commissioned winter church replica

December 15, 2024 – 5:54 pm

I made this winter church for my sister. It is a replica of the church she and her husband have attended for years. This year, 2024, the church had to be torn down, due to structural issues. My sister has a collection of my putz churches. This will be a nice addition to her collection.

The church is made of poster board, chipboard, an upcycled Christmas card for the base, and glitter, glue and paint. The base is 5 1/4″ wide by 8 1/4″ deep. The church is 10″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the steeple.

The base is made from an upcycled Christmas card. All my putz are made with a greeting card base. Check out my tutorial for these bases here: Making bases from greeting cards

A hole in the back allows the use of a short LED light string for lighting the church.

It looks so lovely when the lights come on. Looks like it is ready for the Christmas Eve service!

The front of the church is flanked by two small bottle brush trees. The belfry containes a gold bell that swings freely.

I used photographs as my inspiration for the model. The finished size of the church didn’t leave room for much landscaping. I kept it simple so the church would get all the attention.

I think this putz is the second hardest one I’ve made. Most of my putz buildings are from patterns I draw that aren’t very deep. The putz might be three or four inches wide and just an inch and a half deep. A replica demands a more accurate rendition of the building. That increased size makes a structure that needs some inner framework for support. I used foam core to cut three arches that support the interior of the building. I wish I had taken a picture of that.

Most roofs for my putz creations are made of the same poster board that the walls are made of. I found that in a larger building such as this church, a heavier stock was needed. I used chipboard for the roof. That eliminated warping.

The church was made of brick. I used my regular paint mixture, textured with sand, to paint the church. I didn’t try to make a brick facade or a brick “look” for the outer walls. The walls have small buttresses. I made those from 1/4″ balsa wood, cutting them to the right shape and size. I needed eight of those. The balsa made it an easy project. I glued those to the outer walls before I painted the church.

To give steeples needed support I always fill them with hot glue. It fills the cavity and makes them quite strong. They will not crush after years of use. This steeple was larger than most I make, but it was worth the use of the glue to know the structure is very strong and will last a long time.

This tutorial shows how I set bells in church belfrys. setting bells in putz church bell towers

If you have any questions about my posted putz houses, or about creating your own putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

To see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

Want to try making your own putz houses? Check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  

Tutorials / Putz and Glitter Houses

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. KMM works with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

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periwinkle house with a tiny deer and a snowman

November 8, 2024 – 6:02 pm

So tiny! So cute! And I do love snowing a winter house. This Tiny Mini size putz features evergreen trees, bottle brush trees, a tiny deer and a snowman.

The putz is made with pattern 091718, which is the same pattern as the last two houses I made. The Tiny Mini, periwinkle putz is 3″ tall. The orange Mini size is 3 3/4″ tall. The Original size, yellow one is 5″ tall.

I used a vertical card for the periwinkle house, leaving room behind the house for a row of trees. I set the fence back from the front of the base to make a walkway in front of the fence.

The Tiny Mini house is 2 3/4″ wide by 1″ deep. It is 2 3/4″ high. The base measures 4 3/8″ wide by 5 3/4″ deep. The putz is 3″ tall, as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the tallest tree.

The Christmas card, used to make the base, features three children and their happy snowman. My tutorial for making bases from greeting cards can be found here: Putz bases from Christmas cards

On the back of the house, the traditional hole allows the use of an LED light for lighting the house.

The trees behind the house are made from upcycled Christmas tree stems. There are two bottle brush trees in the front yard. Green glitter and snow embellish the taller tree. Silver micro beads and snow decorate the smaller tree.

In front of the house, there is a tiny deer meeting the snowman.

The house comes with a puff of smoke for those cold winter nights. Come on in and we’ll have Christmas cookies and hot chocolate!

If you have any questions about my posted putz houses, or about creating your own putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

To see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

Want to try making your own putz houses? Check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  

Tutorials / Putz and Glitter Houses

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. KMM works with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

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this mini size house features an autumn tree

November 6, 2024 – 6:15 pm

I can’t resist another autumn house. It’s that time of year!

