Wedding Dome: Isabel asked for help with a wedding room box. I made a dome for my daughter Andrea's first anniversary. Her wedding took place in Denver at the historic Grant-Humphreys Mansion. I was fortunate to find a water color picture of the house in a calendar of historic Denver houses. I made a folding screen for the background, using that picture. The dress was the hardest part for me. I found a dress in a Susan Sirkis Wish Booklet that came close in design and was able to make the dress from it. I made several versions in different fabrics before I was successful. The flowered fabric draping the table is an almost perfect mini match for the fabric in the bridesmaids dresses. I made the cake from Fimo. You can't really see the tiny shoes, but they are decorated with little beads. I had fancied up her real shoes with lace appliqués and pearls. I also copied her bridal bouquet of white roses. Just put lots of love into it and your daughter will treasure it forever!

Linda P in TN

Wedding Bag: Your wedding room box can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. I did a wedding memory box for my son and his wife on their 1st Christmas together. However, I didn't do it in a room box, but in a gift bag. I found a bag with roses all over it nearly identical to the roses in her bouquet. It wasn't a very large bag but I managed to get everything in it I wanted to. It was just bit enough to hold a lace-covered rectangular table that I built up to the height I wanted to foam core--then covered with white felt, and then used pre-pleated lace for the sides, lace across the top and tiny lace trim to hide where the edges came together. On the table I had a wedding cake with flowers similar to their real wedding cake (the cake was different sized dowel rods glued together and covered with white Silicone caulk. The table also held a bottle of champagne, 2 Chrysnbon glasses tied with white silk ribbon bows on the stems, a reduced copy of their wedding program and a tiny wedding cake cookie tied in a cellophane bag (like their wedding favor). On the back wall of the gift bag I glued their invitation as a backdrop for the "receptiontable." On the floor on both sides of the table were wedding gifts. On the right wall was their framed wedding picture and the left wall, a framed sampler, mini-ized version of a larger one I made for their Christmas gift, also. I have a few pictures on my web site if you'd like to take a look at it: http://fayzerplace.homestead.com (go to "My Minis" , and then "Wedding Bag."

Fay in St. Louis

CHILD'S ROOM: For great ideas for children's rooms, you can pick up a copy of a J.C. Penney specialty catalog, or the ads in the Sunday paper have great pictures in some of the inserts (Target, etc.). A lot of the children's furniture lends itself greatly to D.I.Y.

Debbie Grasty

Clown Shop: During the late 70s I toured with a circus for a while, so based on my experience, here goes. You could decorate the outside of your clown shop with mini circus posters, or you could paint circus tents and scenes. Or paint the outside in bold primary colors, or perhaps redand white stripes to make it similar to a circus tent. An old-fashioned clown alley corner of the shop would be authentic. That would be the place where clowns could try on makeup and costumes. Clown Alley is where the clowns gather to put their makeup on before the show. It's where they meet in between gags in the ring, and it's usually near the entrance to the ring, also near the elephants.

Here's how I envision your clown supply shop: It would have wardrobe trunks opened with clown costumes draped about, a mirror, a pair of floppy clown shoes, a red nose, tissues, powder puffs and makeup supplies. Use rickety folding chairs with red makeup smudged on hand towels strewn about, suspenders hanging from a chair, and wigs, oversized bow ties, and clown props would be displayed for sale. Props for famous clown skits would be shown such as tiny firemen's hats, ladders and oversized boxing gloves. Cans of soda and half eaten sandwiches would be on a steamer trunk. You'd have famous clown faces displayed on the walls such as Lou Jacobs, Emmett Kelly Sr., and Felix Adler would be the most recognizable clowns along with the likeness of Red Skelton, (or his clown character Freddie the Freeloader) or you could use mini images of Skelton's clown paintings.

Now that I'm writing all of this out, I think that a clown alley room box might reveal more personality and charm than a clown supply store, that's just a suggestion. You could have a clown napping with their feet propped up on their trunk, one dressing, wearing funny polka-dotted underwear (ready for the inevitable pants-drop in the center ring). Parked outside the room box you could have a VW for the well-known clown-car bit where many clowns will pile into a small car. Paint the car wild colors and have several clown dolls waving out the windows. Just get into the playful and prankster-like spirit of the clown and you'll come up with many more ideas.

Leslie Ann, Fresno, CA

Clown Shop:

1. Big shoes, of course.

2. Musical instruments that change in shape, like trombones with super long slides in the shape of a heart, a flower etc. Or trumpets with bells filled with flowers, grass, weed, birds, butterflies.

