Tapestries: For the person who needs medieval tapestries, SP Miniatures has a couple of wonderful tapestries. Check them out on the new arrivals page. They are suitable for a late Medieval-early Renaissance setting. http://www.spminiatures.com/

Jeri

Circus side shows: In my wanderings, I came across this site re: circus side shows. Some of the pictures are a little grizzly--but it did keep me interested. http://www.sideshow-art.com/

Leslie in WA

Murals: Try a wallpaper book and look at the borders. I have a border in my real house that I used as a mural over chair rail in a Colonial house. It is 8 inches tall including a little plain border on each edge. But I cut it down formy house.

Martha Simpson

Curtains and Valances From Sherise's Haunted Mansion: I'm still getting a curious amount of private mail about the curtains, and the valances, specifically in the poker room, and the nurses room, ( but the curtains are the same in the house throughout, maybe the picture in the poker room, or the nurses room, are better pictures, likely.) And outside of the people that I know first name, mostly on dollhouse miniatures, and this list, I don't know where they're listed so I'll generally answer on two lists. I don't want to appear rude by not answering the questions, or aloof, or act like I've got some great wonderful secret, I don't...it's really simple. An accidental kinda thing.

The "curtains" in the haunted mansion, are used fabric softener sheets, soaked in diluted white glue, and set (with a credit card and my Drivers License as carding) through a "pretty pleater". I really didn't buy them. That's all they are. Some of them I stretched and pulled to give the illusion of wear. I wanted a "fabric" that resembled lace, but everything was simply too bulky...it was unsuitable. I tried most everything I could think of, until I opened the dryer one day and figured...what the heck, worth a try ! The curtain rods are all made of metal ..I made them...(even on the French doors, front and back, and a small length of Victorian Bridal lace affixed to the rods (you really need the rods to give the illusion of dimension.) The greatest trick , I found was getting the curtains off the "pretty pleater" intact. Tough way to go. The delicate nature of the fibers in the softener sheets will lose the integrity of the draping if they are pulled harshly. I hope this answers those questions. But they've held up really well, and even upon close examination, people ask me where did you get such spider-like lace? I can only laugh, saying my boy was outside, getting dirty, playin' baseball. http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view? p=6&uid=482716&

Sherise

Castle Contents:: in a castle I'd want a still-room where herbal medicines (and poisons if the owner were evil!) were created and stored, an armory, a highly secure treasury with the family jewels and chests of gold, and a solar (fancy parlor with that newfangled glass in the windows) where the lady and her attendants could relax with needlework and practice their musical skills.

Loretta

Castle Contents: I would think a castle would include an "armament" room.  A place where Armour and arms were stored and/or repaired.   Also, there would be a room near "mi-lady's" bedchamber where she would gather with her maids and they would work on various projects.   And, of course, there would be the larder where foodstuffs were kept.

Jean

Castle Contents: How about a Strong Room -- where priceless jewels, precious metals, and rare treasures are stored?   What fun to recreate that!

Anita Myers, Arnold, MD

Castle rooms: I was in a castle in Germany once.  The castle had a chapel, room of mirrors, a white and gold ball room, a long....really long hallway with many artifacts such as statues, tables of various kinds, oriental artifacts brought back from the orient,   King and Queens private separate living rooms as well as a common room for the family, Queens court room, Kings court room, Royal Court Room, His and her bedrooms, small private dining room, a large dining room for guests, All kinds of guests rooms, Game room, prison (underground), kitchens (a couple of them...one for main meals and large fireplace, one with baking ovens on opposite side of fireplace kitchen), day room for ladies in waiting, bedrooms for ladies and gentlemen of the court.  Servants quarters held bedrooms, common room, kitchen.   A room that held stuffed animals acquired through different hunts (boars, bears, deer, wild cats).   There was the Throne room, the Royal Vault which held valuables such as jewels, gold, etc. And more....there was a ballroom on every floor, very different from one another.  If a trip was made to another country, usually a whole room of furnishings was brought back and a room was filled with those souvenirs.  So, you have a lot of latitude in what you could do with a castle and it rooms.

