I've used them to 'pave' a floor and make fireplaces, hearths, etc. I got 12 x 12 floor tiles that were a good brick pattern. They have to be the 'old fashioned' kind of tile that will bend and snap - not the newer vinyl tiles that are quite bendable. (I assume these 'cheapies' are still made -check Color Tile or somewhere similar.)

The 'brick red' ones are probably the most quickly identified as 'brick' in a mini room, but you can use one of the other colors. The texture of the tile, when seen 'up close', is the important thing. The tiles with a lot of 'grit' in them - that almost crumble along the lines of breakage, when bent, are what you need - but may be hard to find, now that there is so much 'vinyl' tile on the market.

Make mini bricks like this: Mark appropriate widths of 'brick' with ruler and pencil. (An average brick is about 3-1/2" wide, through they vary a lot.) With an X-acto knife and ruler, score the tiles - then score the 'stripes' vertically the 'length' of the brick....about 8" (in 1:12). Snap the little bricks apart. This gives an irregular edge that makes the bricks looks more 'authentic' when laid.

I made a template of the floor area to be covered, then cut a piece of posterboard exactly that size and shape. I laid the 'brick' on the floor posterboard by first drawing in the rows, using pencil and ruler, then glued the bricks, using a regular white craft glue.

Apply only the minimum amount of glue - since the moisture in the glue may make it curl. I like the Delta Quick n Tacky and Aleene's new Quick Dry Tacky since they hold well. The 'Grab' glues would probably work well, too. Allow a tiny 'joint' between each brick, and keep the rows of brick straight.

Be sure that your bricks show at least a half brick - preferably a full brick, in those areas which will be seen.... and 'fudge' in areas which will be covered by furniture or other architectural features.

Let the new bricked floor dry 24 hours. Then get a latex based caulking material (which cleans up with water), that is the color of 'grout' desired. If you can't find the right color, you can color it with regular acrylic paints. Following the instructions - for basic use - but apply to the brick as you would grout tile - working with only a small section at a time, since it will dry quickly. Use a spatula or something similar, as a flexible putty knife, and spread the 'grout' over the brick - working in about 4" x 4" sections. Work it into the cracks between the brick, then remove the excess. Quickly wipe with a damp paper towel to remove all the 'grout' from the surface of the 'brick'. Grout the entire floor in this manner, and then let dry 24 hours.

Although the use of latex-based caulk does minimize the tendency of the posterboard to curl, you may wish to weight it down with books, while the caulk dries. (An alternative to this might be to spray paint - with acrylic paint which would dry almost instantly - BOTH sides of the posterboard floor before proceeding, to 'seal' the posterboard and keep it from absorbing any moisture in the glue or caulk.)

You can then glue in your finished floor with YES glue, or whatever you prefer. You could also try an application of regular floor wax on a test piece, to see if it gives a softer, 'worn' patina of old brick you might like.

You can also make a 'stone' floor, using irregular 'stone' shapes, if you get a limestone, granite or marble type 'stone' finished tile.

Linda Gale, Artisan, I.G.M.A.

Tear your tissue into 2 or 3 inch squares. Be sure the edges are torn, not cut. Wad the tissue into a ball to wrinkle it up. Spread it out, but do not smooth it out. Press it into your glue or acrylic varnish that has already been applied to the surface you wish to cover. This will work better if you use a sponge applicator that has been dipped in glue or varnish to tamp your material to the wall. Your tamper will not stick as long as it has a layer of glue or varnish between it and the tissue. I am especially fond of the round sponge applicators used for stenciling.

Think of your wall as a checker board. Apply the first piece of tissue to the middle black square but keep it at a bit of an angle, not squared up. Now apply tissue to the four squares of black that touch each corner of the first square. Continue this random pattern until all of the black squares have been covered.

Now, repeat the process for the red squares. Start in the middle where the original tissue has had a bit of time to set up. Overlapping is a good thing. Torn edges keep lines from developing in your pattern. Since this is only tissue, experiment on a piece of cardboard to get comfortable with the technique.

