Hagatha accessories: - about your wise woman - if she's getting ready for the winter, she really needs something to do - make candles, sew, knit, sketch her botanical finds in a book, read.......

Lynn (No E)

Hagatha's Hut; She should probably have a Drop Spindle and small basket of wool to spin.   One could be made from a button or small wooden round, and a toothpick. A Chamber pot would be good, if you can find one, and perhaps a fleece if you can find some appropriate material for a scale fleece. Of course, my dh says that she needs something appropriate to read tucked under her pillow... something like 'The Tao of Pooh' (or perhaps something by Shakespeare).

Gyelle

School scene:   I made a 4-room (modern) school roombox and it was a lot of fun! I got a lot of ideas from the school where I work in the library.   The four rooms are: a classroom, a library, a music room and a teachers' lounge. Most teachers and school offices get tons of catalogs for educational materials - a treasure trove of cut-outs, scannables and inspiration.   Take a look in my Epson photo site in the Modern School album. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=1664953

Chris in Minnesota

Fabric Display: when I bought my futon the shop's display of cover-fabric samples wasn't draped or in a book.  They had a rack rather like a tall towel rack (or ladder) with leg-braces.  It was hung with fabric swatches about 18 inches square on rods, suspended like banners.   Each one overlapped the one below but left a couple of inches of the bottom showing.  Seems like one of these could be made fairly easily with stirrer-sticks, would resolve the draping problem, and would provide more visual interest without occupying a huge amount of floor space.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Painting Studio: What belongs in a painting studio is paintings! The cruel fact is that any painter can paint many more painting than she or he can sell. If sales happen they paint lots and lots more. My favorite studio (SoHo vicinity Grand and Lafayette N.Y., N.Y. ) had a painting rack reaching all the way to the ten foot ceiling with a double mattress concealed six feet up with more paintings. Most of the paintings slid out of the rack so you wouldn't have to actually paint all the minis. They are visible only at the edge. Also needed are big tables, I had about five, some made of doors for students, also rolls of paper, also rolls of paintings, rolled painting side out so that they won't crack. Most artists I know have storage problems, give the poor things a big studio space. As a modern painter I worked on the wall, no easel, and I used a sheet of glass on an old oak desk as a palette. It is easier to clean. The wall had lots of nails and lots of holes for hanging the working painting. Also most artists I know had postcards of museum paintings taped up somewhere.

Marilyn Crockett

Horse Barn: could your mini-estate be in the Kentucky Bluegrass region? Down there many of the old horse barns are stained a dark charcoal with white trim so they match the tobacco barns, which are invariably charcoal. That's neutral enough to be okay with your house. Others have rather New Englandy/Greek Revival color schemes -- white, dark green trim. Anything goes for the less traditional owners. I've seen some off Harrodsburg Pike that are burgundy, teal, and tan. Roofing runs the gamut from tin to slate to modern shingles. Apparently the less traditional, more modernized horse farms often have "foreign" owners,according to Pam, which in the Lexington area means anyone from movie stars to oil sheiks.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Ava Betz

TV show roomboxes: - --Was someone here looking for pics of the show "I Love Lucy"? Some roomboxes featured on the following site include Lucy,"The Waltons", "All In The Family", "Addams Family", "Mash", and "TheHoneymooners.
http://www.dhminiatures.com/dhm/roombox/roombox98.html

Sherry in Arlington, TX

Aquarium dollhouse for hospital children: Some ideas for playing might include mermaids, dolphins to ride - maybe with little saddles, a shipwreck to explore. This could be one of those big cheap plastic boats you can get usually during the summer wherever toys are found. They are usually gaudy colors, but can be spray painted, cut apart and put in two pieces, sandy bottom with lots of shells to move around and use for decorations. Maybe a cave to explore as well. I don't know how big this project would be, but something for the mermaid's house would be good too. A treasure chest is a must and maybe a skeleton to guard the chest or to use to steer the shipwreck. Lots of little fish and crabs and things as well. These can often be purchased cheaply by the bag

from toy stores. Maybe watch the animated "Little Mermaid" again to get some ideas for furnishings and things. That reminds me - a big menacing shark would also make for some action during play time. I would also recommend cheap movable items such as shells, fish, the treasure, since these items are going to eventually get lost or sometimes taken home. Buy extra and leave with the hospital so they can replenish as needed.

