Bookbox: I've been making bookbox room displays for over 20 years now. I've taught 2 classes at the Guild School about them and did a Theme Luncheon at the NAME national last year on them. I read Diane's description of how she made her bookbox room. Her description was quite detailed and although this is not exactly how I do mine (Do two people ever do things exactly alike? LOL), I want to add one strong suggestion, that is: to make the inner box out of wood. Most books need the extra support from a
good foundation box inside. The paper covering of the foam core will tear and the "foam" will bend if stress is put on the setting.
Another serious reminder is to remember all the safety rules when you are operating the saws. The books need to be cut with big power tools and you need to be especially careful around these.
If you would like to see some of the ways I've made books into displays, feel free to visit my website.
http://www.gate.net/~mgm/minis.html
I've just added some new pictures of workshops that I will be doing in the future and of my display that I will be showing at the IGMA show coming up. I am working on some new things for that show.

Shannon Moore

HINGED BASE / OPEN SIDES: If you split the base to open along with the sides of your dollhouse, ALL hinges must be in the base (and perhaps in the cornice if it protruded exactly the same distance out as the base). To work, all hinges must be aligned with each other. One way to hinge your sides and still have a (low) landscape would be to hinge only from the first floor up. Have a high, basement foundation which does not open and limit most of your landscape to that height. One or two trees may be OK if you don't mind plucking them out of their socket before opening / closing. The horizontal "cracks" in a hinged panel can be hidden from the outside by the cornice and water table trim. For dollhouse opening, unless you really love geometry problems, piano hinge is best. It aligns in a single piece, stabilizes easily, and if one plane is 90 degrees to the other, it helps prevent vertical warp. Do install multiple stabilizers on the free end to also limit warping over time.

Actually, warp prevention is a major concern if a flat panel is hinged. Use top quality material for these panels even if the rest of the dollhouse may be foam board or such. When gluing siding, wall paper, etc.: CLAMP, CLAMP, CLAMP to prevent warping during the drying process. I like to add aluminum angle stock on the interior at ceiling cornice positions.

Mel Koplin, Las Vegas

Hawthorne: The Hawthorne was my introduction to the mini world. It was my first mini project and perhaps I should have cut my teeth on a smaller house but I had a wonderful time building it. It is beautiful and I am very proud of it. I bought the kit at a local ministore (Depot Dollhouse, now closed) where they had a model already built. For the most part I found the directions easy to follow, but due to my inexperience I sometimes had trouble visualizing the end result of certain steps. At this point I would run down to the ministore and examine the display.

There are a few things I would have done differently had I been more experienced. I did put one coat of paint to prime the walls and floors and two coats on the ceilings before assembling. However, you notice that there is a gable and tower joined to the front of the main body of the house. Where they join there is a crack across the ceiling of the left front first and second floor rooms. The house opens on that side so it is very visible.

Now it is all furnished, wallpapered, electrified with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and too heavy to turn upside down. In those rooms I should have perhaps put wood filler in the crack and textured the ceiling with a mixture of paint and spackle. To do so now would be a real hassle.

The other thing I would have done is made templates of all the floors and walls while they were more accessible. This would have made wallpapering etc. much easier.

Harriett- Framingham, MA

X-Files Office is done! All of a sudden, the elements finally came together this week and I finished my 1/12 X-Files room box. Basically, I barricaded myself in my house for the past two days till it was done. It was my first excursion into electrifying...and I was so happy to see how easy it was. Lots of folks to thank here for all the great ideas and suggestions. Especially Anita on the lighting advice, the perfect wiring instructions on Tom's E&T site and whoever suggested the wrinkled tissue paper ceiling treatment. It gave the basement room just the look I wanted. I have put a page on my site. If you are not a fan of the X-Files...be warned...it is not for the faint of heart :) (just kidding, but it does include a realistic alien figure.) I am thinking of making it a trilogy down the line and do Scully and Mulder's apartment living rooms as companion boxes. Both sets have interesting design challenges and would be fun to decorate.