Becky Holliday

Brush lines in paint: I have done a lot of painting with acrylics, and I would be very happy if I could be of help. I need to know more about your situation.

My first thought is about the temperature where you are painting. I have my usual lair for painting in my attic. Sometimes it gets very hot up there. In that case it is impossible for me to paint smoothly. We always cool off at night, but if that doesn't work for you, you can work with the paint itself.

Each brand has a product that helps smooth the strokes. I use Jo Sonja "flow medium" with the Jo Sonja paints. It thins the paint without affecting the coverage the way water does. However, water will help if you have paint that has thickened. If you put your blob of paint on a wet paper towel, it won't thicken so fast.

Using the same brushes for varnish could present a problem. I am not sure how serious it is, but I was warned not to use the same brushes for varnish and paint. Maybe your brushes have been damaged by the varnish. I have large and small dedicated varnish brushes, and I use foam brushes when possible.

Are you preparing your wood? You need to sand smooth, seal with sealer or paint, sand again. On some surfaces I have to sand after the first and second coat of paint. And don't even ask about MDF! I put sealer and three coats of Titanium White on the last house before using Jo Sonja base coat and getting a really smooth effect. (But I don't usually use acrylics on the house exterior, just needed this color.)

I have been teaching my friends how to paint (while working on my houses or their own), and I notice that they first tend to use too much paint. You have to be patient and make thin coats. The other thing they do is use a brush that is too small. This makes more strokes necessary. It also makes it impossible to keep the paint out of the ferrule (the part where the hairs are clamped). I obtained a set of cheaper brushes for this work and hid my art brushes.

After painting houses and trim, the brushes need a lot of work. It does seem impossible to keep the paint on the tips. I keep cleaning them in the palm of my hand with brush cleaner and water until I don't get any more paint coming out.

You ask if you are using the wrong type of paint. Well, there are various levels of quality. Delta and Decoart are very good in the U.S. Don't know if you have them. Jo Sonja base coat paint is often better than you need. I haven't used latex paint for trim, woodwork, or furniture. Even the small jars put up for miniaturists would be way out of sight for such tiny projects. I just made a house with gingerbread in three tasteful colors, which wouldn't be practical without the inexpensive acrylics.

I know there are others who can add more, and I look forward to learning from them.

Bar in La Honda, CA

Wiring/Papering
1) primer paint the walls;
2) put together the shell;
3) tape wire the whole house;
4) install ceiling paper;
5) install wallpaper;
6) install lights.

Tom Berkner

Finishing Basics: Several folks have asked for a suggested list of steps to follow when building their first dollhouse. Here is one:

l. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, USE A GLUE GUN!
2. Instead, get a bottle of good yellow wood glue. (My personal favorite is Franklin's TiteBond, available at Ace Hardware Stores, but Elmer's or other yellow glue will work well, too.)
3. Find the directions and read them first.
4. Somewhere in the directions is a list of parts and it usually has sketches to show what they look like. Use a pencil (not a pen as the ink will run when you paint) and mark the part names or numbers on all the pieces. Don't punch out parts until you are ready to use them.
5. Check the parts to see if they need to be sanded or filled with wood filler. Some of the cheaper dollhouses (and some not so cheap) are made of flimsy, splintery, bad plywood.
6. Paint the trim pieces before you assemble them. That makes sense when you realize that it will be very hard, for example, to paint a corner piece or window trim after attaching it to the house-you will get paint from the main walls on the trim and when you paint the trim, you'll get paint from that
on the main walls.
7. Again, DON'T PUNCH OUT PARTS UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO USE THEM.
8. Do not worry about painting the inside-that's later.
9. You can do the first floor flooring after assembling the foundation and floor or after the basic house is built.
10. Follow the directions to build each part of the house. Get the basic part built without the trim. Paint the main exterior walls.
11. Do the flooring on the first floor now if you didn't do it at step 9, unless you're using carpet and I would wait to do that until you do the flooring
for the second and third floors as mentioned in Step 17.
12. Don't attach the windows now.
13. Now is the time to wire if you're going to. You will need to decide which room is which and where you want lights. For example, decide where the bathroom vanity/sink will be because if you want lights on each side of a mirror, you need to know where to put them. When doing wall sconces, shorten the wire, attach the lamp, but don't fasten it to the wall until you paper. Cut an X in the paper where you want them to go, slide the fixture through and then attach the paper and lamp to the wall.
14. Once the wiring is done, attach the main lamp fixtures. I like to drill holes in the ceiling for the ceiling lights and run the wires through the holes to fasten to the tape that I have put on the floor above. Attach all your lamps except the table lamps now. After papering, you can attach the outlets for the table lamps.
15. Wallpaper your rooms. Use a wallpaper paste designed to glue paper to wood. (My favorite is Grandmother Stover's Yes glue) Just paper right over the door and window openings. When it's dry, you can cut out these openings with your craft or X-Acto knife.
16. Now attach your windows, doors, stairs, and interior trim. Aren't you glad you painted it earlier?
17. If you haven't already done so, finish the exterior at this time.
18. Put down your second and third floor flooring.
19. Put in baseboards, interior cornices, and other incidental trim.
20. Now comes the fun of furnishing.