The pattern for this Mini size autumn house is pattern #091718. My pattern numbers are the dates I drew the patterns. I drew this pattern September 17, 2018. It’s a traditional house with a large front yard, full of flowers and fallen leaves. Perfect decor for the autumn season. It, with other seasonal houses, is listed in my Etsy shop: ChristmasNotebook

The house features one handcrafted autumn tree and one bottle brush tree. It’s easy to paint bottle brush trees with acrylic craft paint to match the color scheme of a putz house. This tree was the usual blue-green. I painted it with a very dark green. When the first coat was dry, I brushed it with moss green paint. While the second coat of paint was still wet, I sprinkled it with very fine, clear glitter.

I make the bases for my putz houses from upcycled greeting cards. This card has a beautiful picture with “It’s Thanksgiving” written across the top. I use the colors of the card as inspiration for the colors of the putz house. When possible, I use elements in the card design as part of the embellishment of the putz. In this case, I added sunflowers and pumpkins to the front yard.

The traditional hole in the back allows the use of an LED light string to bring the house to life.

A puff of smoke is included. November nights are chilly!

The sidewalk curves from the front gate to the front door. Autumn shrubs, made from sponge, and fallen autumn leaves give a wonderful fall feeling. The doors on my putz houses are open so guests know they are always welcome to stop by.

The yard features a handcrafted picket fence, made from wooden, coffee stir sticks. I make the fences myself, in many different styles. Check out my tutorial for making picket fences here: Picket Fence Tutorial

If you have any questions about these houses, or about creating your own putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

If you would like to see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

Want to try making your own putz houses? Check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  

Tutorials / Putz and Glitter Houses

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. They work with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz Houses | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

original size putz with autumn tree

November 3, 2024 – 8:01 pm

I took photos of this house in my light box, but the colors were wrong. I tried again, by placing the house on a table by the window and took the pictures in natural light. A much better match.

The autumn house is 6 1/2″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep. The putz is 5″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the tree.

The base is made from an upcycled greeting card, featuring two goldfinches and a bounty of sunflower and purple coneflower seeds. If you have ever planted coneflowers, you have surely seen the goldfinches swarming the flowers for the seeds. A delightful sight! On the back of this card, a little black cat is chasing the autumn leaves.

The putz house has a beautiful, handcrafted autumn tree. It is made from an armature, dried moss and leaf litter. The yard sports a handcrafted, wooden picket fence, made from wooden coffee stir sticks.

Enjoy the autumn evening, the yard full of flowers and the beautiful tree.

A puff of smoke is included. You may want to light the fireplace and cozy up for hot chocolate and Christmas cookies.

If you have any questions about these houses, or about creating your own putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

If you would like to see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

If you are interested in crafting Putz houses of your own, check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  

Tutorials / Putz and Glitter Houses

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. They work with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

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tiny mini, winter putz house

October 31, 2024 – 6:12 pm

I just finished three sizes of the same pattern. Tiny Mini, Mini, and Original sizes. The smallest (Tiny Mini) is a pink winter house. The tiny snowman is almost too big! The orange Mini putz is made on a horizontal card. The yellow Original size is made on a verticial card base.

A vertical card leaves more room for landscaping than a horizontal card does. A drawback of using a vertical card for the base is the width. Some of my patterns are too wide to fit most vertical cards. I drew a few more narrow patterns, like this one, to take advantage of vertical cards.

The base of the Tiny Mini house is a small, vintage, vertical card. Setting the house at an angle leaves a little more room for landscaping. It also provides some visual interest. The sidewalk will be curved and one side of the yard will be larger than the other.

I think this little house looks cozy and warm.

I like to choose colors from the card to paint the putz house.

I found the tiny snowman on Amazon. He is about 5/8 of an inch tall. The bottle brush trees are decorated with faux snow. While the snow was wet, I sprinkled micro beads in silver and blue on the trees. Search “nail beads” or “caviar beads” for other colors.

There are a lot of ways to embellish and landscape a putz house. As you make putz, you will find the style you enjoy the most. Then practice, practice, practice. Your own style will develop as you make more putz houses.