3. Strange hats.

4. Or very normal hats with the ability to change into a strange one.

5. All kinds of noses, ears, tongues.

6. Masks.

7. All kinds of trousers.

8. All kinds of jackets.

9. All kinds of bikes (with alterations of course).

10. Gigantic drinking straws (odd shapes).

11. A collection of percussion-instruments together with household items to slam on.

12. A collection of drumsticks and household items to hit with.

13. Juggle-balls and odd shapes to juggle with.

14. Spectacles in all kinds (with loose eyes on a spring).

15. Lots of pots with schmink (paint, make-up).

16. Wigs (all kinds).

17. Gloves.

18. Posters.

19. Weird purses.

20. Soft animals (strange ones).

21. Baskets with weird fillings.

Marjon de Haas (The Netherlands)

Nursery: how about a pun on the nursery theme -- a baby nursery with botanical decor? Recently I saw a set of very pretty rub-on paint topiary designs at Wal-Mart sized for 1:12. You could paper or paint the room in a plain neutral color and then rub the topiary designs on the wall, rub some of the design onto the dresser drawer-fronts, make floral bedding in a coordinating color, and decorate with lots of silk flowers and tape & wire ferns. Tile floor with floral rug or fun foam or green terry "grass" flooring, and a mobile of silk flowers and wedding doves or other tiny birds, and/or decorate with some tiny birdhouses. Fancy buttons in floral shapes as wall plaques.

Loretta Sniarowski

Ice Cream Parlour: I have the book Building Masterpiece Miniatures by Joseph Daniele (ISBN 0-8117-0306-1) published in 1980 and it has an entire chapter devoted to making an ice cream parlour, including the furniture, fixtures and apartment. Is this the book you meant? Maybe you can order it from one of the used book sources such as www. abebooks.com or www.bn.com. This is a great reference book and hope this info helps.

Cheryl

Clown Shop: We have Ron Lee's World Of Clowns here in Las Vegas (He manufactures collectible clown "statues" and has a fantastic collection on display of all the officially registered makeup patterns. Included in the shop is a showroom of his complete collection, viewing windows into the shops where the statues are cast, cleaned, assemble, painted, etc. Out front is a cafe and carousel. For you mini clown supply, cold you frame a collection of tiny spheres painted in the makeup patterns of your favorite clowns? A circus popcorn vendor's stand or "hot nuts" wagon would seem essential, perhaps loaded with non-popcorn merchandise (just a theme display case). Outside, vertical pink and white wide stripes with the cornice painted in circus tent swags. A nice subtle detail would be to acid etch the borders of the glass front with tiny clowns and circus animals.

Mel Koplin, Las Vegas

Clown Shop: How about painting a Trompe' Loeil painting of a circus tent on the outside. Or if you can't paint, you could decoupage pictures of circus animals around the base of the building and make it look like they are going into the front door. That don't grab you? How about different sizes and shapes of balloons painted on the outside. Maybe even make some of them 3-D. You could use ping pong balls cut in half, painted, and glued to the side of the building. As far as shelves go, there are many different types of shelves. I would suggest maybe white shelves to keep it light and airy. You could paint bright colors on the edges of the shelves, but stay away from your browns.

Giles (Dale)

Clown Theme: When I made a clown room for my daughter - I didn't use a room box. I found at a garage sale a dog tent that looked just like a circus tent. It was red & white striped and cardboard on the inside. I hung a single light inside and made several makeup tables, a dressing room and scattered sawdust and many other things that clowns used on the floor. I had went to a flea market and found 4 porcelain clown with soft bodies that were 5 1/2" tall and placed them in various areas and then found some other clown clothes and hung them up. It was great - my youngest daughter was into clowns at that time. Hope this helps.

Cindy from Indiana

Clown Shop: What a great idea! I can see lots of colors...maybe with a vintage antique patina to everything. A room box could be covered with printouts of old Circus posters and illustrations...maybe decoupage some of the display cases with circus art...Perhaps brightly colored furniture, stools and barrels like one sees in the circus rings...this sounds like so much fun...you might even have a section of the ceiling covered or draped in a mini circus tent section.. .keep us posted! Here's a link with some great art to look at for inspiration:

http://circustuff.com/posters/

John Medeiros

Clown Shop: As I am about to start work on a whole circus, this is a good question for me to answer! I would use traditional circus colors, maybe red/white stripes like a circus tent for the outside of your shop. You will have fun with all the neat accessories, because a lot of the stuff you need can be Barbie-sized! Clowns use a lot of big things...like bats, buckets etc.! Don't forget a small plastic "clown car", lots of balloons and stuffed animals (those little flocked ones look really cute with paper clown hats with pom poms on top added by you!). You can make an "invisible dog" by folding a thin strip of leather over wire and attaching it to a leather dog collar! The ball ends of straight pins stuck into a board could be a nice selection of clown noses! Don't forget costumes and makeup! Boy this sounds like fun!

Alice Zinn - Pt. St. Lucie

Clown Shop: On the subject of the clown shop, I don't know if anyone's mentioned this, but that colorful fiberfill (of which I received a nice sample from Marlene in Canada) would make good clowns' hair. Also, how about a unicycle, an umbrella with a spray of "rain" arcing from its top, a popgun with a red flag hanging from the barrel, a selection of oversized gaudy ties, and a seal with a colorful ball on its nose? I just love this list. Where else can one read a line like Mary Lou's, "Of course, they sold noses instead of pickles," and nod, thinking that a bin of noses would be a good idea.

