# Eggs and Doll Houses



## rodentraiser (Sep 10, 2016)

I need all my egg cartons tomorrow. I have two empty ones and two full of eggs I just bought at the store yesterday. What I would like to do is take all the eggs out of the two new cartons and put them in a large, stainless steel bowl that I have and store them in the fridge that way. Does anyone here see a problem in that?

I know eggs are usually stored pointy side down and I'm wondering what the reason for that is, and if storing them on their sides (which is how they'll probably end up in the bowl) is going to be a problem. The eggs are dated to some time next month and they'll be used up by that time, so no problems with freshness. 

Thank you, everyone!


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## Dawgluver (Sep 10, 2016)

*Can eggs be stored in a bowl?*

RR, I can't think of any reason why not.  Go ahead and put them in your bowl.  I would.

Many countries store eggs unrefrigerated, as they don't wash the protective covering off.  The US has different standards.


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## Cheryl J (Sep 10, 2016)

Yep, you sure can.  People stored them in bowls or baskets long before egg cartons were invented.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 10, 2016)

The reason eggs are sold in cartons is to prevent breakage during transport. It has nothing to do with the pointy end.


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## Kayelle (Sep 10, 2016)

Nosy me...just wondering why you need empty cartons tomorrow.


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## Cheryl J (Sep 10, 2016)

I've heard that storing them pointy side down is to keep the air sac up top at the rounded end so it doesn't come in contact with the yolk - keeping the eggs fresher longer.   

But RR, if you're going to keep them refrigerated and use them up soon, that shouldn't be an issue. 

Also curious why you need egg cartons.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 10, 2016)

OK, well that answers that question! Thank you!

Oh, er, um, the reason I wanted the egg cartons? I, um, messed up making the stairs to the miniature cottage I'm building, which means I won't be able to stain them. So I thought I would make my cottage stairs in stone. But not real stone. Stone from egg cartons. Like this:












Thing is, I also want to make an inside wall and the entire lower half of the cottage in stone as well. That means lots and lots of egg cartons. I think four cartons will be enough to do the stairs and I was going to start those tomorrow.



And you guys can just call me Kelly.


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## Kayelle (Sep 10, 2016)

That's just beautiful work RT!! It does look like stone. I'd love to see more pictures of your hobby.


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## Dawgluver (Sep 10, 2016)

Love it too, RR!


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## Cheryl J (Sep 10, 2016)

Beautiful work, Kelly!  I too would LOVE to see pics of your dollhouse(s) and the cottage you're working on, if you'd care to share. 

I bought a dollhouse kit a couple of decades ago and had so much fun building it.  Even the tedious job of gluing tiny little wooden shingles on the roof was fun.


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## Cooking Goddess (Sep 11, 2016)

Those "stones" are EGG CARTONS?  That is so cool, *rr*! Yes, please, share photos of your work.

About the eggs: my Mom had a 7" square wire basket similar to this one




but with straight-up sides. I have it now and use it to hold napkins. However, Mom was able to easily get two dozen eggs into it, and that's how it sat in our fridge until we bought more eggs. If you had a basket like that, you could...put all your eggs in one basket!   running and hiding...


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## Addie (Sep 11, 2016)

Cooking Goddess said:


> Those "stones" are EGG CARTONS?  That is so cool, *rr*! Yes, please, share photos of your work.
> 
> About the eggs: my Mom had a 7" square wire basket similar to this one
> 
> ...



  Have you no shame?


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## RPCookin (Sep 11, 2016)

GotGarlic said:


> The reason eggs are sold in cartons is to prevent breakage during transport. It has nothing to do with the pointy end.



Yeah.  The eggs I buy seem to be mostly pointy end up, but not for any particular reason.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 11, 2016)

Wait....wait....that's not my work in those pictures! Yes, those stones are made from egg cartons, but I didn't do them. I think those pictures are from how-to sites. Anyway, I'm going to try to replicate those results on my staircase. 

Here are a couple pictures of what I've done. This is a room box I made for a friend:






With some furniture in it:
















I didn't finish it completely so my friend could go into a miniatures shop and sort of tailor it to her own tastes.