Rhonda in Hudson, Fl

Beauty Salon Ideas:   Those great little colored building blocks for toddlers (glued together-seat, back-arms) would make a great looking "dryer" chair with a plastic champagne cork on a wire stuck in the back and bent over the chair for the DRYER itself - with an inverted squeeze top lid as the pedestal for the chair-all painted to match.  Bunka glued around the edges will give it a look of piping!  For curlers, cut different size and color straws.  For a "hot roller" box, use the smoked gray plastic cover than come on men's razors as a top and bottom - Glue a little piece of wood in the bottom and stick in tiny craft pins to hold the rollers in place-glue a string on the bottom and wrap two small pieces of wire on the other end with a small piece of electric tape to simulate a plug.   Use beads to make all sorts of fancy bottles & baubles to set on your shelves - use Velcro on a piece of painted toothpick to simulate a brush or order the vanity set from Chrysnbon (Item # CHR 2210)with combs, brushes, picture frames & more that you can paint to match.

Lauriel of Belara Beach Original Miniatures

Child's room box: what is your granddaughter interested in? If she loves school, you might do a classroom scene. If she likes dolls and is a little "motherly" type, do a nursery scene or a mother reading to children, either sitting on a couch or at bedside. If she's a young shopper, create some kind of store. If she likes outdoors, do a picnic or camping scene. If she's into fairy tales, do a fairy forest.

Right now my 7-yr old granddaughter is into the little collectible shoes and purses on the market. (She's after my collection, so I've started her one of her own) If I were doing her a room box, it would be a miniature hat and shoe shop. There are endless possibilities.

Paulette in IN

old seaside fishing towns are full of weathered buildings like that! As for what else would be in them... besides piratey stuff, there'd be plenty of seashore/ship/fishing related items, too. My mom's family have always been sailors & fishermen (and opium smugglers in the 1600's in Cornwall - that's supposedly why they ended up here in the USA - I wouldn't go as far as pirates, though. Though I wouldn't go as far as to say they weren't, either). Decor has included pictures of ships, lights made out of ship lanterns, old harpoons hanging on the wall, lobster traps piled outside, fishing nets (outside with the traps and inside on the walls), floats, buoys, bells, pictures of ancestors, pictures of the ocean, barometers, fishing poles & tackle, small boats at the dock outside (rowboats ,canoes), extra oars ,oarlocks, broken oars, rope hammocks (rope EVERYTHING!!), and lots of macramé. My grandfather actually managed to combine every one of these items into his den - plus he used to macramé anything that held still more than 30 seconds; the rest of the family eventually came to refer to this style as Owen Decor.

A pub would be serving some sort of food - stew, bread, lobster, clams, actual beef maybe. Crates stacked up here & there, or being used as seats or tables. A fireplace. Where there's pirates I'd expect to find gambling, so any card or dice games appropriate to the era of your pub; guns, swords, knives,booty- gold, jewels, cloth, clothing, carpets, perfumes, spices, (opium!), etc. - I expect they'd be using much of it to gamble or just plain display. Maybe a lost and found section of wooden legs, parrots,eye Patches! And of course the MAIN reason the men eventually come ashore (besides the alcohol) - WOMEN!

Grace

Sclarise and her cigar box miniature scenes: Sclarise, I visited your site (again) and love your sofa bed--BUT the cigar box for a mini scene gave me an idea, I hope you don't mind me mentioning your URL. http://www.hughes-ec.com/~frog/cigarbox_art.html. Perhaps Michelle (i think that is who was inquiring) who is looking for an idea for the little girl (who is visiting from out of the country for medical help)--- could use a cigar box to create a miniature scene! What a perfect idea! Most tobacco shops that I have seen have these for sale for $1 or $2 dollars. The ideas are endless for the inside! She also gives directions to make your own Adobe cigar box.

Nursemini

Project for child visitor to take home: For the container, why not use one of those old-fashioned sturdy travel cases for toiletries, etc.? It is perfectly suited for traveling, obviously! She could bring it back as a carry-on and it has a handle. And you can get some of the old ones for cheap at thrift stores. Maybe you can recover one of the fabric or vinyl ones, or decoupage a hard-sided one.