Wanna in El Paso

Circus Accessories: There are great circus wagon and all sorts of circus stuff on the circus museum web page. The museum is in Baraboo, WI - and, they do reply to e-mails if you have specific questions about some circus stuff. http://www.circusworldmuseum.com

Kathy

70’s Beaded Curtain: I made a beaded curtain in my Coventry Cottage - very easily. I found (at Wal-Mart, CVS, anywhere really...) a beaded stretch headband (about $1.00-$2.00), very popular right now. Measure the top of the door jam and the floor, and put glue at the two places on the headband where you need to cut; actually cutting it in half should work fine; but cut through the glue so it won't unravel. I glued mine two pieces to a tooth pick, which I then glued into the top of the door frame; instant 60's-70's!

Loretta Sniarowski

70’s Beaded Curtain: At the Dollar store you should be able to find strings of those small plastic beads that can be easily cut with scissors (look in the ribbon section too, sometimes they come in rolls). Then take a plain white plastic straw, cut to fit across the top of the doorway, and slit it very carefully with a razor on one side. Feed the plastic beads (cut into proper lengths) into the slit and glue the straw to the top of the doorway.

Ann in Thorold, Ontario

Wedding: use some of the stumpy short wedding cake pillars (Wal-Mart), paint beige and antique with a tan wash (to look less plastic), then stuff the hole in the top with an outside layer of trailing air fern (Lowes) and a center cluster of tiny silk flowers (Big Lots, Wal-Mart) in the center. Arrange tastefully wherever the conservatory has bare spots, or to section off the 'dance floor' area.

Loretta Sniarowski

PARTY SCENE IDEAS: I don't have the URL anymore, but I once saw a really neat party scene made out of every day items. It was probably meant for Barbie size dolls. The CUPS were made out of the small caps from glue bottles. They were then filled with clear drying glue, and when it dried, the top of the glue was colored pink with a marker to make it look like the cup had punch in it. The BIRTHDAY CAKE was made out of one of those compressed yellow sponges to which you add water to make them puff up. While the sponge is still compressed they cut a circle out of it, and out of the circle, a wedge i.e. cake slice. Using a marker, they then drew on the icing which would be between the cake layers. I don't remember what they did for the outside icing, but I imagine you could use dimensional paint. The NAPKINS were simply cut out of thin paper or cloth and folded like napkins. Large, flat buttons were used as PLATES. For the CAKE PLATTER, the center of a paper doily was cut out and placed upon a button, and then the cake set upon it. They didn't mention this, but I think you could really spruce up the scene by sprinkling mini CONFETTI across the table, wrapping up like PRESENTS tiny squares and rectangles of scrap wood or Styrofoam, and making little PLACEMATS out of scraps of wallpaper or cloth.

Karen from PA

Tea Shop: First of all, do whatever you think is beautiful. Remember that this is for your fun and enjoyment. But, when I read your description and the name of your shop, I had an immediate vision of what it looked like. I can't help with the outside as I have never done the outside of a miniature house or shop, but for the inside I have a couple ideas. FLOOR: I pictured a very lightly stained oak or pine floor with a couple small round rugs with a rose motif to place under your round tables. WALLS: I think some artwork on the walls always gives the miniature setting a sense of realism. How often have you seen a real room that doesn't have artwork? What about some small gold framed paintings of roses or teapots. I wouldn't do big pictures due to the size of your room, but groupings of small pictures. CEILING: This is my favorite idea. Because your theme is Under The Rose Bush, for the ceiling, I would first paint the ceiling a sky blue col or and lightly drybrush some clouds on it. (This is the fun part) Around the edges of the ceiling do a 1 inch border of lattice glued directly to the ceiling. I hope I'm making sense, if not email me and I'll try to do some sketches for you. This should give you an arbor effect on your ceiling with the sky showing in the middle. On the arbor you can do some trailing mini roses. In the middle of the sky area, hang your chandelier. Back to the walls, to tie them into the ceiling and create an illusion of the walls being bigger than they are, instead of crown molding at the top of the walls, use matching lattice work of about .5 inch at the top. That will make the walls and ceiling blend and you won't have a line to stop your eye from moving up to the sky. :-)

Dale

Wedding scene: Make the punch bowl from one of those vending machine prize egg tops. Use some filigree bead caps for the base if you have some around, or a button disguised with greenery and flowers. For goblets, check Michaels, Hobby Lobby or wherever for clear pony beads and hourglass-shaped silver or gold bead spacers. Glue together for instant wine glasses. The craft shop may even have different shaped clear beads that would be more like champagne flutes, or Helen Ruthberg's books suggest emptying out vitamin or Contac capsules, spraying them with clear acrylic, and gluing to bugle bead stems and hole-punched bubblepack bases. With the price of drugs nowadays that might be a little prohibitive though! Landscaping -- look around outside (or send the kids on a mission) and see what survived the winter. Last weekend weather was finally nice so I started cleaning up the yard for spring. Found some dried oregano and live-forever flower heads to spray-paint and use for minis!

Loretta. Sniarowski