This is a rose shop I did - I call it The Rose Shop because I'm currently trying to find things with roses on them to put in it:






A view of the ceiling - the top is covered with a plastic window.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 11, 2016)

This what I'm currently working on at home, although work is going slow - this is the house kit as it was meant to be built:







This  is what it looked like after I got done with it - the house is all  white now because it's been primed since I took these pictures:










It's a side opening house now, so here is the front of it:





I'm putting a basement in the house:











And  this is the cottage I need the stone for - I'm going to make it a  French country cottage. This is a stock picture off the box





Mine has gotten this far - I primed and will electrify and decorate the first two floors before I put the roof on:






I  have a couple of links to some blogs where the people have just  beautiful houses built that you wouldn't believe aren't real. PM me if  you'd like those links.


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## Cooking Goddess (Sep 11, 2016)

Nice! I really like your "Rose Shop". Do you hand-make any of the interior items like the quilt or book, or do you buy that?


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## CharlieD (Sep 11, 2016)

Oh wow. That is amazing. How small are the rooms/houses?


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking


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## LizStreithorst (Sep 11, 2016)

You are an artist.  Do you make real money from this or is it a passion and making money is a by-product from time to time?


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## medtran49 (Sep 12, 2016)

My poor house probably feels like it is abandoned.  It's sitting on the porch waiting for me to finish putting on the the roof shingles and add the gingerbread trim, put the bay window in place, final coat of paint and attach it to a board so I can landscape.  I really need to finish it, though I'll have to put it somewhere without kitty access as one of the cats likes to crawl into it and she also likes to play with small things so if it's not protected she'll be in it and the furnishings/decorations/etc will be all over the house and in the pugs bellies.  

Charlie, the most popular scale for dollhouse minis is 1:12, meaning 1 inch to 12 inches (1 foot), though there are a couple of other popular scales of 1:24 and 1:48.


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## medtran49 (Sep 12, 2016)

Rodentraiser, beautiful work!  Are you on the Greenleaf forum or CDHM?


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## roadfix (Sep 12, 2016)

Nice work!   I thought you needed them for a sound studio or something....

You do all that intricate work and you can't fix that pot handle?!..


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## rodentraiser (Sep 12, 2016)

Cooking Goddess said:


> Nice! I really like your "Rose Shop". Do you hand-make any of the interior items like the quilt or book, or do you buy that?



Thank you!I usually buy/bought them. I have miniatures saved from over 30 years ago, so I've been using those. Now, as I run out of a few things and have more time, I'm thinking I will start trying to make more furniture and accessories. For instance, I got this awful set of sofa, love seat, and a chair in brown leather for about a quarter of what they should have gone for. So now I'm ripping off the leather and replacing it with a pretty cloth I found at a miniature show. We'll see how that goes.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 12, 2016)

CharlieD said:


> Oh wow. That is amazing. How small are the rooms/houses?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking



The houses I do are 1" to 1'. That's 1/12 scale. There's a lot of half scale and quarter inch scale now, much more than there used to be and if you're short on room (and who isn't?), then that saves a lot of room. My preferences and big fingers make 1/12 scale almost a necessity. LOL

The big house I was working on ended up being almost 6ft long and 27" deep. It had a laundry room, kitchen, dining room, living room, sunroom, library, sleeping porch, 2 bedrooms (one with a walk-in closet) and 2 full baths, an attic, a hobby room, and 3 center halls. Even though that was such a huge house, I felt the rooms were still a little cramped. I was working on it at a friend's house and when it came home unfinished, I had to break it down until I can afford to move to a bigger place.

The house I am currently building is only about 3' long, but has only 2 rooms on the fist floor, making them much larger. 

You can fit a lot into a small dollhouse room, even one that's only 9" x 8" and even allowing for not having a 4th wall. I just chose large rooms this time because I knew what I wanted to fit into them and I measured everything before the rooms were even built.

I personally am not trying to create masterpieces or wow people by having running faucets in my house or 10,000 shingles on the roof. What I want to make are rooms so comfortable they will make the viewer want to come in and not leave. 

The rooms in the Glencroft are very small, maybe 11" x 8" for the kitchen. In the large house I'm building, the kitchen is 15" x 14". That makes a huge difference in terms of all the stuff I can put in there.

The houses themselves range from what in real life we'd call tiny homes to houses large enough to be McMansions in real life. It's all in what you want, how much you want to spend, how much room you have, how much work you want to do, and what you like.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 12, 2016)

LizStreithorst said:


> You are an artist.  Do you make real money from this or is it a passion and making money is a by-product from time to time?



