Painting windows: Just be careful how much paint you use! You can paint around the 'glass' panes with a fine brush or a fine flat brush, and dilute the paint just a bit. When you paint inside the channels the panes will slide in, use just a bit of paint, and when dry sand it very lightly with a scrap of brown paper bag - that should remove any extra paint that will cause sticking. The key is to paint with a light touch. Remove any paint from the panes while wet, with a Kleenex, damp cotton swab, etc. You can always use an extra coat and sand again. I've done many, many houses this way, and it works well. Fit the panes back in the windows when dry and run them up and down several times just to make sure before you glue the window in.

Sue in Madison, WI

Lorri in Manassas, VA

Thin Clear Plastic for Window Glass: Some greeting card boxes have a clear plastic lid (so you can see what's inside) and that plastic can be used for windows. Also, some gift boxes come with a clear plastic lid. Other than that, if you ask about sheets of clear, thin plastic, I'm sure that most hobby shops should have it.

Viola Williams

Thin Clear Plastic for Window Glass: For window "glass" - I have found sheets of clear acrylic in hobby stores (model train type stores.) They are about 9"x12" and come in various thickness’, and not very expensive. The ones I've used were easy to cut with a sharp X-Acto knife.

Christi Walton

Plastic Window Sheets: This is what I use for the "glass" for my dollhouses and furniture. Butyrate plastic sheets. They cut with scissors and work great. You can use them to make stained glass windows also. 6 9x12 pieces for about six dollars. I use the .030 thickness. They are also flexible so you can use them for "curved " glass. Micro-Mark also carries some other interesting products. Take a look. http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/dir/24.html for the glass. Also take a look at the Plastic dip. Could this be used for doll shoes? Just dip in the feet and trim around. http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/ for the main page.

Barbara D

Plastic Window Sheets: For those needing the plastic for windows and are having trouble locating them, here's and easy and cheaper way to do it. Go to the school and office supply dept. of wherever and buy the folders that you put school report in (clear acetate on front, colored vinyl on the back, now what can we use the vinyl for you ask? Place mats of course!) cut to the size you need for your windows. For the grids on the 'glass' just use very thin tape you can find in the automotive dept. for detailing, comes in a variety of colors, white, blue, black, gold, silver, red...., or you can mask it off and paint on, but be careful, will easily scratch off.

Lisa Lynn

Window Screens: When I needed a bit of "screen" for the opening door of a tent and the screening for the windows-my DH said go to a hardware-home improvement store and ask for "Fiberglass screening". It works--very nicely.

Mae in Dayton Ohio

'Greased' Paper: To 'grease' paper for your log cabin, use mineral oil, since it is has no food value and doesn't attract insects.

Tom Berkner

Hanging Curtains: to hang your curtain rods, you can use mini cup hooks. I bought thin brass tubing at the hardware store to use for the rods, and they look fine with brass hooks. The hooks also come in silver color and sometimes (rarely in the teeny sizes) in white or colors.

Rosemary in Cleveland

Hanging Curtains: To hang curtain rods, you may wish to do as I have done. I had some extra crown molding left from doing the room so I cut two small strips off of it, about 1/4" or so, and drilled a small hole in it to put the curtain rod through. Now all I have to do is glue the brackets to the edge of the window frame. I don't have a picture of them up yet, but that should be coming in the next week or so, or as soon as I can find the right material for my rooms curtains. I will be making cafe curtains with small brass rings to hang onto the rod in my shop window.

Dale

Tinting glass: There is a way to tint glass that is fairly simple. Certain oil paints are transparent and when thinned down with a non-yellowing oil (linseed eventually yellows I think), or perhaps just turpentine, it can be used to tint the glass. It will wash off or rub off, but this technique was used in Victorian times to do reverse painting on glass. One of the colors I am pretty sure works is Rose Madder. That would give you the cranberry color. Sorry I can't be more exact - I am remembering a technique I did 20 years ago.

