My Etsy shop is low on MINI sized putz houses. I decided to use the same pattern to make a MINI winter house as I just used for an ORIGINAL size autumn house. The autumn base is 6 1/2″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep, and the house is 5 1/8″ tall. The base for the winter house is 5 3/4″ wide by 4″ deep. The Putz is 4″ tall.
To make a pattern in a MINI size, I copy it at 75% of the original pattern. The smaller size is a bit harder to work with. The hardest part for me is to make sure the window and door frames aren’t too wide for the size. That’s even harder with a TINY MINI size which is copied at 50% of the original. I cut one of those out today, in this same pattern. I’ll be constructing it tomorrow. Stay tuned!
The base is made from an upcycled greeting card. The picture doesn’t show when the house is displayed, but it is a fun surprise when the house is picked up and the picture is discovered. I use the colors on the card to determing the colors of the putz house. This card features a vintage town scene, with Santa in attendance. The back of the house has a hole to permit the use of an LED light string to bring the house to life.
The barren, snow-covered tree is made from an armature. You can see my tutorial for leafed armature trees on my blog. I plan to write a tutorial for making snow-covered trees soon.
There are two bottle brush trees on this putz. The larger one is decorated with pearl beads in a coordinating shade of blue. The smaller tree has snow and clear glitter. A tiny snowman stands nearby.
The fence is made from poster board, cut with scallop scissors. When I cut poster board for fencing, I cut a 1″ wide strip of poster board, divide it in half the long way with a pencil line, then cut along that line to get two pieces of fencing. When using a scallop scissor, the result is a rounded, scallop fence on one strip and a pointed fence on the other. I trimmed the flat side of the strip to shorten the fence a little bit to keep it in proportion for the MINI size 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.
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 🙂
2 Comments
I love your houses. I have learned so much from your tutorials and from studying your color choices, layout, and landscaping. Thanks so much for all you give us. I am currently making a village in the same scale as your mini. A lot of fun using what I have learned from you.
Pat, thank you so much for your kind comments. You made my day. 🙂 I’m happy to hear you are working on your own village! Have fun with that! I have several tutorials in mind. Need to find time to edit and post those. Stay tuned!