Oh how I love to putz around (and how that relates to crack)

Oh how I love to putz around (and how that relates to crack)
Oh how I love to putz around (and how that relates to crack)

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Long before they were trendy, I treasured my putz houses. As a young girl I took these battered Christmas decorations that my family had abandoned and set up a tiny village. Granted, there were only four or five houses, but I loved them.

I never had the budget to add many authentic putz houses to my collection over the years, but my little village grew nonetheless. Frosted trees and 1940s era cars in a variety of scales joined the village. Mid-century children skating and sledding loomed like giant toddlers about to devour the putz homes.

Perhaps the putz house I most treasure is the one I made this year. I stuck true to the simple mid-century stye adorned with lots of glitter.

Tutorial how to make a putz house

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First, cut all the pieces away from the chipboard and determine how to assemble it. Then, cut a round hole in the bottom of the

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Then, cut a round hole in the bottom piece that is slightly smaller than the base of a tealight, but big enough for you to change the battery if needed.

Next paint all your windows, roof and dormers. Add a little Twinklets Diamond Dust to the windows before the paint dries. I just discovered this Diamond Dust, and wooooohoooo do I love it! I want to use it everywhere. I want to sprinkle it on every art project. Heck, I want to sprinkle it on my children in the morning just to make them a little more pleasant. I definitely want to sprinkle it on my husband when he comes home crabby. I am addicted to this stuff like crack*.

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Next, adhere tissue paper to all the windows and doors. I wanted yellow windows and didn’t feel like making a trip to the store, so I just colored some white tissue paper in with marker. This is not as fun as I suspect crack would be.

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Assemble the house, using a strong, fast-drying, yet forgiving glue such as Beacon Fabri-Tac to hold it together.

Add a brick exterior paper from the Classic Christmas 6 x 6 Paper Pad and a silver glitter cardstock for accent pieces and the roof. Then, glue on the window frames and glue the tealight in place.

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Glue on the roof and dormers. Add the exterior decor and then add Deco Arts Snow Tex and–you guessed it–more Diamond Dust to create snow on the roof.

I placed my house on a round cardboard container. To do this first cover the lid with Deco Arts Snow Tex and crack Diamond Dust. Once it is dry. determine where you want to place the house and cut a hole in the lid to allow access to the tealight.

Cut  a strip of silver glitter cardstock and adhere to the base of the container, leaving part of the original container showing as a stripe of color. Cover the side of the lid with the holly paper from the Christmas Delivery 6 x 6 Pad. Then add the collage sheet Santa and sentiment.

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For the tree, use Poppy Radiant Rain ColourArte to dye a white retro bottle brush tree. While it is drying, cut apart a string of silver Mardi Gras beads. Get rid of any excess string by holding each bead with a tweezers against the flame of a lighter. Hot glue the beads to the tree. Then paint the base of the tree with silver acrylic paint.

Glue the house, tree and deer to the lid. Turn on the tea light and your putz house is complete. You can see an easy-access supply list over at Alpha Stamps.

*Since I am too boring to have ever actually tried crack, this is just a baseless simile.

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Great Stuff

Collage Sheets

Santa is Outside

Mini Christmas Titles

Paper

Christmas Delivery 6 x 6 Pad

Classic Christmas 6 x 6 Paper Pad

Chipboard

House Ornament

House Ornament Chimney and Dormers

House Ornament Window Trims

Other

Retro Bottle Brush Tree Set

LED Tea Light

Tim Holtz White Resin Deer

Twinklets Diamond Dust

Deco Arts Snow Tex

Colour Arte Radiant Rain Poppy

Red Stickles

Green Stickles

White acrylic paint

Silver acrylic paint

Beacon 3 in 1

Beacon Fabri-Tac

Round cardboard container

Silver Glitter Cardstock

Silver Beads

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