Jacqui in Hilo, Hawai’i

FAUX WINDOWS: Glaze your faux windows with "black mirror". Looks like glass because it is but looks like looking into the windows of a darkened house rather than like looking into a mirror. Black mirror is available at most glass and/or decorator shops. If the wood shell is 3/8" and you have access to a router, inset by 1/4". Better yet, If shell is 1/2", inset by 3/8". This avoids cutting through to the interior but helps prevent faux architecture from looking like overlays.

Mel Koplin, Las Vegas

Window Screens: I use a black tulle for screens.

Fannye in TX

Screen windows: In a camping goods store they probably sell no-see-um netting. That has very close together holes and might look OK. I'd also walk though the embroidery section of a sewing or craft store and look at the backing choices for that (you might need to dye the stuff to the color you want).

Carolyn

Screen windows: Karen’s Minis has some screening, you might want to check her out. I don’t know if her website is up and running yet or not. The Phone number I have for her is: Karen (505-532-0939).

Joni

Screen windows I found the neatest ribbon at Michaels a couple of months ago. I bought it for just that reason to make mini screens. It is 2 inches wide and looks like wire mesh and looks like the perfect sized mesh for a dollhouse window too. Actually, I just measured it and it's 2 1/2 inches wide. It says it's 70% metallic and 30% nylon. It's 10 yards long. I had been looking all over for something that would be just the right sized mesh for a dollhouse window and finally found this ribbon.

Cheryl in TX

Windows & Window Treatments:

GREASED PAPER FOR WINDOWS: Log Cabin Windows For greased paper windows like the pioneers used, I would suggest you use mineral oil for "grease". Salad oil, lard or bacon fat would attract mice and bugs. Mineral oil has no food value and will not decompose and turn rancid. It is also great for oiling wood cutting boards or anything that is used for cutting or preparing food. I don't know what paper would be best to use, but your suggestion for using paper with high rag content would probably be the best.

Caroline Bradley

To simulate the "grease paper" on the log cabin windows, waxed paper would work well. Take some yellow glass paint (or amber for darker color) and smear it on waxed paper with your finger. Also an amber wood stain (very lightly) works good on the waxed paper too. This will give it a very nice tint and looks great when held up to the light. The view through the window is still somewhat visible.

Brooke, Wa

Hanging curtain rods: For curtain rods, I buy the smallest screw eyes I can find in the hardware or craft store, drill a starting hole with my pin vice and a drill smaller than the screw, then thread the rod through and put on bead ends. To make removable, just glue on one bead. I use bamboo skewers for curtain rods. They are small enough and cheap to buy. I get the smallest size I can find. They also are great for small bits of glue and small dot paintings of flowers and leaves. For leaves, just make a dot then drag the tip away in a curve for the stem. I do a lot of mini furniture in folk style.

Rhoda

Mini velvet curtains:

Budget: Go to a fabric store (preferably a discount store) and look for the cheapest, thinnest knit velvet you can find. It might be marked as panne velvet (crushed velvet), but often it is not crushed at all. You can use stretch velvet if it is thin enough, but stretch knit velvet is often thicker than non-stretch knit velvet. Another option is the wide short-nap flocked velvet ribbon sold for holiday decorations, although it doesn't come in as many colours.

Non-budget: Silk/rayon velvet (priciest) or thin cotton velveteen will also work. The silk/rayon has a longer nap, but it drapes better. The velveteen nap is more to scale.

How-to Tips: Since you can't use draping medium on velvet, since it ruins the visual texture as well as the feel, you will need to wire them or sew them to a rigid base, like canvas, before mounting them. When I made miniature velvet curtains for my old Victorian house (this was years ago), I sewed them carefully into drapey folds and then hung them. Unfortunately I don't recall how I hung them, and the house is long gone (sold to the family that bought my childhood home, as their daughter fell in love with it when she saw it, and I was heading for college). These days I mostly use velvet for doll's clothes.

Maura Bass