Susan

Wedding miniature: Vignette for a wedding is very possible. There are the boxes that have two sides that fold down so they start looking like a wedding gift and end up stealing the show. This would display nicely on the package table where everyone would see it. Depending on your ability, you can make this or purchase a kit. There are also room boxes with two sides in plexiglass that would look great with a big white bow on top. Your daughter could open it early and it could be displayed at the family dinner.

If you haven't made a doll before and you want to do the whole vignette, you might consider doing a "getting ready for the wedding" scene with the gown taking center stage on a dress form and the bride's maid's dress hanging on the back of the door.

Their bouquets could be on a dresser. It also gives you an opportunity to miniaturize photos of your daughter at different events in her life to frame and hang on the wall. Her miniaturized wedding photo could be added later. Personal details like a special Teddy or doll, favorite books, etc. can add a lot.

My daughter didn't want figures on her cake even if I did them! SO, at her bridal shower, there were dolls of the bride and groom wearing togas at a picnic with Roman columns used as a center piece. Effective, followed the theme, fun.

Laurie Sisson

Making a Ghost: If you go to Zing, you can see my ghost of Marley talking to Scrooge, look at the doorway in the third photograph of the album. (Not the best photo, I'm afraid. I need to redo it.) Here's how I made Marley. I did a line drawing of Marley's ghost, and then took it to an art studio. They photographically etched it into the glass. I then mounted a light directly above the top edge of the glass and boxed it in so that the light wouldn't "fall" into the roombox - only through the top edge of the glass. This caused the etching to stand out more brightly.

Here's how I would make a ghost now, by the way. You'd need a scanner (or access to some clip art), a color printer, and either Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Find a picture of the girl you'd like to turn into a ghost (either clip art from the Web or a real photograph you can scan). If it's on the Web, you can import the photo into your document, but make sure the picture of the girl has no background behind her - just a plain white background. Make her the size you want her to be in your dh. Now rightclick on the image, and select Format Picture. Next, you'll notice there's a box that says, "Color" and the default selection is "Automatic." Click on the arrow and select "Watermark." Your girl just became ghostly. Print her on a sheet of transparency film (fairly pricey stuff, unfortunately), trim the transparency to the size that fits the window or from floor to ceiling in the dollhouse.

I think ghosts work best when put in doorways where you can "see through them" to something behind them. It also helps hide the edges of the glass or transparency and you can discreetly put a tiny piece of stripwood behind the edges to hold the picture in place, which you couldn't do if you put it in the middle of a hallway. Make sure you have enough light from behind and in front of the ghost to eliminate any shadows that might be cast. Hope this works for you!

George Held

Making a ghost: you can make a ghost simply by taking a photo/pic of the person you wish to make into a ghost scan it into your computer and then print it out on a sheet of acetate like they use to make overheads. this can be bought at any office supply or maybe even WalMarts

Gene

Ichabod & Headless Horseman: I just had to let my other Halloween buddies know about the newest thing I've found. I stumbled upon these new action figures taken from the movie, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. I've long been a fan of the old story..I think the new movie is actually a little gruesome for my tastes....but I just had to tell you....the action figure for both Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman are absolutely wonderful. They are very close to 1:12th scale if not dead on. They are made by McFarlane Toys and I just can't describe the detail of these figures. Ichabod even comes with a satchel full of medicine bottles and all kinds of neat little gadgets that he uses to track the horseman. Being the Halloween fan that I am..I had to have these for my Haunted Beacon Hill Dollhouse. The Horseman comes either by himself or in a deluxe set with the horse and shriveled spooky tree. Again, I thought the horseman by himself was a bit gruesome.. he comes with severed heads to hold.....ewwwww! Anyway, I also got oneof the old crone/witch from the movie...whew is she ever ugly! I picked up an extra one of her because they were selling out of them before my very eyes. I purchased mine from http://hobbyxpress.com/ They have pictures on their site of these action figures. This is the answer to inexpensive, realistic looking figures/monsters, etc. for your scenes. Now that I've discovered how detailed and wonderfully articulate they are....I'm hooked! I've asked for the Horseman deluxe set for my birthday!!!!!!!! Although, I think this toy manufacturer most likely deals mostly with sci-fi types of action figures....I noticed they also had other scale action figures..like Austin Powers, the Beatles..etc. I say they are close to scale because the figures are on average about 6 1/2 inches tall. For the men figures, that's a great height..it tends to make the women look a little "Amazon" looking. I think the Sleepy Hollow Crone is only about 5 1/2 inches tall though. She's extremely spooky looking and I don't like the real gruesome stuff..but she comes with neat little mini accessories too...so I figure I can always do a head transplant on her with a more friendly Halloween look.Well, anyway....I was just so fascinated with these and the detail of them....I had to share it. Ichabod could actually be used in another scene from the Victorian era as he is quite handsome and even looks like Johnny Dep who played the role in the movie. As I said.....these are great figures to use on a limited budget. I for one am always glad to find things like that. Of course I prefer a miniature dressed doll......but my wallet won't let me have everything on my wish list!

