open doors welcome you to Easter services

March 5, 2026 – 9:30 pm

This pink and blue Easter church features a pip stem tree, a tiny bird nest and beautiful spring flowers.

The base is made from an upcycled, Easter greeting card which pictures a rabbit and a Bible verse. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17a, KJV

The colors of the greeting card inspire the colors of the church. The hole in the back gives access for illuminating the church with a small LED light string.

The base measures 6 1/2″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep. The putz is 7 3/4″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the steeple.

The yard contains velvet forget-me-nots, mulberry paper flowers, and faux moss. A sprinkle of pale pink, pearl beads adds a soft shimmer among the flowers.

The pip stem tree holds a tiny bird nest with three yellow eggs. The nest is made from paper-covered wire. The eggs are faux candy sprinkles.

The construction process starts with cutting the pattern pieces, constructing the individual components, painting them, and gluing them together. When the building is painted and glittered, it’s attached to the base and the landscaping can begin.

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

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!

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.

Tutorials / Putz and Glitter Houses

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz churches, spring, spring putz house | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

winter church has unusual holiday color scheme

March 5, 2026 – 7:34 pm

Most Christmas greeting cards tend to use red and green, silver and gold, etc. When I saw this greeting card, I immediately wanted to use it as the base for a winter church. The unusual color scheme of pale orange and light purple drew me in.

The base measures 7 1/8″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep. The putz is 8″ high, as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the steeple.

Occassionaly, it is difficult to find a card wide enough to use as the base for a wide putz building. This church is 5 3/4″ wide. When making the base, the available surface loses 1/2″. That is 1/4″ on each side of the base, resulting in a base that is 1/4″ high. Some bases are 1/2″ high so those lose an inch of surface space.

The hole in the back allows the use of a small LED light string to illuminate the church.

I love the tall steeple on this church. The round window above the door is covered with a flattened bead cap. I kept the landscaping simple. I used one, white bottle brush tree. It’s decorated with faux snow and clear glitter.

The fence is made of poster board, cut with decorative scissors.

A silver, metal bell hangs in the steeple.

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

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!

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.

Tutorials / Putz and Glitter Houses

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Christmas, Putz / glitter houses, Putz churches, winter putz | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Easter church with a tiny bird’s nest

February 15, 2026 – 8:05 pm

With other things that needed to be done, I wasn’t able to finish the Easter church until yesterday.

The Putz measures 6 1/2″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep. The Putz is 8″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the steeple. The base is made from an upcycled, Easter greeting card. It features two spring lambs and the verse from Psalm 20:17.

A hole in the back allows the use of a small LED light string for lighting this and other glitter houses in your glitter house village. A gold, metal bell hangs freely in the bell tower.

The budding tree is made from pip stems. The fence is made from poster board, cut with scalloped scissors. The fence posts are made from a 1/4″ square wooden rod. I cut the wooden rod to length with wire cutters.

Mulberry paper flowers and velvet forget-me-nots embellish the church yard. A tiny bird’s nest can be found in the budding tree.

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 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz churches | Comments (0)

catio weather in february

February 11, 2026 – 12:27 pm

Yesterday brought a high temp of 71°. It was a beautiful day to work on the catio for the first time in a long time. I took my notebook and my computer and my lunch outside and sat on the screened porch all afternoon. The cats came along.

Clark amused himself by sniffing furniture. Riley did some sunbathing. Ski was on alert near the back door. He is always watching for Hank, the feral cat. Ski takes his job as guard and protector quite seriously.

Russell came home at noon and we toured the yard to see what’s up. A few daffodils were showing the tips of their stems. Some are up about two inches. Others are waiting for warmer days.

Clark thought we should get back inside the catio and deliver his daily pets.

While he was home, Russell opened a few windows and turned on the whole-house fan. It’s always nice to air out the house in winter.

Did you get warmer weather yesterday? I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in cats, our garden, winter | Comments (0)

valentine putz with a candy heart sidewalk

February 11, 2026 – 11:07 am

This little house features a sidewalk made of wooden “candy” hearts. Mulberry paper flowers and pearl beads embellish the yard.

The fence is made of poster board punched with little hearts. You can find the tutorial here:

Heart-punched Fence

I found the wooden “candy” hearts on Etsy. The love letters are also from Etsy. The pip stem vine can be found on Etsy, as well. These are tiny pips, smaller that the ones usually found. The shop has mini red pip stems, too.

The base is 4″ wide and 6″ deep. The putz is 5 1/4″ tall, as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the chimneys.

I construct all my putz from scratch and cut each piece by hand. The paint mixture includes very fine sand for a bit of vintage flavor.

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  🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Valentine | Comments (0)

lovely little valentine house

February 5, 2026 – 11:22 am

I cut my patterns by hand. After cutting, the pieces are painted, then assembled. This Valentine house is decoupaged with tissue paper. Some of the pictures make the house look pink, but it is white with pink hearts.

The base is made from an upcycled greeting card that features two raccoons exchanging Valentine cards.

The yard has two bottle brush trees, a pip stem tree, and pink and white flowers. The bottle brush trees are decorated with pearl beads. The fence is made from poster board. I cut the top of the fence with scallop scissors and used my 6″ Fiskars craft scissors to cut the bottom.

