a fence for the little Putz church

Putz houses are a favorite of mine. They are fun to make and lend themselves to many different interpretations, depending on the crafter’s personal style. Yesterday I pulled out a little church and a base I made in the past. I wanted to make a fence for the church.

Before I proceed, here are links to tutorials I’ve written regarding fences for Putz houses, also called little glitter houses.

Making Fences for Putz Houses

Making Fence Posts for Putz Houses

Attaching Putz Fences and Fence Posts to the Base

Back to today’s project…here is the church and base I used.

building a fence for a Putz house

building a fence for a Putz house

To make the fence, I used a sheet of cardboard that I had saved from a new shirt package. I marked and cut half inch wide pieces from the cardboard, along the long edge.

building a fence for a Putz house

I used a small diamond-shaped, hand-held punch for the fence design.

building a fence for a Putz house

To make the holes along an even line, I drew a line down the middle of the cardboard strip and lined up the hole of the punch with the line. Using a punch upside down gives more control over where the punch is placed.

building a fence for a Putz house

I’ll save the extra cardboard strips for future fences.

building a fence for a Putz house

I gave both strips a base coat of white.

building a fence for a Putz house

The next step was to cut the length of the fence to fit the base by placing the church on the base and bending the fence at the corners. At this stage, take into consideration where the door to the building is. To the left? To the right? In the center? I like the opening of the fence to be in front of the door. Personal preference. Make your own little houses to fit your own aesthetic.

building a fence for a Putz house

When it’s time to paint the second coat, I add a little clean sand to the paint to give the painted surface some texture. While the paint is wet, take time to clean out the little holes in the fence design if there are any. Use a toothpick or a straight pin.

building a fence for a Putz house

Once the fence was the right length, I pinned it into place before gluing. I set most of the pins next to the fence, but a few (like the one at the right side of the opening) were pushed right through the fence to hold it in place. A little twist of the pin, rather than pulling straight out, helps these come out just fine when the gluing is done.

building a fence for a Putz house

After putting a line of hot glue along both sides of the fence, I gave the fence and the hot glue a coat of paint and used the sandy paint to fill in and blend any odd looking hot glue clumps. While it was still wet, I sprinkled it with fine glitter. It now looks like snow piled along the fence.

building a fence for a Putz house

I started to pin the church down to the base to hot glue it, but then decided I want to add cellophane windows before I glue the church down, so that’s going to be another post. I set the church to the back of the base to leave plenty of room for a bottle brush tree and any other embellishments I decide to add.

building a fence for a Putz house

~~Rhonda

spring garden

The garden is bursting into yellow patches of daffodils along with other garden goodies. Today we got outside to get a close up look.

‘Tete-a-Tete’ is a miniature daffodil. It only grows six to eight inches tall. The blossoms are about an inch wide.

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Hosta ‘Invincible’ is always the first one up in our garden, often weeks before many others dare to take a peek.

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‘Spring Beauties’ in the fresh green grass…

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These crocus come up a week or two after the other crocus in our garden.

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Lenten Rose

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The Star Magnolia has sweetly scented blossoms.

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Star Magnolia

We have been adopted by another cat. How do they find us?? Tiger-Tee has been hanging around our back yard since last fall, but it has only been in the past few weeks that he decided we’re OK. Now he can’t get enough pets and pats. He will be visiting the vet next week. Think he’ll still like us after that?

Tiger-Tee

I now believe spring is really here. I saw it in my yard today.

~~Rhonda

new decoupage ornaments

I worked on decoupaged ornaments today. I have a Ziploc bag full of Christmas cards that I think would be good for this method. Today, I pulled out three of them and made these ornaments.

This is the front of the ornament I call “Let it Snow.”

decoupage ornament / snow day

And the back…

decoupage ornament / snow day

The Christmas card I used for this ornament had enough pictures that I could add this part to the right of the snowman.

decoupage ornament / snow day

The front of “Sleigh Ride.”

decoupage ornament / sleigh ride

And the back…

decoupage ornament / sleigh ride

And I call this one “Blue Nativity.”

decopage ornament / blue nativity

decopage ornament / blue nativity

Not sure what I’ll work on tomorrow. I’ve been wanting to get back to my Putz houses. I’ll let you know.

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ march 7, 2016

Today, my Dad is having shoulder replacement surgery. Please pray for effective surgery and a speedy recovery. I talked to him Sunday afternoon. He is looking forward to the surgery as a means of relief from the pain he has been suffering with. Here’s a picture of Dad giving the twins a ride in his golf cart.

golf cart rides with Great-Pa

We have company coming Friday afternoon to stay overnight. We’re looking forward to that. I plan to put my casserole together on Thursday so I can just slide it into the oven for Friday. I’ve been making sourdough bread. I’ll make another loaf on Wednesday. I think it will make great garlic bread to go along with the Friday casserole.

Monday
Fridge Food

Tuesday
Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin
Rice
Roasted Cabbage with Bacon
Corn

Wednesday
Tacoritos
Tortilla Chips
Cheddar Cheese, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Sour Cream

Thursday
Heat Free Chili
Celery and Carrot Sticks
Crackers and Peanut Butter

Friday
Baked Chicken with Penne
Garlic Bread
Garden Salad
Asparagus
Lemon Lime Pound Cake

Saturday
Turkey / Ham Sandwiches
Fruit Salad

Sunday
Maple Garlic Glazed Chicken
Rice
Garden Salad
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas
Corn

You can find many menu ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

the new garden cart

While the twins were here yesterday, they helped Pa put together the garden cart he received at Christmas. It was quite a project!

Rose Red (looking at the instruction manual): “Which of these is English and which is Spanish?”