I'm no artist. You should see what some of these people can create. I'm a bumbling amateur next to them.

It's a hobby. I have a dozen hobbies and this is the only one I can do at the time. 

Very few people actually make money doing this. It's just too easy a hobby for anyone to do to pay someone to do it, and in terms of the time you put in, you'll never get your money back.

For instance, I once got a 64 book library kit. The kit was $16, as I recall. I spent - kid you not - 8 straight hours putting it together. Even at minimum wage (then), I would have had to charge over $50 if I wanted to sell that kit already done. Given how easy it was to put together, I wouldn't expect anyone to pay that amount of money.

The houses and room boxes are the same way. Once you invest in the actual house, the trim, the wallpaper, the primer, the brushes, the electrification kit, the siding and the shingles, and then charging for your time,you'd be selling that house for more than anyone would want to pay.

It's not a difficult hobby to do. It may be more expensive than I like (and that can be offset by looking on eBay for bargains and making things yourself), but it's incredibly simple to do.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 12, 2016)

medtran49 said:


> My poor house probably feels like it is abandoned.  It's sitting on the porch waiting for me to finish putting on the the roof shingles and add the gingerbread trim, put the bay window in place, final coat of paint and attach it to a board so I can landscape.  I really need to finish it, though I'll have to put it somewhere without kitty access as one of the cats likes to crawl into it and she also likes to play with small things so if it's not protected she'll be in it and the furnishings/decorations/etc will be all over the house and in the pugs bellies.
> 
> Charlie, the most popular scale for dollhouse minis is 1:12, meaning 1 inch to 12 inches (1 foot), though there are a couple of other popular scales of 1:24 and 1:48.



Pictures! We want to see! Your house probably looks much nicer than mine!

I forgot to mention, 1:24 (or 1/24) is half scale and 1:48 is quarter scale.

Join the cat club. I don't have one but I understand you're in very good company!


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## rodentraiser (Sep 12, 2016)

medtran49 said:


> Rodentraiser, beautiful work!  Are you on the Greenleaf forum or CDHM?



Thank you, although I'd beg to differ on the work.

Yeah, I'm on Greenleaf as rodentraiser. You can't miss me - I'm the one who talks all the time.

I'm not on CDHM, although it's tempting. But I think at this point three or four forums at once are pretty much enough for me. And if I were pursuing my other hobbies, I could add a couple more. LOL


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## rodentraiser (Sep 12, 2016)

roadfix said:


> Nice work!   I thought you needed them for a sound studio or something....
> 
> You do all that intricate work and you can't fix that pot handle?!..



Yeah, thanks, rub it in....


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## Cheryl J (Sep 12, 2016)

Kelly, I REALLY enjoyed looking at your pictures!  Thank you so much for sharing them.  

This should have it's own thread.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 12, 2016)

You know, it would be really nice to keep letting you all think I am a master craftsman, but honesty says I should really show you my lowly status.

Here's a couple of links to people who do spectacular work.

This is Kathleen Holmes' dollhouse. If you have 8 minutes to spare, scroll down and watch the video:

Ash Tree Cottage: Kathleen's Newer Bigger and Better Dollhouse


If you click on a dollhouse and then click on a room, you can see some of Mary Payne's beautiful dollhouses:

Mary's Dollhouses


And all you have to do here is click on a house and scroll - Pat just recently died this last May, so we won't have any more of her gorgeous cottages:

Pat's miniatures home page


Enjoy. And when you have explored all these links, I have dozens more. We haven't even touched upon the miniature food yet! And no, I didn't make any of these items - I'm not that talented!





























and since this is an egg thread -sort of -


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## rodentraiser (Sep 12, 2016)

Cheryl J said:


> Kelly, I REALLY enjoyed looking at your pictures!  Thank you so much for sharing them.
> 
> This should have it's own thread.



Thank you and you're welcome. 

Nah, the egg thread is good enough. Maybe I'll post some more pictures if I ever get done with a house.


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## medtran49 (Sep 13, 2016)

Iapparently have never taken any pictures of just the house.  Can't even find the pics of my Cluny tapesteries or my rugs I've done in petitpoint.


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## medtran49 (Sep 13, 2016)

RR, I know egg cartons are basically free, but have you ever seen Larry Bolduc's stone work using paperclay?  It's gorgeous.  He was a mason in real life.  I REALLY wanted to take his class but circumstances didn't allow at the time and then he succumbed to illness/old age.  I've got the mags with his tutorial if you ever want to give it a try. One of the reasons I made my big Cluny tapestry was so I could eventually hang it in a "great hall" sort of like his. 