The sidewalk is made from scrapbook paper. It is glued to the base and red glitter glue was used to highlight the red hearts on the sidewalk. A string of tiny beads fit perfectly under the eaves.

A secret Valentine admirer left three cards on the front step.

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  🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

warm welcome on Christmas Eve

January 31, 2026 – 7:33 pm

The periwinkle house is placed on a base made from an upcycled Christmas card. The colors for the putz are inspired by the colors of the greeting card. Each putz has a hole on the back to allow the use of small LED light strings to illuminate the putz.

The picket fence for this house is made from slivered, coffee stir sticks. I use a craft knife to cut each stir stick into two long pieces and use wire cutters to cut the point. Then I cut the length of the idividual pickets, using the wire cutters. The fence posts are made from 1/4″ by 1/4″ balsa wood rods. I cut them with the wire cutters.

There are two steps leading to the front door. I made the steps from a 1/8″ balsa wood sheet. For the sidewalk, I painted three stepping stones directly on the base. The bottle brush tree is decorated with faux snow, vintage mercury beads and clear glitter.

The process begins with cutting the pattern pieces and getting them ready to assemble. I draw all the patterns I use. This one was drawn in July of 2025. The pieces are painted, then assembled and glued to the base. The landscaping is the last step. I add a sidewalk and steps if needed, a fence or hedge is usually added, then the individual bits and pieces. Those could be trees, snowmen, animals, etc., for winter houses.

Spring, summer and autumn houses are embellished with seasonal appropriate trees, flowers, and/or vines. The spring house fence is made from poster board, cut with decorative scissors. The Irish cottage has a “stone” fence made from foam core.

Holidays other than Christmas may include decorations for a specific holiday, such as “fireworks” for a Fourth of July house. I made the picket fences for both of these houses.

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  🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

going home to a Christmas mid-century

January 25, 2026 – 8:58 pm

This is the third mid-century pattern I’ve drawn.

The card used to make the base is from the Retro Christmas Card Company. I bought the wide ones last year. They measure 4″ by 9 1/4″. I checked this year and they have only one style in this size listed. They do have the same pictures of the cards I have, but they are in the 5.25″ by 7.8″ size.

I cut everything by hand. I don’t use die cuts when making putz houses.

When choosing colors for the putz, I first chose a blue color, but later chose an aqua instead.

The base is 8 3/4″ wide and 3 1/2″ deep. The putz is 4 1/4″ high as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the roof.

Because the putz is so wide, I put two light holes on the back. I used only one small, LED light string, though, and as you can see in the first picture, the putz is well lit.

I have had a few custom orders where the customer asked for a plain base, but for the rest I use Christmas cards to make the bases of my putz houses.

The garland outlining the roofline is made from 1/4″ wide, evergreen chenille stems. I glued blue, vintage, mercury beads and small red beads to the garland as ornaments.

A puff of smoke is included. Just in case you’re weathering a winter storm and the power goes out.

The styalized trees are made from foam core board. I embellished them with red glitter glue as ornaments.

Below are the two mid-century putz I made in 2023. The one on the right has a breeze brick wall. The wall was 3D printed by a friend’s son.

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  🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

framed by snow-lined winter trees

January 19, 2026 – 3:33 pm

This winter putz house features two bare winter trees, outlined with snow. I make the trees from model tree armatures. The base is made from an upcycled greeting card. It measures 6 1/2″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep. The putz is 5 1/8″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the chimneys. The back of the putz has a hole that allows the use of a small LED light string to illuminate the house.

This house went together quickly. I haven’t used bare trees for a while, so I decided to put two in this yard.

The top view shows the entire yard. Craft stuffing serves as puffs of smoke.

This house has a handcrafted picket fence. I made the fence from slivered popsicle sticks.

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.

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  🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

it may be winter, but i see spring

January 18, 2026 – 4:55 pm

Last Tuesday afternoon, when the temps reached 64°, we toured the yard. We found some signs of spring. The daffodils are coming up. For reference, I’m writing this Sunday afternoon and the temp is 25°. I’m staying in today, but it’s good to know spring is ready and waiting for the right time to show up.

We also saw what we think are surprise lilies checking out the conditions.

The Lenten Rose can stay green all winter, though is often battered to the ground by the time spring arrives. It is an early bloomer, showing up in March to April.

On the left, is the Lenten Rose in March of 2011. They don’t mind the snow. The right hand picture is the same plant in April of 2018. When we to our current home four years ago, we moved many plants, including starts from the Lenten Rose.

We believe we have a responsibility to support the natural ecosystem. It’s a process we are building on each year. Not everyone has the room or desire to have a brush pile, but we have two that provide shelter, nesting and protection for birds and little critters. This fall, we enclosed the piles with fencing to keep them neatly contained. In this picture, the bare ground in front of the brush pile had been home to branches picked up from the yard. Now those sticks and branches are confined to one spot. The logs to the left will be used to outline paths in the back yard.

The woodchipped walks, outlined with logs, fit well with our efforts to proved a natural setting for the animals, birds and insects we want to support.

Please give some thought to how you can support the ecosystem in your own yard. Plant native plants, shrubs and trees that support our local wildlife.. Provide water for wild life. Compost paper and cardboard. Even the smallest effort can provide big benefits for wild life.

Come on spring. We are waiting for you.

PS, to see my putz houses, as well as Christmas ornaments I have made from upcycled holiday greeting cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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  🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)