How to Make A Christmas Card Cottage

Christmas-Card Cottages For Your Tree or Village

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Greeting cards of any holiday you might choose
• Scissors
• Tacky Glue,Scotch tape
• Pattern for house
• Acrylic paint
• Paint brush,ruler
• Sparkle snow glitter
• Miniature trees and people to finish the setting
• Miniature light set

1. Select the greeting cards that you would like to have the houses of your village represent. Such as winter and Christmas, maybe spring or summer would use flowery and soft colors of birthday and get well cards.
   Make sure you to choose a pattern for the house that will fit the portion of the picture on the card you want to focus on. The walls of the cottage can all be different but should retain a general color theme.
   Draw out the pattern on card stock and make sure it is accurate so the walls will match up. Cut out pattern. Next draw around pattern on the face of the card, and cut out each wall section. Allow some edge allowance for gluing the sections of the walls together. This extra is folded against the other wall piece. You may want to look up a pattern in a craft book for a house if you are not able to fashion one yourself that you like. Cut all doors and windows before gluing.

2. Next cut out the roof from the backside of a card. Using the blank area that is generally not printed with any thing. This can be made from a large card so the roof can be one piece folded in the middle. Or use a piece of card stock if your house is too large for a card back roof. Cut out a rectangle and fold into a chimney with notches on one end to fit over the peak of the roof.
   Before gluing paint the top of the roof a color you might like, such as brown, or red or green. If you use a colored card there will be no need to paint it. Then do the same with the chimney section.
   
   Cut out windows and little doors in the wall pieces. These are best cut on 3 sides and folded outward like shutters, and the door can be opened and closed also. Paint the door inside if you want more color on your door.

3. 
   House with a hole cut in sidewall for light.

   Fold the house walls into proper sections,then glue the corners of the walls together. Let all glue dry and use some Scotch tape to position the roof over the top of the house. Tape the roof to the house from the inside of the roof to the walls of the house. Then add a little glue to the edges not so much it runs down on your house walls. After all the pieces are dried add some glue to the roof and sprinkle on the sparkly glitter or snow glitter. Set the house on a section of card large enough to make a base of about 1/2 inch around the outside of the bottom edge of the house. This base can be glued down and glittered or snowed also. Cut a small hole in the bottom of the base or sidewall, with star brust cuts away from the center of the hole, to push a light bulb into for a tree or village lighting.

Tips & Warnings

• Use extra sticky tacky glue. Tape where needed from inside to hold pieces in place while glue dries.
• The focal point of a card is best used on the face of the house front, and matching colors on the rest.
• Don't make the hole too big for the little light strand. Used on a Christmas tree makes a comforting glow.
• It takes about 6 of these for a niced village display.
• These houses are easy, but you might need to adjust here and there if your pattern isn't cut true. Make a prototype with blank card stock or just try one with any cards you don't plan to use for your village.

[Susanh]

on 1/6/2009 Ah, a craft for that stack of Christmas cards I have staring at me! Thank you!

[dlcass]

on 12/29/2008 What a clever idea! Thank you for Christmas Card Cottage instructions.