To make beer and pop bottle caps, carve the shape of the cap on the end of a small dowel so it is slightly larger than the bottle top. Press the dowel down in a flat piece of poly clay and wiggle it around a slight bit in order to make a larger impression in the clay. Bake the clay until it is completely hard. Punch (paper punch) out discs from aluminum foil. Lay the foil disc on top of the clay, centered over the impression and then push the dowel down in the center to form the cap. Be very careful in removing the cap.

Bill Hudson
06 Jan 2004

Shipping dollhouse using UPS

The brand 'Field of Nature' has a captured lid. That is to say that the top pops off and there is a ring attached to the lid which encircles the neck. I sawed off the neck in two rings leaving the captured ring in place. Then, working the ring off the circle, I covered the inner hoop with silk organza and replaced the outer ring. It looks just like a modern style of the rug hooking rings I used at one time. Pry the thing apart again and paint with tan plastic paint then replace the silk. Now it looks authentic. With care the lid can be left attached and trimmed to insert into a leg structure, if that is the way you want to hook your rugs (in miniature). A hooked rug (not the yarn hooked but the narrow wool strip hooked) would be perfect with the Frank Lloyd Wright furniture.

Barbara N DeVilbiss
Matawan, NJ
07 Jan 2004

I did a custom designed dollhouse with the intention to replicate the cabinets in the first home my husband and I built in San Diego County. I used precut wood shapes from Hobby Lobby/Wal-Mart for the doors and drawers and heads of push pins for the knobs. For the counter I used wallpaper with an overglaze. The faucet and knobs were jewelry findings painted. I purchased the stove and fridge, redid the stove a bit. I measured the kitchen design I wanted to replicate and just remembered that one foot lifesize is one inch in mini. I don't have plans to sell but would be happy to give any advice or help if the kitchen I built is similar to what you want to do.
Pics are at: http://www.geocities.com/Wilma_Kinder/oakkitchen.htm and http://www.geocities.com/Wilma_Kinder/oakkitchen2.htm

Wilma Kinder, MO
21 Dec 03

For easier reading of the topics that you are interested in just do this:

1. On the list of subjects at the top highlight the subject title you are interested in (do not select the number)
2. Hold Control key and press "C" key to copy
3. Continue to press Control key and then press "F" to find (find window will pop up)
4. Continue to hold down Control key and press "V" to paste.
5. Press "enter" and presto, you're there!
6. To return quickly to subjects list, hold Control and press "home" then press "page down" key once and you're back.
7. For getting to the last subject on the list simply hold Control and press the "end" key and you're there.

Frank
18 Dec 03

The poinsettias are made of paper. Airmail paper is sold in your local drug stores, Wal-Mart, or grocery store where they have a stationery section. It is sold in a tablet form. Mine is made by Mead. The front of the tablet says Par Avion, Via Air Mail, 60 plain sheets Air Mail Paper. It is very easy to find and purchase. Costs about $1.89 a tablet.

Karen Laisure
17 Dec 03

Here's a tutorial I wrote for gingerbread cookie house ornaments in polymer clay last year - again, the canes can be adapted for use with these tiny houses. http://polymerclayexpress.com/dece2002.html

Elizabeth
19 Dec 03

Making a Ginger Bread House

Alison asked "Does anyone know how to make a tiny fimo gingerbread house with all the details?"

These are so fun to make, the ideas will start flowing on their own once you get started. Mix copper and chocolate to get a gingerbread color. Form a solid square block of fimo or sculpey about 1" square. Set into a flattened blob of white that has been textured like snow with your clay tools. Set aside. Form a solid triangle block same size to fit
directly on top of the square. This forms your house. Roll more clay out on a baking tile less than 1/8th" thick. Use a ruler to cut two squares 1-1/8th" x 1-1/4th" . Do not lift clay off the tile before baking to keep form. Remove excess clay only. Bake at 225 degrees for 30 minutes.
Once cooled, glue the triangle to the square and the roof pieces to the triangle. Once dry, sand the the roof where the pieces comes together to round off edges.

To decorate your gingerbread house, you can use fimo/sculpey candy with white texture paint or puff paint as frosting.
Other items that look like mini candy can also be used. Red & white striped paper clips for candy canes, dobs of dried puff paint for gumdrops, holeless beads for sourballs,
construction paper for sandwich cookies, painted toothpicks for candy sticks, painted wire for licorice, white or colored sand for sugar... the list will go as far as your imagination.

If using clay candy, make up all your candies in advance. Bake, slice and have ready to decorate when the house cools.
I learned how to make clay canes from Angie Scarr's orange tutorial a few years ago and have used that theory to make every kind of fruit and candy I can think of. Took a little practice but WOW what can be done with the caning method... (still haven't figured out how to get the inside of cut strawberries looking just right) There have been some very good articles on these methods lately so be sure
to check your mini mags!

I used creme-de-menth candies to build little trees & bushes, neopolitan chews for walkway, andes mints for chimney, candy canes for trim, licorice around doors &
windows, graham cracker for the door, gumdrops on the roof sitting in snow/icing, oreo looking cookies for fencing...
the list goes on.. I was working on kits last July and didn't get finished in time for this year. Here's a link to two pictures of finished houses I made.
http://www.geocities.com/beachbunsobx/xgingerhouse.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/beachbunsobx/xgingerhouse2.jpg

We have many of the candies in our web site Sweet Shoppe and so does Debbie at http://www.minikitz.com if you'd like tosee close up pictures. You're going to have a lot of fun making these!

Lauriel
Belara Beach Mini Shop
16 Dec 2003

Read a post where someone wanted a 3 1/2" dome. I think you can make you own from a bottle/jar; Thusly; Take one clear bottle or jar. The thinner the wall of the jar/bottle the better. Any old scrap of wood will be used as material for the base.
How to cut the jar/bottle down to size? Soak a piece of string in any flammable fluid. I used kerosene. After the string is fully saturated with the flammable fluid, tie it around the jar/bottle at the level you wish to cut it. Light it and let it burn. After it has just about burnt it self out plunge the jar/bottle and the attached string into very cold water.
The jar/bottle should crack at the level of the string. If there is a jagged rim left, it can be smoothed with Emory paper but that is not even necessary because I scribe a circle on the wood base that is the diameter of the jar/bottle at its cut surface. and make the scribed circle to a depth which hides the cut edge and also secures the now dome in place.

DrBob
Delray Beach FL
13 Dec 2003