Tabitha Corsica: Better pictures of Great Hall project


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## Mad Cook (Sep 13, 2016)

Dawgluver said:


> RR, I can't think of any reason why not.  Go ahead and put them in your bowl.  I would.
> 
> Many countries store eggs unrefrigerated, as they don't wash the protective covering off.  The US has different standards.


Ditto here, can't think why not. 

(I assume you are not intending to keep them into the next millenium.)


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## roadfix (Sep 13, 2016)

This is no longer about eggs.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 14, 2016)

medtran49 said:


> Iapparently have never taken any pictures of just the house.  Can't even find the pics of my Cluny tapesteries or my rugs I've done in petitpoint.



I love the cat, just the same. And I can already tell I like your ceilings! And the beautiful cloth hanging behind the house - I take those are curtains?

And yes, I definitely want to see something you've done. I can't even conceive of doing something that delicate.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 14, 2016)

Hey, the title still says eggs!



roadfix said:


> This is no longer about eggs.


 
As I always said though, I don't care if anyone hijacks my thread. Although in this case, I think I hijacked my own thread.

Maybe we can switch it to the best way to make scrambled eggs. Now THAT should get a lot of posts and controversy.


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## erehweslefox (Sep 18, 2016)

I really want a miniature tea set. 

Ok here is some crazy. My grandmom used to dip eggs in mineral oil. claimed it kept them fresh near forever, anyone ever hear of such nonsense? Or is this some weird Alabama/Vermont (family from VT, Grandmother met Grandfather when he was in flight training in Alabama WWII thing) fusion thing? Because I do have a number of those. Collard Greens with Maple syrup and all....

TBS


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## medtran49 (Sep 18, 2016)

erehweslefox said:


> I really want a miniature tea set.
> 
> 
> TBS


 
I actually have one somewhere in my stash of minis, 1:12 scale.  It's porcelain, though they do make them in actual silver if you've got the $$ for it.  I think I enjoyed the buying more than the making.  Had to stop myself because I kept buying with nothing to put the things in, though I'll still look through the mini catalogs when they come and dream.  You'd be amazed at how much money you can spend (and I mean as much or more than normal size furniture).


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## medtran49 (Sep 18, 2016)

rodentraiser said:


> I love the cat, just the same. And I can already tell I like your ceilings! And the beautiful cloth hanging behind the house - *I take those are curtains*?
> 
> And yes, I definitely want to see something you've done. I can't even conceive of doing something that delicate.


 
Yes, but that's rose wallpaper in the second story bedroom you can see toward the back at the bottom of the second story.  I used joint compound for the ceiling and swirled it so it would like like a plaster ceiling. 

I think the petit point is in the closet of our extra bedroom behind the vanities and other stuff for the real-life bathroom renovation we're working on.  So can't get to it right now to take more pics.  I'll have to see if I have it posted on Greenleaf.


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## medtran49 (Sep 18, 2016)

Sort of shows the house a little.  Craig built me the cart to my specs. Such a sweetie. The little triangle area is a little nursery area with Noah's ark wallpaper.  






Pics of the 2 big (comparatively) petit point projects I've done.  They are both finished now, just not easily available.  All the white, white part of rug was filled in with the cream color.  I'm working on a Heriz rug that is also 40 count but haven't got a tremendous amount done on it yet. 

The rug is on 28 count/sq. inch if I remember correctly and I think was 5"x8", maybe 6"x9".  The Cluny tapestry is on 40 count/sq. inch, and is 5"x6".


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## erehweslefox (Sep 18, 2016)

medtran49 said:


> I actually have one somewhere in my stash of minis, 1:12 scale.  It's porcelain, though they do make them in actual silver if you've got the $$ for it.  I think I enjoyed the buying more than the making.  Had to stop myself because I kept buying with nothing to put the things in, though I'll still look through the mini catalogs when they come and dream.  You'd be amazed at how much money you can spend (and I mean as much or more than normal size furniture).



I really adore your miniature houses, particularly the detail you gave to the tapestries. As I don't have a miniature house to put it in I suspect a miniature tea set would be some thing I would play with once or twice, and forget. 

You have a really cool hobby.

