Christmas Notebook

When I began to make Putz churches, I had to devise a way to hang bells in the bell towers. Following is the method I use. The bells hang freely from a small chain and swing back and forth if the church is moved. Two examples…

Basically, I make a ceiling for the bell tower and hang the bell from the ceiling. I assemble the ceiling and bell as a complete part before placing it in the tower.

Supplies needed:

• Cardboard piece for the bell tower ceiling
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Acrylic paint
• White Glue
• Sand / optional for vintage-style texture
• Paint brush
• Glitter
• Glitter tray
• A small bell / The type I use are called “liberty bells” in craft supply stores. They are available in gold and silver.
• Short piece of chain link
• Wire cutters
• Needle-nose tweezers
• Small jump ring
• Hot glue gun

After cutting the pattern pieces, assemble the church to the point of placing the bell. If the pattern you are using doesn’t have a pattern piece for hanging the bell, cut one from cardboard that is the size and shape of your bell tower. The belltower I am using is a 3/4″ square, so I cut 3/4″ square of poster board.

Mark the center of the ceiling piece by drawing an X from the corners through the middle of the pattern piece.

Use a sharp-pointed tool to drill a hole in the center of the ceiling piece. My tool is a bead reamer.

Cut a small piece of chain.

Attach the bell to the chain, using a small jump ring.

Paint the ceiling. Let it dry. Give it a second coat, and while the paint is still wet, coat it with glitter. When the paint is dry, reopen the hole, if needed. I also paint and glitter the inside of the bell tower because it is visible when the Putz church is finished.

0

Pull the chain through the hole.

Set the ceiling on top the tower structure.

Adjust the chain until the bell sits where you want it.

Hot glue into place by putting a glob of hot glue over the loose end of the chain. Place a thin line of glue around the edge of the ceiling. Make it thin so the steeple roof will be able to sit in place when assembled. Too much hot glue and the roof won’t fit properly.

At this point, continue to assemble your Putz church. Here’s the one I made today. I still need to add a front walk and embellishments.

I think the swinging bell adds a nice touch to the Putz church.

If you are interested in crafting some 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 slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda

Supplies needed:

Beads or miniature ornaments
Bottle brush tree
Needle-nose tweezers
Hot glue gun
Star bead for the tree topper
Long-nose pliers
White tacky glue
Aleene’s True Snow
Palette knife or other blade
Clear glitter
Glitter tray

To decorate a bottle brush tree with ornaments, I use any combination of miniature ornaments, vintage mercury beads, glass beads, seed beads, metallic beads, etc. BTW, I love these bead storage boxes. They make sorting, storing and finding my many beads and embellishments easy to do.

Pearl beads make great ornaments and they come in a lot of different colors and sizes. I prefer glass beads over plastic ones.

For this project, I chose a 4″ bottle brush tree and red pearl beads in varied sizes.

I find a needle-nosed tweezer a great tool when working with beads. I always start with the largest size beads, then move progressively down to the smallest size.

Add some hot glue…

…and press the bead into the tree. I try to set the bead so the holes on the bead don’t show, but I don’t get too picky. Holes that show when the beads are all applied can be covered by artificial snow.

First bead on…

I like to set them in deep enough that the bead doesn’t stick out too far from the tree.

Here is the tree with the first size bead scattered around the tree, leaving room for smaller beads between.

I used four sizes of beads on this tree.

To add a star to the top of the tree, I use long-nose pliers to clear the top of the tree. Just grab the tip of the tree wire with the pliers and turn the tree back and forth till any snow and bristles are cleaned from the tip of the wire.

I apologize for the poor focus of this picture, but it does show what you should have when the long-nose pliers have done their job.

At this point, check to see if your bead star will slide onto the tip of the wire. If it does, skip the next few steps and proceed to glue the star onto the wire tip. If the bead hole is too small to fit over the twisted wire tip, follow the next few steps.

Grab the tip of the wire with the long-nose pliers and twist the pliers counter-clockwise while holding the tree in place. This will untwist the two wires that make up the trunk of the tree.

Use wire cutters to snip off the more twisted wire, if one is more twisted than the other. Leave one wire.

Use the pliers to straighten the remaining wire as much as possible.

Apple white tacky glue to the wire and on the very top of the branches. This will help hold the star in place.

Slide the star onto the wire.

There will be a hole in the top of the bead. That needs a dot of glue.

The white tacky glue will dry clear.

The tree can be done at this point, if you are happy with the look. I like to add lots of snow, so read on if you want to snow your tree.

When the glue is dry (I wait overnight to be sure it is cured), add the artificial snow. I put Aleene’s True Snow in a squeeze bottle to apply it. A palette knife is a good tool for spreading the snow.

Crafting Tip: I keep a small container on my desk. I am in the habit of dropping small items I am using into this dish so I am able to find them when needed. The small red cap for the squeeze bottle is a good example. If you could see the usual condition of my craft counter, you would understand why I need this dish!

I like to start at the top of the tree when applying the artificial snow. Work around the star. The snow won’t harden right away, so there is plenty of time to clean surfaces that should be clear.

Apply snow in horizontal lines around the tree, keeping beads mostly clear.

