Christmas Notebook

I haven’t made a Putz schoolhouse before, so I looked online for some inspiration. I found a picture of the Kelley Historical Museum Schoolhouse. I based my Putz on the design of that schoolhouse.

The base is 6 1/4″ wide and 4 1/4″ deep. The Putz is 4 1/2″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the bell tower.

I use upcycled Christmas cards to make the bases for my Putz buildings.

It was harder than I thought it would be to find a card with kids playing for the schoolhouse. This one works well. The house in the picture is the right colors for the schoolhouse. By the way, I am always happy to receive donations of more cards, both holiday and otherwise! I don’t use any personal information on the card in the use of my crafts.

I made the wreath on the front of the schoolhouse from an evergreen chenille stem that I trimmed down to make it thinner.

The back includes the traditional hole for the use of tiny LED lights to light the schoolhouse.

So sweet when lights are added!

If you are interested in crafting Putz houses and bottle brush trees of your own, check out my Putz tutorials for more information. Putz House Tutorials

I am always happy to answer questions about the process. Please ask, if you are wondering about the details of putzing!

You can see my Putz houses and other Christmas ornaments in my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

I am a member of a Facebook group called “Glitter and Putz Houses.” A photo was posted by the group owner of a vintage Putz house. I liked the curved porch on the house so much that I wanted to replicate it. I drew a pattern that was much simpler than the original house, but kept the design of the porch the same.

The house colors are taken from the Christmas card used to make the base of the house.

This picture doesn’t do the card justice. It is a foil card, in red, gold, silver, and touches of green.

The bottle brush trees are decorated with vintage mercury beads of green and silver, with red beads used as tree toppers. The trees are dabbed with faux snow and sprinkled with glass glitter. The tiny tree on the balcony is decorated with faux snow and glass glitter.

I cut the bottom 1/3 off the smallest bottle brush tree I could find for the balcony tree. It sits in a red glass bead.

The back has the traditional hole used to allow the use of a small LED string for lighting the house.

This vintage-style Putz house has been listed in my Etsy shop. ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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!

If you are interested in crafting some Putz houses of your own, check out my Putz tutorials for more information. Putz house tutorials

I am always happy to answer questions about the process. Please ask, if you are wondering about the details of putzing!

~~Rhonda

I have several Putz to share. The first is a mini church.

When you tilt one of my Putz houses, you will find a surprise underneath.

The Christmas card I used for the base of this one is embellished with pretty gold foil.

These mini Putz are quite a bit smaller than my usual ones.

This mini teal barn has sold, but I’m adding it to the post because I like it so much.

The Christmas card I used for the base has teal on it. An unusual color for most Christmas cards. Cards that are appropriate for use with a Putz barn are sometimes hard to find. I thought this one would work, so I was willing to deal with the color. I’m glad I did because it turned out so well.

A tiny deer stands in the front yard.

The fence is made from wooden skewers for the posts and heavy-weight poster board for the boards.

The bottle brush trees were painted with white acrylic paint and dusted with iridescent glitter.

I drew the pattern for this Putz house from a photograph of a vintage Putz.

The base is made from a card with iridescent glitter on it.

I mimicked that iridescent glitter on the card by decorating the bottle brush trees with faux snow and iridescent glitter.

A view from the top.

I love the colors of this one.

The card has some gold foil, teals, purples and pinks with yellow highlights.

The hole in the back allows the use of a tiny LED light string.

I use my hand in pictures to give a sense of scale.

This yellow and dark red Putz house is a very traditional looking house.

I really liked the Christmas card. It looks so inviting.

The bottle brush trees are decorated with faux snow and vintage gold glitter.

It looks like it should be in a very traditional neighborhood.

Most of these Putz are listed in my Etsy shop. ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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!

If you are interested in crafting some Putz houses of your own, check out my Putz tutorials for more information. Putz house tutorials

I am always happy to answer questions about the process. Please ask, if you are wondering about the details of putzing!

~~Rhonda

I have been making some of my patterns in smaller sizes than I drew them initially. This pattern was fun to make in the mini sizes.

I copied the pattern at 80% of it’s original size for this house.

The colors for my Putz houses are dictated by the colors on the Christmas cards I use as the bases for the buildings. You can see my tutorial for making bases from greeting cards here:

Greeting Card Bases

I use a very fine glitter on the houses and a coarser glitter on the snow.

The pattern was copied at 60% of its original size for this little house. The smoke is polyester fiber fill, not batting.

I thought the tiny house needed a cute card.

Glowing and ready for Christmas Eve!

These Putz houses, and many more, have been listed in my Etsy shop. ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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!

If you are interested in crafting some Putz houses of your own, check out my Putz tutorials for more information. Putz house tutorials

I am always happy to answer questions about the process. Please ask, if you are wondering about the details of putzing!

~~Rhonda

I have become intrigued by small Putz houses. It began when I drew a pattern to match the barn pictured on a particular Christmas card. When the pattern was done, I realized the finished Putz was too wide to fit the card properly, so I reduced the pattern to 80%, using my printer. Because I liked the smaller size so much, I began to do some of my older patterns in smaller sizes.

Yesterday, I finsihed this one. It’s 70% of the size of the original pattern. The base measures 4 1/2″ wide and 3 3/8″ deep. The Putz is 3″ tall from the bottom of the base to the top of the roof.

This is the original. The base is 5 5/8″ wide and 4″ deep. The Putz is 4 1/2″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the roof.

The mini version has this sleepy Christmas kitty on the base.

All my Putz use a greeting card as the base. The colors of the house coordinate with the colors of the greeting card.

The metal cover over the tiny hole above the door is a flattened bead cap.

The front walk is first sculpted from faux snow and then sprinkled with glitter.

The larger bottle brush tree is decorated with string beads. The tiny tree has the same beads, but they have been cut into individual pieces. String beads also embellish the underside of the curved roof over the door.

This tiny house has been listed in my Etsy shop. ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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!

If you are interested in crafting some Putz houses of your own, check out my Putz tutorials for more information. Putz house tutorials

I am always happy to answer questions about the process. Please ask, if you are wondering about the details of putzing!

~~Rhonda