TBS


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## rodentraiser (Sep 19, 2016)

erehweslefox said:


> I really want a miniature tea set.
> 
> Ok here is some crazy. My grandmom used to dip eggs in mineral oil.  claimed it kept them fresh near forever, anyone ever hear of such  nonsense? Or is this some weird Alabama/Vermont (family from VT,  Grandmother met Grandfather when he was in flight training in Alabama  WWII thing) fusion thing? Because I do have a number of those. Collard  Greens with Maple syrup and all....
> 
> TBS



It might be true. Eggshells are porous and if you  seal them so the air can't get through, it might make the eggs last a  lot longer.




medtran49 said:


> Sort of shows the house a little.  Craig built me the cart to my specs. Such a sweetie. The little triangle area is a little nursery area with Noah's ark wallpaper.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You have the Orchid dollhouse! Someone in our forum made a little library out of the Orchid and since then it's been on my wish list.

I love the tapestry and the rug! That is one skill I wish I had, but.....not with my clumsy fingers. You do such beautiful work! And I can tell your patience level is way higher than mine. Way, way higher!



The sterling silver used to not cost so much. I was going to make a trophy case for all the shows my miniature dog won, and when I started, I got a sugar dish with filigree handles - looked just like a loving cup trophy. That was only $10. I've bought a few other pieces over the years, but not recently. And just in case you still have your heart set on silver - it tarnishes and you get to clean it just like the real thing. Joy. 

In fact, back in the 80s I bought a little miniature copper tea kettle. It tarnished as well. I gave it to a friend because I had enough to do keeping my real copper pots polished.


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## rodentraiser (Sep 19, 2016)

Today I went up to my friend Lisa's and we worked on our houses for a bit. This isn't my house (I don't do work this good), but this is what it should look like when it's done. 

Unfortunately, you have to remember it's me putting it together. So what I'm going to do is put two tiny center halls in the house with a tiny staircase in the lower hall. That means the staircase on the side will come out. That will give me a little extra room in the living room.

The upstairs bathroom will be split in two and the front half will be the (now much smaller) bathroom and the back part will be the children's bedroom. I've decided to make this a little French country cottage. I brought the house home with me today so I should be getting the interior walls into it sometime this week.


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## medtran49 (Sep 19, 2016)

All that gingerbread on the Orchid is a major PITA to sand and seal.  I put wood filler on the edges of all my pieces so they would be smooth after sanding.  I just hope none of the finished gingerbread pieces got lost when we moved.  It's a cute little house but a bit small.  I bought plans to build The Kestrel and its basement Home some day, as well as want to build a partial castle/combo room box(es) for my tapestries.  One day hopefully.  I've already got stuff ready to go in both of them if they ever get done.  

Don't put yourself down like that, you do *beautiful *work.  That Rose Shop is just absolutely gorgeous.  And your living room is beautiful as well. 

There was a real silversmith that handcrafted their silver at one of the last DH/Mini shows I went to and their pieces were to die for.  My heart nearly stopped when I picked up a piece and looked at the price.    The decor/detail on some of the sets was like the fanciest you can find in RL size, as were the prices.


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## dragnlaw (Sep 19, 2016)

rodentraiser said:


> It might be true. Eggshells are porous and if you  seal them so the air can't get through, it might make the eggs last a  lot longer.
> ****
> And just in case you still have your heart set on silver - it tarnishes and you get to clean it just like the real thing. Joy.
> 
> In fact, back in the 80s I bought a little miniature copper tea kettle. It tarnished as well. I gave it to a friend because I had enough to do keeping my real copper pots polished.



I believe my mother told me 'way back when' eggs were also dipped in wax. There was another way as well but can't remember.

Miniature Silver, copper anything that tarnishes - (that you are not using! but just on display)-  try spraying them with Hair Spray.


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## erehweslefox (Sep 19, 2016)

dragnlaw said:


> Miniature Silver, copper anything that tarnishes - (that you are not using! but just on display)-  try spraying them with Hair Spray.



I dunno dragnlaw I would want to use a miniature tea set, how else would I serve a tiny bit of tea to my imaginary miniature friends?

TBS


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## dragnlaw (Sep 20, 2016)

Seal the spouts and cracks with plastic wrap. This way the spray won't get inside and will be perfectly fine for your friends.  

Enjoy, add lots of sugar so that you won't notice how much your miniature straight jacket pinches so much!


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