Use the palette knife, swiping in horizonal lines around the tree, to spread the snow. Add more snow if needed.

Sprinkle with glitter, using a glitter tray or paper to catch the extra glitter. I am using glass glitter on this tree, but any kind will work.

Give your tree a look over and fill in any spots that look like they need more snow and apply more glitter. Here the star is clean and all the snow has been covered with glitter.

The snow needs an hour or so to dry enough to be handled. Then the tree is ready to use as a decoration in your little glitter house village or as a tree on a Putz house base. When I use these bottle brush trees on a Putz base, I glue the tree down with hot glue, then cover the tree’s base with more snow and glitter.

I plan to write a post about using bead strings to decorate bottle brush trees. When it is finished, I’ll add the link here.

If you are interested in crafting some 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 slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda

This post shares how I “snow” bottle brush trees for a lush look on my Putz house displays.

Supplies needed for snowing and glittering bottle brush trees:

• bottle brush trees
• Aleene’s True Snow
• Squeeze Bottle
• Palette Knife or other blade
• Hot Glue Gun
• Glitter / My most used glitter is Spectra Glitter Clear. I also like to use glass glitter.
• Glitter tray or other option for catching extra glitter

In this post, I’ll show you how I make a bottle brush tree with just the snow and glitter. In a few days, in another post, I’ll show how I make them with ornaments and bead strings.

If the bottle brush tree has a plastic base, I put some hot glue on that to be sure the tree stays attached. I have found the wooden bases stay on well, but the plastic ones tend to come loose. I cover the bases with Aleene’s True Snow when putting the finishing touches on my Putz houses, so I just glob a good amount of glue on top the base, catching the lower branches and the wire trunk, to keep the tree in place.

I put the True Snow in a squeeze bottle. I use bottles sold for decorating cookies with royal icing. I like to put snow on the top of the tree first.

Then I squeeze some snow out in horizontal lines all the way around the tree. I forgot to do the top first on this particular one…

After the snow is on the tree, I use a palette knife to spread the snow, swiping across the snow in a horizontal direction.

In the following picture, you can see a hole in the branches just above the tip of the palette knife.

To fill those holes, I poke the nozzle of the squeeze bottle in there and squeeze out enough snow to fill the void.

The tip of the squeeze bottle can be used to spread the “snow” around a bit, blending it in with the other snow.

Then, while the snow is still wet, pour on the glitter of your choice. Cover the entire tree. Pour over a glitter tray to catch the extra. If you don’t have a glitter tray you can use a sheet of paper to catch the extra glitter, then fold the paper to pour the extra glitter back into the glitter bottle.

A nice full tree! Lots of snow and glitter.

To attach the tree, I use hot glue on the bottom of the tree. I like to use needle-nosed tweezers to hold the tree in the right position for placing on the base.

FYI, the “picket fence” is made from corrugated cardboard.

The heavily “snowed” trees make a beautiful snowy scene. I will write another post soon to show you how I make the stepping stones like the ones in front of this little green Putz house.

To finish the look of the trees, I always cover the bases. I don’t like to see the plastic base on the completed Putz.

Using the squeeze bottle of Aleene’s True Snow, I apply snow all the way around the base.

It looks like this before I spread it out.

I use the palette knife to spread out the snow.

Done…

I place the house in the glitter tray and pour glitter all around the tree.

Done…

And almost done…I added a deer after I took this picture. It seemed to need something in that big open space…

If you are interested in crafting some 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 slum in Africa. Thank you for your part in helping these children when you purchase items from my shop!

~~Rhonda

This ivory and honey brown Putz church was just finished. You can see it in my Etsy shop.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

It’s a very simple design with simple embellishments.

I love adding embellishments but sometimes less is best.

The colors coordinate with the picture on the base.

The back has a hole for the light string.

A tiny tube bead serves as a door handle.

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

During the past week or so, I have finished two Putz houses and two Putz barns. The barns have sold, and the houses are in my Etsy shop. ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

All proceeds from my shop support the work of Kenya Mercy Ministries. Purchases help children and their families who live in the largest slum in Africa.

This is the latest house I finished.

The bottle brush trees are decorated with nonfuntioning Christmas tree lights and a smiling snowman greets visitors in the front yard.

I drew the pattern in 2012 with inspiration from this vintage Putz house. I found the picture on Ebay, but there is no longer an applicable link.

The base…

I like to use Christmas cards for the base, so there is a little surprise on the bottom of the Putz house.

We left the lights on for you…

I designed the pattern for this cute little Putz house.

I love the colors on the Christmas card used as the base.

The red berries pick up on the red berries on the Christmas card.

This sweet, little red barn was inspired by the picture on the card. The barn has sold locally and will soon be off to a very good home.

I love this ivory and brown Putz barn which is on its way to Oklahoma. I almost kept it for my own collection, but it sold about five hours after I posted it, and I am glad to have the donation for Kenya Mercy Ministries.

Isn’t it cute with the lights on.

The base…

I had the perfect tiny horses for the barnyard.

I am currently working on a Putz house using this card and these paint colors.

I hope to have it ready to list in my Etsy shop by Monday. We will be celebrating my Dad’s 85th birthday tomorrow, so I won’t be in the craft room for a few days.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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