If you have any questions about these houses, or about creating your own putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

If you would like to see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

If you are interested in crafting Putz houses of your own, check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  

https://christmasnotebook.com/putz-little-glitter-houses/

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. They work with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda  🙂

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seasonal putz houses / Valentine’s Day

October 30, 2024 – 6:01 pm

When I started the hobby of making putz houses, I made only winter / Christmas houses. Eventually, I thought about making seasonal houses. I expanded into spring, summer and autumn, in addition to the winter putz.

For spring, I make Valentine houses, Irish cottages for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter houses and churches, and spring flowering putz of all kinds. Houses, barns, churches. etc.

Summer houses are made with flower beds, a summer tree and perhaps a rocking chair on the porch. And, of course, Independence Day fireworks!

Autumn / Thanksgiving houses are all about pumpkins, sunflowers, autumn trees and fallen leaves.

Here are examples of Valentine houses I have made. The heart arch over the first house is made with a piece of wired, foil, heart garland. The sidewalk is made from scrapbook paper. The bottle brush trees were white. I painted them with acrylic craft paint and sprinkled glitter on the wet paint. The base is an upcycled greeting card.

This Valentine house has a second story, wrap-around porch. The porch posts are made from craft match sticks. The green and red, wired beads are from a Christmas garland that I took apart.

The sidewalk of this house is made with paper hearts. The pip stem tree is made of five pip stems, held together with hot glue at the base. The stems are wired and can be bent to fit the space. I like the way this one arches over the house. I painted the bottle brush tree red, using acrylic craft paint. While the paint was wet, I covered it with glitter.

The heart-punched fence used on this putz isn’t hard to make. You can find my tutorial for making the fence HERE. The stepping stone sidewalk is painted on the base, then outlined with faux moss which is glued down with hot glue.

This cute house is made with a heart-shaped cardboard box. The vine outlining the front of the house is made with mini pip stems. The mini-size pip stems can be hard to find. I get the pink ones (also mini red pips) from the Etsy shop SilkyBlossom. The fence is a wooden picket fence. It is made from wooden, coffee stir sticks. My tutorial for making picket fences is HERE.

This house features a budding, pip stem tree and a flowering vine. The vine is made by gluing flowers and pips onto the house, then tucking small bits of faux moss into the line of flowers to tie it together. I use hot glue to attach the flowers and moss to the house. The fence is made by using a scallop scissor for the top of a 1/2″ poster board strip, then cutting triangles from the bottom of the strip to make the heart shape.

The arch over this house is made from pip stems. They meet in the middle, at the top. Pip clusters were used as flowers on either side of the house. The clusters have shiny pips and berry pips in each little section. Each section can be cut from the main bunch and used as a cluster of flowers or budding flowers. The stepping stone sidewalk is painted on the base and outlined with faux moss.

Pip stems make great vines on houses. I almost always put a vine on the Irish cottages I make. The vine on the first house below is made with mini pip stems. I used to decorate the backs of houses with artificial foliage, but don’t do that as often as I used to. The red foliage does look good with the second house. The “Happy Valentine’s Day” is written with Stickles glitter glue. The shutters on the third house form a heart cutout when closed. They are not made to stay closed, however. I made the shutters as part of the window frame.

I will continue this series of seasonal houses with a blog post about the Irish cottages I make for St. Patrick’s Day.

I also plan to write a post on how my putz art has changed over the past fifteen years or so. Stay tuned for that!

If you have any questions about these houses, or about creating your own putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

If you would like to see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

If you are interested in crafting Putz houses of your own, check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  https://christmasnotebook.com/putz-little-glitter-houses/

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. They work with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz Houses | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

mini size autumn putz house

October 27, 2024 – 5:19 pm

Using the same pattern as the last house I made, I made this one in a MINI size. It is 5 1/2″ wide by 3 1/2″ deep. It is 4″ high, as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the chimneys.

The smaller sizes are fun to work with, though the smallest, a TINY MINI, is a bit harder to construct and to decorate than the larger sizes. It is challenging to find small enough foliage to embellish the smallest size. Most of my TINY MINI houses are winter houses. The snow makes it easy to decorate them.

Each of my putz houses has the traditional hole in the back to allow the use of an LED light string.

This little house is decorated with sunflowers, other paper flowers and velvet forget-me-nots. It comes with puffs of smoke so the fireplaces can be lit to ward off the autumn chill.

