wood. (My favorite is Grandmother Stover's Yes glue) Just paper right over the door and window openings. When it's dry, you can cut out these openings with your craft or X-Acto knife.
16. Now attach your windows, doors, stairs, and interior trim. Aren't you glad you painted it earlier?
17. If you haven't already done so, finish the exterior at this time.
18. Put down your second and third floor flooring.
19. Put in baseboards, interior cornices, and other incidental trim.
20. Now comes the fun of furnishing.

Dottie in Tucson

Ice Mold: Maybe you could use a small Jell-O mold made of transparent Fimo with slices of fruit and cherries in it for the ice mold. I have not tried this but it seems feasible. I might try it over the weekend to see if it works.

Mary

Building a Dollhouse: There is a book Everything You Wanted to Know About Building a Dollhouse that is online. You can print it out - it's at: http://miniatures.com/guide/intro.html

Marsha, Newark, CA

Cardboard Dollhouses: I have a very good book written by Dorie Krusz called Building Miniature Houses And Furniture in which she builds the entire house from poster board. My wife and I had completed 5 rooms in this method. (Modular) but during moving the movers destroyed them. This method works very well and is light weight besides

Gene from Olney, IL

Buttercup Cottage: I had really good success with the Buttercup Cottage which I turned into a lamp shop. If you'd like to see pictures, you can go to My Miniatures web site http://www.GenesisFontierDesigns.com/myminiatures/, select the Dollhouses link, then Fairlight's Lamp Shoppe. Like most tab and slot houses, the wood is not of the best quality and requires quite a bit of sanding and filling and also a bit more finishing on the outside (and inside too!), but it was worth it as I am very pleased with the results + I still have another Buttercup under to the bed to do one day.

Joy in Pointe Claire

Porch Ideas: Tom of Earth and Tree has a book called Porches Across America, which sounds like just what you need: http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com/index.html. If you go to books, and then to miscellaneous, you will see a picture of it.

Kaye in L.A.

Porch Ideas: Houseworks has a relatively inexpensive kit for making a front porch in both 1 and 1/2" sizes. There is also a booklet called Porches Across America by Nancy Van Horn that would give you some ideas.

Rose

The James Bay: This is an excellent kit made from cedar. The rooms are a good size so you can actually do a 'real' looking room setting. The price is reasonable especially when you convert that into US dollars. Just multiply that by .66 and you'll be pretty close to what the US cost is. This is NOT a slot and tab house. It is solid and the cedar is good quality. I would make a change in the third floor. There is kind of a wasted space area (to my mind) there with lost area under one of the eaves. I'd open that up and create a small sewing area or storage/attic area. I like the way you can look through from one room into another, giving it depth and a more realistic feel. This is a very large house! IBEC is just a very small, family run company. You can order the kit from Upstairs Downstairs in Victoria, BC. Pat and Amos, the owners of the shop, are very familiar with the kit. Not sure how many Amos has put together! They can give you all the info you need about lighting, flooring, etc. that this kit would take. Their web site is www.upstairs-downstairs.com. Personally, I can't stand the wood used in the Duracraft houses but then I don't have the patience it takes to make one of these kits look good. I admire the many on this list who have and do. I prefer the kits that have cabinet grade plywood rather than slot & tab styling. I think they are stronger. Plus I prefer the room sizes better in those houses. It's all a personal preference though.

Debi in Quesnel

IBEC Dollhouses: I have the James Bay sitting here in a box....it is my next project. I have seen it put together in real life and in my opinion, it is the MOST amazing house I have ever seen. I can't think of another house that compares to the James Bay in terms of quality. They are made from BC cedar. Sturdy as well as detailed kits. Their kits are very 3-D with stairs running through the center instead of up one side. I have already built the Cobble Hill and it is also another very nice house. It is funny because IBEC houses are better priced than the major name brand kits and they are better quality. They are more unique and also unheard of by most people who live in the U.S. because IBEC is a small, family run Canadian business. I know that often they only make a kit when someone orders one. They do not mass produce. I was talking to a store owner here in Toronto who was telling me that while she carries IBEC houses and they are far superior (in her opinion as well) to houses built by Walmer etc., many people in the U.S. afraid to take a chance with a kit they were not familiar with and had never seen built. All I can say is that you will not be disappointed at the James Bay. By the way, IBEC's web site is http://www.ibecwoodproducts.com for anyone who is interested in checking it out.

Karen in Ontario, Canada

DuraCraft Houses: I am building a Dura Craft house at this very moment. It is the San Franciscan. About three years ago I purchased the original kit which was the 1/8" die cut luan board. I had a terrible time with this kit. I spent hundreds of hours punching out pieces and sanding the edges...and they still looked crummy. The wood warped even though I primed it and weighted it down. As I started to assemble the house pieces of wood were splintering off and breaking apart. Frustrated, I put the kit aside and about a year later I learned that Dura Craft was improving most of their houses and changing them to 3/8" milled board. I immediately purchased a new kit and had it together in two weeks...no problems at all. My husband is helping me kit bash it and we've made countless changes to the basic house but the shell was incredibly easy to put together and is very solid and "expensive" looking. I couldn't be more pleased with the quality or the ease of construction, I highly recommend one of their "new and improved" houses! The prices are very reasonable too.

Tammy (Hillsboro,OR)

Contacting Corona: All the info you need on Corona's dollhouses is available from their website: http://www.corona-concepts.com/

Joy Perkins

Contacting Corona: 10 Depot Street, Schenevus, NY 12155, www.corona-concepts.com

Carol

The Heritage: To the person that is building the Heritage go to Jim's web site http://www.printmini.com/ of Jim's Printables fame. He built the Heritage and has step by step photos and talks about the mistakes he made along the way.

Elizabeth

The James Bay: The most wonderful thing about IBEC dollhouses is the wood, it's all cedar and you can paint and/or stain the exterior which is great in my books. I just ordered the 8 room cottage + extensions with bay windows and when I opened the box and saw the wood I was thrilled. It will make a most beautiful house. Take your US$ and convert that to CDN$, you've got a pretty good deal there! I would strongly suggest you give Pat Scott a call. She owns Upstairs-Downstairs in Victoria, BC and they carry all of IBEC's products. Both Pat and Amos, her husband, are more than familiar with the houses and can tell you everything about them...all of which are excellent reports. e-mail Upstairs-Downstairs at upstairs-downstairs@home.com or phone 250-598-0887

Joy in Pointe Claire

Watches with mini scenes: I stumbled across the greatest catalog. About 50 pictures of watches with individual occupational themes on each one. Some are: Wedding, Teacher Bear, Halloween etc. etc. etc. I believe I will try to shrink some of the pictures and use them in my dollhouses. Also, they would be very nice gifts for the person who has everything. The catalog is What's Your line and can be obtained at: http://www.timeofyourlifewatches.com/

Dolores

Floor plans: I am building a mini replica of an old family home. The house doesn't exist anymore, but I wanted to share where I got the floor plan and specs for this project. I am trying to make it as accurate as possible. The Library of Congress has a web page at http://www.cr. nps. gov/habshaer/

If you are looking for a particular building or a family name, there are many ways to search through this web site. I was very lucky to find photos (taken in 1940) of inside and out of the home as well as detailed floor plans for each floor.

Dorothy