Dottie in Tucson

Acrylic paint dries to a plastic-like material. You can dry it on purpose on high quality plastic wrap and peel it off in sheets for a new material. To keep it in the liquid state, use the wet palette method described by someone earlier or use the real thing, however don't expect too long a life span. Mildew happens fast in FL.

Work with tiny amounts at a time. You may want to use an extender to make it more fluid in a dry climate. If you do accidentally get some on clothing or whatever, alcohol takes it off in a second. That means if you goof the thing you are painting you can remove it while wet. Good ole soap and water takes it off if done immediately.

Another acrylic paint tip: shake the bottle well, but don't strike against the heel of your hand, can lead to carpal tunnel. The little strips of paint pots are good for working small amounts at a time, either wash out when finished or peel out the paint when it dries out.

One more ... very important, you have to let the application dry before painting over, or next to, a freshly painted area. Paint in a nice thin coat, several thin layers is MUCH better than one gloppy one!

Nancy in Tampa

Potato Chip/Tote Bags: A request was made for how to make bags to hold single servings of pepper seed potato chips. So, here's how I make small bags. (And like practically everything I know, I probably learned this from Joann Swanson.)
- - Look through your wood collection and find or cut a longish strip that is the width you want your bag to be.
- - Wrap a piece of Saran or other cling wrap lengthwise around the wood, glue seam.
- - Let dry and cut off excess at seam.
- - Then slide the wrap down slightly until a bit sticks off the end of the wood.
- - Run a tiny line of glue inside and clamp the end seam with a hair clip or other clip until dry.
- - Slide more of the wrap down until you have enough of the bag to fill, with a bit more for the top seam, and cut, leaving the rest of the wrap still on your form.
- - Fill the bag with your chips or whatever and then glue and clamp seam at top.
- - Excess on seams can be trimmed away when glue has dried.
- - Continue sliding off wrap to make more bags.

If you want identical sizes, hold your form over a piece of graph paper or a ruler as you push off your bags. This works for all different size bags, depending on the wood piece you choose, for cloth and paper as well as the cling wrap. I've made everything from chicken feed bags to Halloween treat bags to potpourri bags, etc. piece of plain white typing paper will make almost any kind of bag you want if you glue on cut out labels from ads. Of course if you want colored bag, any sheet of colored paper will do. When you use paper, this process works for open sacks, as for luminaries. Just fold in seam at bottom and glue. If you want to make totebags, cut off to desired height and glue on handles. Those scissors that cut decorative edges may be used for interesting effects. To make a candy garland, use a skinnier form and instead of gluing ends just tie off with thread, insert a colored bead or piece of Fimo candy, then tie again, continuing until you have the length of garland you want. I made a gingerbread man garland once to match a real one that stretched over our doorway, using Fimo gingerbread men made with a star cookie cutter, pinching points to form bodies. For popcorn balls, tie twice, then cut off between ties.