http://www.wishbooktoys.com/dollhouse/xfiles/index.html

X-Files box: The X-Files box is a combo of made, bought and bashed items. On the desk for example, the blotter was bought, but I added the paper items and photos. The tape dispenser was bought, but I added the tape to liven it up. I also made the "brass" desk lamp (drinking straw, gold tape, two wires, balsa base and a black bead for the switch) and extension lamps (GI Joe binoculars cut and trimmed with strip wood arms.) I made the sunflower seeds and the FOX MULDER nameplate for the desk. The styro coffee cup is the top to a glue bottle painted white. Most paper items were reduced from actual items. I got the basic folders and manila envelopes from Jim's Printables website then cut the bound pages out of a National Geographic for the papers inside them. The folder holders are clear plastic covered in black contact paper and bent to shape. The black binders were made the same way and also filled with magazine pages. I scratchbuilt the white medical cabinet and small lawyers' case. The file cabinets were bought and painted. The slate topped counters and cabinets are cheapie wooden kitchen sinks that I bashed into lab tables with black vinyl on cardboard glued to the surfaces. The desk and both chairs were bought at my local miniature store, as was the computer table, but I added the woodgrain vinyl top. A little of this, a little of that and somehow it all eventually came together.

Roombox ideas:  I also have hit upon two other ideas for room boxes. One is a 1950s small-town movie theater lobby with concession stand. I could make the poster frames changeable, so one week the theatre could be showing classic detective films, next week a sci-fi fest, Universal Monster films, musicals, etc. The possibilities are unlimited. It could be set while the feature is playing and the usherette could be sitting behind the counter reading a 50's movie magazine. Thinking about this idea led me to another project...how about a classic Drive-In movie theater concession stand.? It could have the snack counter with all kinds of food ..hot dogs, fries, burgers, popcorn, candy (much more than just a movie theater has...I have been eyeballing all the goodies at Mary Eccher's Pannikins by ME site, making my shopping list,) a picnic table, maybe a small playground area right out front for the kids (remember those?) I'd have to have those great faded color photos of the burgers, fries and cokes lit from behind on the menu sign...can you tell I like this idea?

John in Yonkers

Wattle & Daub: There's a great website that shows a cottage with wattle and daub walls under construction --

Popular cottage construction - thatch - wattle and daub

Anita Myers, Arnold, MD

Nautical Lighthouse Site: http://members.thebee.net/captainseaweed/

Gail

Dollhouse Plans: Check out DollHouseDesigns.COM for down loadable dollhouse plans (1" scale).http://www.dollhousedesigns.com

Jon

Mini pencil to pencil fence: All this talk of making pencils has me thinking of a photo in this month's Sunset magazine, which showed a full size fence made to look like a stockade of #2 pencils!  Very clever.

      Mini-makers could use this idea for fencing at a playground, preschool or mini daycare.  Only in "our" world, you could use real #2 pencils for the fence.

Wendy ~~ Elk Grove, CA

If you're building your first house or roombox: There is a great site that walks you through the steps of building, with hints and suggestions to make it easier. It is http://www.miniatures.com/guide/

Pat Molyneaux

I already have an idea for a project. Picture a woman sitting at a computer, engrossed in what she is reading on the screen. (If you look really close, you will see it is SSD.) Behind her is a washing machine with a pile of dirty clothes, then an ironing basket with a stack of ironing,waiting to be done. There is also a dishwasher open to show clean dishes waiting to be unloaded, and in the sink dirty dishes waiting to be loaded. Perhaps through an open door a glimpse of breakfast dishes still on the table. Through the kitchen window some washing is on the hoist and the pot plants wilting in the hot Australian sun, dying for a drink. That is a picture of me over the last week, reading and absorbing all the mail you sent, and if I ever do get around to doing that scene, l shall call it: I WOULD IF I COULD.

Joyce J. from Downunder

Cutting a hole in the porcelain tea pot with the Dremel: Get a tungsten carbide cutter. It is a "thing" made by Dremel for the Dremel. It is used to cut into fired ceramics or use a Silicon Carbide Grinding Stone. It is green/gray in color and conical in shape. It is also used for work on ceramic and glass. I would suggest keeping the cutting head of whichever you choose wet while doing the cutting to keep it cool. These things get hot. Try to rely on speed rather then force to get the tool to do the cutting.