Besides, I saw an article once in a mini magazine that actually showed you how to "bash" a plastic figurine to make it appear more realistic. You sure wouldn't have to do much to these to make them look realistic...they are already pretty amazing looking! Well, I'll go for now....it's not too early to start planning for this year's haunts!!!

Donna Baird (Scream Queen of Indiana)

Book Ends: Check out places like Office Max, garage sales, etc. for plain bookends that can have a little display mounted on them. Some bookends are shaped like an upside-down T so that one protrusion slips under the books, and the other sticks out to the side of the books. That second protrusion can have a display glued to it. Or... if the bookend is shaped like an L with only one protrusion to slip under the books, you could build a little box with a floor, two sides and a back, to glue to the upward (outside) portion of the L and set your display inside that

Viola Williams

BOOK-ENDS: To make a simple and easy one I took an L shaped metal book- end and glued a black novel, 8 x 5 1/2 x 1/2 inch on the up right section (metal INSIDE the book) Then took another black novel Approximately the same size and cut it down in height to 5 1/2 inch. This I glued ON TOP of the bottom of the book-end, butting the cut edge up against the other book. On the up-right book I put some glue on the inside pages to keep it shut. On this I plan on putting a memory trunk, a mannequin dressed in the early 1900's, a mirror above the open trunk maybe an old picture.

Helen from San Diego

Boarding House Occupants: Over the years, as I dreamed this dream of mine, I populated it with all kinds of people....they kept changing over the years as did my interests, however, there was always one that was permanent.......an old woman, probably widowed for many years, with all her life around her....perhaps a lot of Victorian type furniture, lots of pictures, doilies, bureau runners, an old wringer washer. Nothing broken, ready for the trash heap, just old 'stuff'

Dawn

Boarding house: You should probably have a room for the traveling salesman who uses his room as a home base for his business during the week. He isn't the one that knows the farmer's daughter, btw;), he is fairly respectable. He has a large sales case full of "useful gadgets that no home should be without". I think he may sitting at the desk working over the days receipts and going over his inventory to see what he needs to stock up on.

Kim from Canada

Boarding house: sales people of different kinds would have interesting stuff: a shoe salesman with all kinds of shoes, a jewelry salesman with watches and other jewelry, even a brush salesman (like the old Fuller Brush salesmen) - he'd have all kinds of household brushes and gadgets. Or a traveling musician with musical instruments. But I still think you already have the best idea yourself in the vaudeville actor with costumes and props. Or a magician. You could have bunnies and doves sitting around a black top hat, for example.

Paulette in IN

Boarding House: Definitely a Traveling Salesman, a Young Married Couple, a Very Prim and Proper Older Lady, and of course the Proprietor who just might be the VP&PO lady. She would have to rent out rooms since she is down on her luck. Don't forget her cats or perhaps a small lap dog.

Patricia / Redwood City, CA

Boarding House: my former husband's mother ran a rooming house many years ago in NY. and BOY! did he have some stories about the many people that lived there! But on to suggestions-- How about a magician--I picture all sorts of magic things about the room, cards, doves in a cage, colored handkerchiefs tied together, something poking out the sleeve of tux, top hat, and maybe several rabbits that have escaped their cage! Also if you can have an attic, maybe an artist resides there with paints, easel, several canvases-one-in-progress (maybe a nude?) Also an actress with several costumes and posters of herself in various plays displayed, her makeup kit?

Darlene in Baton Rouge