With the wood form you have control and regularity of size that's hard to get otherwise. I saved the forms I used for each type of bag, labeling them: popcorn ball/ Halloween treats; fertilizer/plant food; flour/sugar/potato chips, etc. Particularly good when you want to stock a store or make lots of (full-size) tote bag or table gifts.



Wanna in El Paso

Christmas Punch

Materials:
Polymer Compound Resin (2-bottle kit such as Envirotex-Lite)
Red Transparent Dye
Chrysnbon Punch Bowl Kit
Clear Baking Crystals for Ice Cubes
Candy Canes
Paper Cup, Stirring Stick, Toothpicks

Method:
Pour very accurate amounts of both resin and hardener into a paper cup. Add Red Transparent Dye, drop-by-drop until a good rich red color is obtained. Stir thoroughly. Carefully pour the resin mixture into your punch bowl. Using a toothpick, fill cups. Add "ice cubes". Arrange candy canes around bowl by hooking them onto the outer rim. Insert ladle in bowl if desired. Allow to harden undisturbed for about 12 hours.

Mary Eccher

Cheeses: Gouda: cover round of yellow Fimo with flattened wrap of red and form into cheese shape - when cut in wedges -looks like wax over the cheese. The same thing can be done with wax colored with melted crayons.

Melt yellow wax and let cool a little- when cool enough to work make the cheese round. Melt red wax and keep dipping your yellow round into red till a solid edge is formed (let the yellow really cool) (Put your yellow cheese on a long needle when dipping.)

Slice that while warm and you have plenty of gouda.

Re-dipping will make the center yellow soft enough to cut with a razor.

Cheddar: Try orange dipped in black (or wrapped with Fimo) for cheddar.

Brie: a pale colored yellow/cream Fimo can be dusted with corn starch or baby powder for Brie.

Hanging cheese: A log of uncolored Sculpey that has been baked with a loop of thread through the top can be a hanging cheese for a shop and tied with beige thread like provolone- dipping that in cream colored wax can make it look very real, the warm wax will make the cheese look real when tied up.

Now you're on a roll make the same log in Salami colored Fimo with the loop tied at the top before baking. Use the spatter paint technique (with a toothbrush) for adding 'fat' to the salami. Make sausages on a string the same way. And you've got your Swiss so you are all set.

Gail

Sliced kiwi is pretty easy actually. You need green, transparent/ white and brown clays.

Start with relatively small amounts or you will have a huge number of slices at the end.

The Basic Cane : Take green clay with a generous amount of transparent / white mixed in. Make a short, thick sausage of this clay - this will be the core. Next, roll a whole bunch of pale green sausages and a whole bunch of thin brown sausages. Arrange the tiny sausages around the core - one green, one brown, one green, one brown etc etc etc - the more you do, the more convincing the final cane will be - but don't make them too thin at this point.

Keep your "pips" in roportion to the size of your core - you will reduce the whole thing later. Now take some darker green clay and roll it flat. Wrap around the cane for the green flesh around the pips - don't overlap the edges - you just want one layer all round. For the brown kiwi skin, put a very thin flat layer of brown clay around the cane.

Reducing the Cane : Pres the cane together gently, then roll and stretch - the cane will get thinner and thinner. Stop when you get to the correct diameter for 1/12th scale or 1/24th scale or whatever. Try not to twist the cane whilst rolling it as this can cause distortion. Cut off and discard the ends of the cane as these will probably have become distorted.

You can slice your cane before or after baking - I always do it afterwards. Bake as recommended - do not exceed the recommended temperature.

Making Whole, sliceable Kiwi Fruit : Take a portion of unbaked cane and cut into short lengths. Gently roll the end of the cane into a point - the brown skin will close up and cover the green. Do this with both ends. Gently roll into a kiwi shape. Bake. Angie Scarr illustrates this technique in the Oranges tutorial too.

Lesley
South Africa
12 Dec 2003