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.

winter putz house in blue and buff yellow

This house is made from a pattern I drew last week. I love the way it turned out. Right down to the gorgeous aqua blue color. When I chose the card to use as the base, I assumed I would use the red and gold colors on the card as they are the most prevelent. […]

purple and green putz house with a summer garden

This summer house features a handcrafted wooden picket fence, a floral arbor with a tiny butterfly, and a budding vine growing on the house. The putz is 4 3/8″ wide by 6″ deep. It is 5 1/2″ tall, as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the chimney. The base is […]

tutorial / how to make an evergreen hedge for a putz house

Adding an evergreen hedge to a Putz house adds extra color and a change of pace from a fence cut from poster board. A hedge can be put around the yard, against a building or along a sidewalk. My personal preference is the evergreen that has some brown in it. Completely green is fine, too. […]

original size winter church in light blue and tan

I finished the winter church yesterday. The faux snow (Aleene’s True Snow) takes a few hours to set and a few days to completely dry. I photographed it today, but it won’t be ready to ship for a few more days. The church features a snow-covered winter tree and a surrounding hedge. The base is […]

original size autumn putz church in gray and yellow

The gray Thanksgiving / Autumn church is listed in my Etsy shop. It has a deep yellow roof and steeple. The Putz features a handcrafted autumn tree, four handcrafted pumpkins, a surrounding autumn hedge and a vine growing over the church roof. The base is made from an upcycled greeting card which features a beautiful […]

tutorial / autumn trees using lichen

This tutorial shows how I use preserved, dyed reindeer lichen to make autumn trees for Putz houses. Lichen is not a moss. Moss is a plant. Lichen is not a plant, but a combination of fungi and algae. Just FYI. 🙂 To make an autumn tree, you will need the following supplies. I don’t receive […]

tutorial / autumn trees using sponge foliage

In this tutorial, I will explain how to make autumn trees using sponge clump foliage, as shown below in the first picture. Also note the way the sponge material is used as shrubs in all four pictures. I will publish a second post explaining how I use preserved lichen. The second picture above, and two […]

tutorial / make leafed trees using armatures, part 2

The first part of this tutorial can be found here: tutorial / make leafed model trees using armatures, part 1 Part 1 explained how I use wired tree armatures to make the trunk and branches for Putz house trees. I also make trees from the stems of flowers I use for embellishing Putz houses. That’s […]

original size, honey yellow and blue, winter putz house

I haven’t made many winter houses lately. It’s fun to get back into that season. I used the same pattern (020824) for this house as the summer one I just finished. I added two windows above the door, and used a long chimney on the left side, rather than a small chimney on the roof. […]

tutorial / make leafed trees using armatures, part 1

I make leafed trees for summer and autumn putz houses. To make an armature tree, you will need these supplies: Armatures come in several sizes. I use the 3″ to 5″ sizes most often, and I purchase them on Amazon. A bag contains 28 armatures. In the picture, the two at the top are from […]