Pa's new garden cart

Pa's new garden cart

Pa's new garden cart

Pa's new garden cart

Pa: “Where do these holes go?”
Snow White: “PA! Look at the instruction manual!!”

Pa's new garden cart

Snow White: “I never got to use a wrench before!”

Pa's new garden cart

Snow White: “This is like we learned in first grade. First things first. First we work, then we play!”

Pa's new garden cart

Pa’s patient hands…Grand’s eager helping hands…

Pa's new garden cart

Pa's new garden cart

They learned about nuts and bolts and washers.

Pa's new garden cart

Pa: “Zero spare parts left over.”

Pa's new garden cart

Time to play…

Pa's new garden cart

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Thanking God for the wonderful gift of grandchildren!

~~Rhonda, AKA “Ma”

decoupaged Christmas ornaments

This week I made two new decoupaged ornaments. These are made with pictures from Christmas cards.

The first one is a city scene with a couple pulling a sled piled with gifts. This is the front…

Front - Christmas gifts

…and the back.

Back - Christmas gifts

The second one has dogs and cats on it. These pictures came from two different Christmas cards.

Christmas pets

Christmas pets

Christmas pets

I wrote a tutorial for decoupaged ornaments in 2012. Decoupaged Ornaments Tutorial. Reading over it now, I find it inadequate. I’ve learned a lot since then and have some tips that help produce a nicer looking ornament. I will work on a new tutorial and post it soon.

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ february 29, 2016

Last Wednesday we had three inches of snow and blowing wind.

mulberry tree in outline

And Sunday, the Lenten Roses were blooming in the warm sunshine.

Lenten Rose

DH dug a pot of daffodil bulbs and we watched them bloom on the kitchen counter.

Daffs

I continued work at the craft desk and added charms and dangles to finish a set of sixteen bird ornaments.

Finished bird ornaments

The cats are always a great source of entertainment. This evening, Clark and Winston were the ones being entertained, though, as they closely watched DH put together an Ikea cart. It will come in handy next to my recliner. Everything I need at my fingertips.

Cheering section

Sunday, Older Son and his wife prepared dinner for us. It was delicious! And so much fun to have them in the kitchen. We had planned on roasted chicken, but the day was so beautiful outdoors that Older Son grilled the chicken instead. One was prepared with an herb rub and one with a spicy rub. So good!

Delicious dinner

This week’s menu isn’t quite that ambitious!

Monday
Fridge Food

Tuesday
Spicy Tomato Cream Pasta
Garlic Bread
Sugar Snap Peas
Garden Salad

Wednesday
Oven BBQ Pork Steaks
Crispy Roasted Potatoes
Corn
Brussels Sprouts

Thursday
Cube Steaks with Mushrooms
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Steamed Carrots

Friday
Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
Whole Wheat Honey Bread
Beefy Tomato Soup

Saturday
Ham or Turkey Sandwiches
Grapes

Sunday
Crock Pot Creamy Ranch Chicken
Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower

You can find many menu ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ february 22, 2016

The twins came over for the weekend. It was a lot of fun to have them around. I sent them out with my camera to take pictures of signs of spring. Rose Red was very interested in all the camera buttons and settings.

Taking pictures of signs of spring.

Snow white spent more time looking for interesting things to photograph.

Looking for signs of spring

They found some lovely signs of spring.

crocus

daffodils

daffodils

We have a busy schedule this week, so the menu is accommodating that.

Monday
Fridge Food

Tuesday
Carry Out

Wednesday
Crock Pot Pork Chops
Oven Fried Potato Wedges
Green Beans

Thursday
Homemade Pizza

Friday
Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
Celery and Carrot Sticks
Grapes

Saturday
Spaghetti
Garlic Bread
Corn
Peas

Sunday
Older Son and Dear DIL are making dinner for us. I love it when they come over and gift us with a delicious meal. It’s one of my favorite things we do together.
Roast Chicken
Potatoes
Asparagus
Green Beans Almondine
Buttermilk Biscuits

You can find many menu ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

spring is in my backyard

DH found these in the back yard yesterday. I am so happy to see them!

First crocus of the season.

Crocus

So refreshing to see the beautiful colors of crocus blooms.

Spring!

In the evening, Middle Daughter and I caught up on several episodes of Top Chef. A friend gave us ten pounds of pecans, so while I watched, I picked pecan meats. Got a quart with lots more to crack and pick.

Picked a quart of pecan meats.

The grands are here today and the weather is beautiful. I think we’ll have some fun!

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ february 15, 2016

We are seeing signs of spring, even if it’s only inside the house. Our late blooming Christmas cactus has a bud.

first bud

And the hippeastrum is blooming. My mother called this clivia, but that isn’t the correct name. She took a start from this plant at her great-uncle’s house years ago. It is commonly called an amaryllis, but it’s not a true amaryllis.

hippeastrum

I made peach pie for my Valentine. While I had the rolling pin out, I also made a pie for our friend Gary and had enough crust and peach filling left to make a little pie that we shared with our friends Roger and Marilyn.

one little pie, two big ones

I’ve been working on ornaments. I ordered some small deer last week. Today I painted them white and glittered them.

painting and glittering the new deer

Then I made an ornament using one of the little deer.

dioraa ornament

I also made 30 new soldered ornaments this week using Christmas cards with bird pictures. Here are a few of them.

soldered ornaments

soldered ornaments

Getting down to business, here’s the menu for the week.

Monday
Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

Tuesday
Carry Out

Wednesday
Ravioli and Cheese Bake
Salad
Green Beans

Thursday
Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti
Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Corn
Garlic Bread

Friday
Smoked Pork Shank and Beans
Cornbread

Saturday
Fridge Food

Sunday
Spaghetti Carbonara
Garlic Bread
Sugar Snap Peas
Corn

You can find many menu ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda