two new putz houses, celebrating autumn

October 1, 2024 – 7:20 pm

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 houses usually need a horizontal card. That is the general rule of thumb. There are always exceptions, of course.

The cards I use are donated to me by family and friends. Sometimes I get an oversized card. Love those! Sometimes a large card will have room for two buildings, but it doesn’t happen often. Shout out to everyone who has donated cards for my projects! You are very much appreciated! If you’re wondering, yes, I can always use more cards. They are a constant source of inspiration. They are made into bases for my putz houses, and many are used to make Christmas ornaments.

The tutorial for making trees using armatures, as the tree shown below was made, can be found here: tutorial / make leafed trees using armatures, part 1 The tutorial includes the link to part 2.

The house on the right has a handcrafted, wooden picket fence, made from wooden, coffee stir sticks. That tutorial is here: tutorial / making picket fences for Putz houses / 2024

The house on the left has a fence made from poster board, cut with decorative scissors. The house on the right has a wooden picket fence. There are a lot of ways to change up a putz house. Fencing is one way. I’ve used cinnamon sticks and twigs from the yard as fencing. Also, I’ve made stone fences, using foamcore board.

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.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

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winter putz house in yellow and black green

September 24, 2024 – 3:26 pm

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 measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the chimneys.

The base is made from an upcycled Christmas card featuring two chickadees perched on a branch of red berries. A hole in the back allows the use of a small LED light string for lighting this and other glitter houses in your glitter house village.

A light brown poster board fence, cut with decorative scissors, bounds the yard. Note the curved corners at the front of the fence.

Two steps lead to the front door. The large bottle brush tree is decorated with red, vintage mercury beads.

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.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

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honey and green autumn house

September 22, 2024 – 10:15 pm
~~Rhonda

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 upper story on the front has a window. On the right, that window was not cut. While landscaping, I added a decorative framing piece to the gable of the fall house. That can be seen in following pictures.

This cute autumn house features a handcrafted, wooden picket fence and handcrafted pumpkins. It is listed in my Etsy shop.

The stone sidewalk is made with embossed paper. The walk is lined with moss, flowers and pumpkins.

The greeting card used to make the base provided the inspiration for the pumpkins and sunflowers decorating the putz house. Behind the house, a tiny black cat is exploring the autumn shrubs.

I handcrafted the wooden, picket fence, using coffee stir sticks. Puffs of smoke are included with the putz house. Just in case the autumn evenings get too cool.

Landscaping the yard is one of my favorite parts of putzing.

I use new poster board to construct my putz houses. I draw all my own patterns and cut each piece by hand. No die cuts are used in the process of creating my little glitter buildings. Greeting cards are used to make the base and the colors and decorations of the putz house are inspired by the greeting card.

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.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

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orange and coral autumn church

September 22, 2024 – 12:55 pm

This pale orange and dark coral, autumn church is listed in my Etsy shop. It features a handcrafted wooden, picket fence, handcrafted pumpkins and a handcrafted autumn tree.

The base measures 4 7/8″ wide by 7 3/4″ deep. The Putz is 7 3/4″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the steeple.

The base is made from an upcycled greeting card featuring the words “Wishing you JOY at Thanksgiving” and a short verse. The word “JOY” is highlighted with copper foil. The traditional hole in the back allows the use of a small LED light string for lighting this and other glitter houses in your glitter house village.

I handcrafted the wooden picket fence from coffee stir sticks. Handcrafted fences can be made in many different patterns. The autumn tree is made with a tree armature, artificial foliage, and tiny leaf litter.

The churchyard has autumn shrubs made from sponge flock, five pumpkins, and tiny leaf litter.

My Putz houses are constructed of white poster board, from patterns I draw myself. Currently, I don’t sell patterns. I cut each piece by hand. No diecuts are used in the creation of my Putz houses. The base is made from an upcycled greeting card. Landscaping the yard, after the building and fence are glued to the base, is one of my favorite parts of creating these little Putz buildings.

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.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

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country drive

September 10, 2024 – 3:35 pm

The weather the past weekend was beautiful. REC and I took the opportunity to take a country drive. We went out to Old Salem Cemetery where family members rest. It is a quiet and peaceful place. Care is taken to treat it with respect, keeping it in good condition. Recently, the tombstones were professionally cleaned and they gleamed in the bright sunlight.