Lynette in WNC

FISHING SCENE: About 12 years ago I made a fishing scene room box for my DH, who was an avid fisherman. It's a camp site along side a creek (with a Mallard duck on it) with tent, fire pit (with 2 roasting marshmallows) 2 camp stools, table and benches he is standing in wading boots, fishing vest, hat with fishing flies, knife in hand at the table cleaning trout- with the heads and guts if 2 on newspaper and 2 cleaned ones in a pan of water ( bought that at a convention, but don't remember from who) maybe someone will know their work; at the other end of table are 2 mugs of coffee with our names on them and a pan of biscuits; sitting at his feet is his faithful beagle and a full tackle box and a basket with a loaf of French bread, salami and bottle of wine with a squirrel peaking in it. Inside the tent are 2 sleeping bags with a candle on an inverted orange crate.

Kathleen, CC,NV

Pirates Pub: How about a carved bow sprit of a beautiful woman attached to a false column against a wall. I seem to remember seeing one somewhere. Maybe one of our fellow shipmates knows the whereabouts of one. How about some ratlines attached from the floor to a loft instead of a ladder. The loft could hold some barrels of ale and maybe a chest of pieces of eight, pearls, and silver and gold booty hidden in the corner. I can see this string going on for a while. What fun!

Spencer

Pirates Pub: Your Pirates Pub sounds wonderful. I'd love to offer hints for accessories but I see the people first! I made myself laugh out loud as I envisioned a bunch of drunken rowdy pirates( many of the missing various body parts) <G>having their way with the boozy, wild-haired, loose wenches! LOL One of the pirate's collapsed from too much rum and his parrot is taking a bit of the brew.

Pearl Jordan

Pirates Pub: In your pub I would have a shelf or barrel where all 'hooks' have to be deposited prior to entry. That minimizes the possibility of bar room fights ending in fatal wounds. What about a pegleg stand? Sorta like an umbrella stand for wet umbrellas but instead it could be for wet peglegs (you know - wooden legs). A Parrot Refreshment Centre where tired parrots can perch and get refreshments? A Stolen Booty deposit box? An eye patch refurbishing service? A hat stand with bandanna style scarves hanging on it in the corner of the room? Instead of a bucking bull in the other corner - a Plank? Women?

Trace, Melbourne Australia

Pirate's Pub... if you've ever played Lucas Arts' Monkey Island, they have great ideas for pirates, including a pub. The pub is right on the pier, and when you walk in the door, there are several round tables & chairs, ship's wheel chandeliers, etc. Then there is a red velvet curtain, almost like a stage curtain, with Very Important Pirates sitting at a long table, next to the kitchen door. Scruffy dog, fireplace in the corner, grungy cook, peg legs, eye patches, etc. Lots of pewter mugs, etc. Sounds like lots of fun!

Cindy in MA

Pirate's Pub: The first thing that springs to mind is a trollop or two! Pieces of eight (gold coins), a pegleg, a hook, those green glass balls with the rope netting around them (floats), pewter tankards, sawdust on the floor (for unfortunate spills), shark jaws on the wall, netting, cutlasses, a treasure chest, Blind Pew, phew! A good idea would be to rent some pirate theme videos. Yellowbeard is a favourite of mine, then there is Cutthroat Island, and the Muppet Treasure Island, and then there are the classic; ones with Errol Flinn (a good Aussie boy!)! But for REAL style, you can't beat The Dread Pirate Roberts and his pirate ship Revenge1

Fran in Melbourne

Pirate's Pub: Pewter tankards, spittoons on the floor, buxom wenches serving beer. Oil lamps swinging from the beams, maybe two pirates having an arm wrestling competition. A thin mongrel, a few bones on the floor. A skeleton with a noose round its neck swinging from a beam. A lobster pot ,model ships, a ship's figurehead. Bottles of Rum, a dagger lying on a table. Jar of tobacco on the bar.

Jay from Rugby U.K