Jeremy kindly sent in these tips for readers:

Re non-shine to make things look more realistic – I use Acrylic artists paints as these are naturally matt, can be mixed (and inexpensive). In our Pound Stores (equivalent of US Dollar Stores) you can get a set of Acrylic paints (red, blue, green, black, white etc) for a pound ($1.60).

Re saw dust – besides fabric dye you can use wood dye and besides sawdust, wood flakes (hamster bedding) can be dyed and used as leaves.