REC visited with family…

…and did a bit of birdwatching on the side.

The cemetery is bounded by woods on two sides and corn fields on the other two sides.

Childhood memories pop up when I’m taking a leisurely drive on the back roads. Not sure why. Maybe because we took country roads almost every Sunday to have dinner at my maternal grandparents’ house or for a visit at my paternal grandparents’ home.

Dad always drove. Mom always talked about what she saw out the car window. She loved any wooded area and she’d talk about what was blooming in the woods, how beautiful the leaves were in the fall, how tall the goldenrod was growing along the road, how peaceful a fresh snowfall looked in the woods.

Country roads link me to my childhood. They link me to my mother.

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in the garden

September 2, 2024 – 8:07 pm

The weather was beautiful today. I went outside and supervised while my husband worked in the yard. We plan to have some topsoil added to the yard as the dirt is so poor. To get ready for that, DH potted some hosta that were going to be in the way of the new dirt. Hosta do great in pots as long as they are watered. We have some potted hosta arranged around the old pump fountain.

The hosta in the back, to the right, is ‘Green Fountain.’ It has been planted in the same old, iron kettle for at least fifteen years. When it was moved to our current home last year, DH pulled it out, added some new soil and put it back in the kettle. It has always thrived. A few of the hosta around the pump are in plastic pots. We are changing those out to ceramic pots a few at a time. When we moved to this house a few years ago, DH potted plants from the old garden in every pot we could get our hands on. As it turned out, our older son and his family bought our previous house and now we have perpetual access to the old garden.

A few weeks ago, we had a tree crew take out one of our large oak trees. It has been failing over the past year of so. I asked that they leave a stump, and I asked that they cut the trunk into rounds for use in the garden. They will make nice places to sit for a while, or we can use them as side tables next to the concrete benches in the garden. DH counted the rings in the trunk. It was about 50 years old. Our small yard has maybe eight more oaks that look like they could have been planted at the same time. They line the west and the north sides of our yard.

About ten feet behind this tree is our neighbor’s ten acres. He is actively planting new trees. We love the view! It’s like having a private park in our backyard.

Every season has been beautiful. Below, Winston enjoys a spring sunset with a side of daffodils on the craft desk. It has been nice to watch the sun move north to south and back to north as the year goes by.

After DH’s bicycle accident on Memorial Day, he wasn’t able to work in the yard for two months. Now, at the end of the season, we are doing some catch-up. But it is always good to get outside and see what’s going on.

We have a water station by the back door of the catio, near the pump fountain. So far, we have seen feral cats, skunks, possoms, a fox, raccoons, Chuckles the ground hog, and even an armodillo making daily/nightly visits to the water station. We caught a nighttime picture of a raccoon and a skunk sharing the water with each other. This was several weeks ago, before DH planted a large hosta in the empty pot. Most visit at night, but Chuckles and the feral cats are daytime visitors, too.

I hope you enjoyed a peek at our yard.

My younger son, who oversees the blog for me, thinks he has fixed the problem the comment section has had. I’d love to hear from you. What’s going on in your yard?

~~Rhonda 🙂

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TINY MINI size St. Nick’s tree farm

August 30, 2024 – 6:10 pm

This is the third in a series of tree farms, made in the three sizes I work with. ORIGINAL is 4-6″ tall. MINI is 2-4″ tall and TINY MINI is 1-2″ tall. These three putz were made from the same pattern. The ORIGINAL size building on the left is 4 1/4″ tall. The MINI one in the middle is 3 1/4″ tall. The TINY MINI one on the right is 2″ tall.

The same pattern was used for all three buildings, with minor changes. On the middle one, I left off the top window and used the space to display a wreath. On the third one, I left the top window off, as well, leaving room for a sign. I cut the windows on the third putz house without pane dividers because the openings were so small.

Photos make it hard to grasp the actual size of the TINY MINI putz. The building is 2 3/4″ wide, counting the overhang of the roof. It is 1 1/8″ deep and 2″ tall.