Outdoor Xmas Shop: I looked at a freezer basket one day, taking up more than its share of valuable attic space, and thought--outdoor Xmas shop! There was a shop--pre-Michael's-in Augusta, GA. called Fatman's Forrest--some outdoor, some indoor--where we college students broke the pre-finals' stress with a holiday decorating trip for the dorm doldrums. That was my inspiration. The "roombox" turned out really well--I used lycopodium for the garland, and a string of lights from a tree angel; decorated mini-wreaths and hung them with paper clips on the basket framing, used up a lot of parts and pieces of holiday "magic". I used wooden laminated placemats taped together for the "walls" outside the basket, so I would have a "box" and interior framework to hang things on. I made a sign from a section of yardstick, added a few painted wooden ornaments (the imported snowmen, angels, bears, etc) sprinkled among the mini poinsettia (plastic) plants. I had accomplished a milestone--using up leftovers--and making a new holiday box!

Carol

Book Roombox: I found an old set of encyclopedias at a yard sale for $5. We have chosen #23 for one teacher, cause that is also her room #. I haven't started yet but was thinking about this process. (promised the li'l one we would start this weekend.

1. Open the hardback cover

2. Mark where you want the 4 corners and drill a hole through all pages. Make sure you don't drill through the back by masking taping your drill bit to the depth you want.

3. Slice with a SHARP blade from utility knife or x-acto.

4. Now that the pages are cut flip through them and spray with glue as you flip

5. Gesso the front page and inside you have cut.

6. We have been collecting school items for ours and will be making a shadow box effect display of their favorite things. Some like science, math, biology, etc. We will be cutting matboard and tonguing it together by cutting a slot 1/2 way thru each piece. If anyone has a better way, mine hasn't been started yet, so am open to suggestions and undoing my mistakes before I do them!

Lisa Lynn

Book room: The borrowers made their home with books in one of their tales. The lounge room was the first room and then they added a roof. I think with them, their home was in a windowseat box, and after a long corridor was their kitchen which they walled with a book and cut a hole for a door. So perhaps, for a bit of fun you could make a roombox with book walls and cut a little door from an inner book, and have the pages as wallpaper as the borrowers did. I think it was the last book, they moved to near the Hendreary's Church after flying by balloon from an attic where they were captured. For those who don't know the borrowers, they are wonderful books of wee people by Mary Norton. I have read them over and over and they are just great.

Robbie

Clear Display: I have used an inverted 10-gallon aquarium as a cover for a scene quite successfully. I found one with a clear bottom at the local mega-pet store (big store, not pets) for about $12.00. I built my scene on a styrofoam base that I cut to the size of the aquarium opening.

Chris in Minnesota

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: Imagine a little, white box of Chinese food. Turn the box on it's side, remove the top. Now, if that were unfolded, it would be easy to wallpaper wouldn't it? Blue Teapot 2000. I used this method to do the interior. It creates space under the lid to put surprises?

Laurie Sisson

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: You could use gift wrap tissue paper cut into strips to make a template of the inside of the pot;; it's not too flimsy but light enough to mold along the pot's curves. Tape strips together till you have a template to cut the good paper. Or, you might want to use a border paper as a chair rail and just paint the walls a solid cover.  Just don't give up! Keep experimenting and you'll figure it out.

Loretta.Sniarowski

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: If you are set on using wallpaper why don't you build some false walls out of thin foam core. They would be straight and easy to wallpaper. If you want to keep the original curved walls of the teapot try painting the walls then doing a fun stencil. I painted and stenciled all the walls in my dollhouse. It's different from what everyone else does.

René

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: Could you put in a false wall by curving a rectangle of cardboard to fit in the teapot from open edge all the way around to the other open edge, and then wallpaper that?  If your opening isn't too large the cardboard wall could go up high enough so the top edge wasn't seen. Will you have to put in a false floor because the bottom of the teapot is (1) not level, and/or (2) not big enough? The wall could then fit neatly around the new floor. You will probably lose "room" space for your scene with the false wall. I guess a lot depends on the shape of your teapot! Love to hear how it works out!

Judy in (middle) TN

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: I think if you really want to wallpaper the inside of your teapot then you should at least give it a try.

Karon