Four steps lead to the front door. Pips can be used as flowers or buds. In the left picture below, the white pips can be seen on either side of the door. The putz is sprinkled with tiny, fallen, autumn leaves.

In the right picture, I used stems of tiny foam balls to put down a hedge just inside the fence. They come in many colors and can be found on Etsy. The brighter yellow ones on the corner of the base are the same thing. I stripped them off the stem and glued clumps down along the fence.

Etsy is a great source for flowers and other embellishments, such as the fallen leaves and the black cat on the back of the house.

If you have any questions about creating putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

If you would like to see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

If you are interested in crafting Putz houses of your own, check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  https://christmasnotebook.com/putz-little-glitter-houses/

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. They work with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

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autumn putz house in yellow and blue

October 23, 2024 – 5:14 pm

An autumn putz house is always fun to embellish. The base for this house, and the large steps to the front door, didn’t leave room for an autumn tree. I filled the yard with velvet and paper flowers, faux foliage and faux moss. The entire creation is sprinkled with fallen autumn leaves.

The base is made from a beautiful greeting card. The yellow, blue and dark coral colors of the card inspired the colors of the house. The back has the traditional hole for lighting this little house with an LED light string. Note the tiny black cat chasing leaves in the back yard.

The fence is made from poster board cut with decorative scissors. Five steps lead to the front door.

Fallen leaves are spinkled on the roof and along the sidewalk. I always enjoy the landscaping of an autumn hosue.. The colors, the leaves and the flowers make a beautiful yard.

If you have any questions about creating putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

If you would like to see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

If you are interested in crafting Putz houses of your own, check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  https://christmasnotebook.com/putz-little-glitter-houses/

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. They work with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz Houses | Tagged , | Comments (0)

tiny-mini, winter, putz house features three bottle brush trees

October 20, 2024 – 11:25 pm

I make putz houses in three sizes. TINY MINI is the smallest size. On average, they are about 2″ tall. This tiny-mini house is 2 1/2″ wide, 1 1/4″ deep and 2″ tall (not counting the base). In the picture on the left, it’s ready for landscaping, which is my favorite part of the process. On the right, the putz is completed.

The base is made from a cute, vintage Christmas greeting card. The base is 3 3/8″ wide and 4 3/4″ tall, as shown in the picture. The putz house has a hole in the back to allow the use of an LED light string for lighting this and other putz houses in your little glitter village.

The colors of the Christmas card inspired the colors of the putz house.

The yard is enclosed with a poster board fence, complete with six fence posts.

There are three bottle brush trees in the yard. They are embellished with faux snow, silver micro beads and clear glitter. The front of the house and the front corners of the fence are decorated with red berries.

A puff of smoke is included, in case your holiday evenings are chilly. The smoke is tucked into the chimney and can be easily removed if not needed

The tiny-mini putz house fits in the palm of my hand.

If you have any questions about creating putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

If you would like to see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

If you are interested in crafting Putz houses of your own, check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  https://christmasnotebook.com/putz-little-glitter-houses/

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. They work with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz Houses | Tagged , | Comments (0)

mini-size wintery putz house with doe and fawn

October 17, 2024 – 10:59 pm

These two putz houses are made from the same pattern. The MINI size house on the left, is 3 7/8″ wide and 2 3/4″ tall. The ORIGINAL size on the right is 5″ wide and 4″ tall.

The base features two cardinals on a snowy holly branch. The back of the house has a hole for the use of an LED light string for lighting this little house.

The house features a snow-lined tree and two deer.

The hedge around the yard is made from trimmed, 1/2″ evergreen roping. To learn how to make hedges for your putz houses, click the link to my tutorial. How to make an evergreen hedge for a putz house.

If you have any questions about creating putz houses, please ask. I am happy to share what I have learned about the art of putzing.

If you would like to see more of my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

If you are interested in crafting Putz houses of your own, check out my putz tutorials for more information. My blog can be searched, as well. Some of the turorials haven’t been listed on the tutorial page. Working on that!  https://christmasnotebook.com/putz-little-glitter-houses/

All proceeds from my Etsy shop benefit Kenya Mercy Ministries. They work with the urban poor of Nairobi, Kenya, particularly the children and their families who live in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz Houses | Tagged , , | Comments (0)