The card I used to make the base features a vintage truck carrying a Christmas tree. The truck and most of the words are picked out in red foil. The house has the traditional hole in the back to provide access for the use of an LED light string to light the building at night.

The fence is made from poster board and cut in a wavy design with decorative scissors. There are nine trees and two wreaths displayed in the yard.

The sign is printed on glitter paper. It doesn’t photograph well, but has a beautiful shimmer when viewed in person. The name of the tree farm is taken from the upcycled card used to make the base.

Meander up the path and choose the perfect tree for your home! Then come in and enjoy hot chocolate and Christmas cookie treats! Merry Christmas!

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.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz Houses | Comments (0)

mini size tree farm

August 25, 2024 – 9:40 am

My putz houses are made in three sizes. The largest size is ORIGINAL which is approximately 5-6″ tall. It is the size I draw all new patterns. MINI is 3-4″ tall. To get this size, I copy an pattern at 75% of its original size. TINY MINI is up to 2″ tall, and is copied at 50% of the original pattern. Sizes are approximate, but they fit most situations. Sometimes there is an additional elements that have to be figured into the equation. For instance, an ORIGINAL size church would be taller, up to 8″ tall because of the steeple.

Below, the putz on the left is an ORIGINAL size. The one on the right, from the same pattern, is a MINI size.

Patterns can often be altered to make new putz that aren’t identical copies from the same pattern. I left off the upper window on the MINI tree farm and replaced it with a large wreath. A small difference, but a new look. The addition of a small roof could be added to one side of the shed to provide cover for the firewood. The chimney could be left off, or changed in style. The windows could be one pane, two, or four, as shown. These putz have corrugated roofs. They could be made with smooth cardboard for another look.

The tree lot has multiple size trees available. You can find the perfect one for your home!

The name for this tree farm was taken from the picture on the card used to make the base. The base also inspired the type of fence I made for the tree lot.

The sign is printed on glitter paper (which doesn’t photograph well). Next to the shed, on the right side, is a stack of firewood, ready to keep the stove burning.

The post and board fence is made from slivered popsicle sticks and craft matchsticks.

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.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

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snow valley Christmas tree farm

August 18, 2024 – 9:25 pm

I realized I have only one Christmas Tree Farm Lot in my Etsy shop. I drew a few new patterns last week and this is the first edition of this pattern.

The putz measures 6 7/8″ wide by 5 1/8″ deep. The structure is 4 1/2″ tall as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the chimney. The fence is made from cinnamon sticks.

The base is made from an upcycled Christmas card featuring a red truck, puppies, a Christmas tree and gifts. A hole in the back of the building allows the use of a small LED light string for lighting this and other glitter houses in your Christmas village.

A total of eight trees are displayed in the yard. Three handcrafted wreaths rest against the fence and the trees, ready to hang on your front door.

A tiny dog waits for his family to come back out so they can load up their Christmas tree.

Snow Valley Tree Farm, ready for the Christmas holiday! The roof is made from corrugated cardboard, mimicking a raised-ridge metal roof.

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.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

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MINI size ivory and purple spring putz house

August 14, 2024 – 4:57 pm

This MINI size spring house is from the same pattern as the winter house I made last week. I scalloped the front of the roof on the spring house and added divided window panes rather than the larger ones used in the winter house.

The base of the spring house measures 6 1/2″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep. It is 4 1/2″ high as measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the pip tree.

The house sits on the base at an angle. It features paper and velvet flowers, a budding pip tree, and a tiny robin’s nest in the valley between the two roofs on the front of the house. The sidewalk curves from the front door to the opening in the fence.

The base is a beautiful spring-themed greeting card featuring a Carolina wren and her brood. A hole in the back of the little glitter house allows the use of a small LED light string to light this and other houses in your putz village.

The yard is enclosed with a poster board fence cut with decorative scissors.

I made the bird nest from paper-wrapped wire. The eggs are faux cookie sprinkles. The nest is 1/4″ wide

Made in shades of purple, green and yellow, this little house greets spring with an abundance of flowers.

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.

ChristmasNotebook.etsy.com

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

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  🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Putz Houses, spring putz house | Comments (0)