Author Archives: ~~Rhonda

Living in a small town, I share my life with my husband Russell (married in 1977), five children (one still at home), and six cats (one indoors, the others outside).

I teach an online class called “The Christmas Notebook” which is about all things holiday prep. The many facets of celebrating Christmas comprises one of my favorite hobbies. Other favorite things include gardening, reading, cooking, and scrapbooking.

TINY MINI winter putz … one of three sizes

The last three putz I made were made from the same pattern, but in different sizes. In general, ORIGINAL size putz are 5″-6″ tall. MINI tend to be 3″-4″ tall. TINY MINI are most often 1″-2″ tall. Sizes will vary slightly depending on the pattern. Churches will be taller due to the steeple height, but […]

mini size winter putz house

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 […]

bright autumn house with sunflowers and tiny pumpkins

Pictures don’t do this little putz house justice. This is a bright and cheerful autumn house. The base is made from a beautiful autumn card. On the back of the putz, a tiny, flat, black cat is playing in the shrubbery. The fence is made of poster board, cut with decorative scissors. Puffs of smoke […]

paint a pip stem for any color you need

Today, I’m talking about pip stems. If you aren’t familiar with them by name, you may recognize them when seen below. These are my drawers of pip stems, mostly organized by color. There are two sizes of pip stems. The larger size is most often found. The mini size is harder to find. You can […]

cute autumn house with handcrafted pumpkins

I cut the pattern for this house yesterday. I painted and assembled it, and did a little bit of landscaping. I finished the landscaping today, It went together quickly because it’s a fairly simple pattern. There aren’t as many pieces to paint as some other patterns have. The base measures 5 1/2″ wide by 3 […]

add fallen leaves for a soft autumn touch

I set this little house aside because it needed something extra. I knew it needed sunflowers, so I ordered those. I also thought it needed something above the second floor window over the door. I added a decorative beam, and called it good. I photographed the needed shots and posted them to the blog on […]

autumn putz house, sprinkled with fallen leaves

A sweet autumn house, with a yard bursting with flowers and littered with fallen leaves. A beautiful card makes the perfect base for the autumn / Thanksgiving house. The back of the house is fitted with the traditional hole for the use of an LED light string to brighten the house after the sun goes […]

two new putz houses, celebrating autumn

These autumn putz houses are listed in my Etsy shop. Two autumn houses, two looks. One with an autumn tree, one without. The bases on both houses are made from vertical greeting cards, rather than horizontal cards. If the house isn’t more than three inches wide, it should fit well on a vertical card. Wider […]

winter putz house in yellow and black green

This winter putz house is listed in my Etsy shop. It features a large bottle brush tree, decorated with faux snow, vintage red mercury beads and clear glitter. Puffs of smoke are included for those chilly winter evenings. The base measures 6 1/2″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep. The Putz is 5 1/2″ high, as […]

honey and green autumn house

I reversed this house pattern by folding the cut pieces backwards. On the left, the door is on the right side of the house. The autumn house has the door on the left side. Reversing the pattern can give different looks to the same pattern. Other changes can be made, too. On the left, the […]