When the Holidays of 2018 are finally all over, and the New Year of 2019 steps up to take its rightful place, I'll have that same old feeling of *WHEW!* and the relief of "normal schedule". And yet, I'll hopefully have many more nice memories to add to my 2018 experiences- with a good jump on 2019. We do quite a bit of our planning of travel, vacations, and Missions during these last weeks. And it seems like our view becomes one of "We have an ENTIRE YEAR ahead!" But, in reality, it's only another 364 days until Christmas again. It's true: the older we get, the shorter each year gets. So I'm pretty used to seeing an idea over Christmas and thinking "That's what I'm gonna make for next year,". I'll yet once again, get a good jump on it by making use of those After-Christmas Sales...check! Then, draw out my idea, tuck it into the saved items, and find a good spot to store it... half check (not done fully yet). And FINALLY; forget all about my great idea & what I was going to make, as well as where I put it all.... definitely already check! By the time I decide on what I will really end up doing...I'll be LATE and flying around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get them all finished... check. ALWAYS; check. So when I got the idea to do these (about the time I made one for a FF Challenge near mid-2018), I thought it would be pretty simple to do, but look FANTASTIC!
Well, I think I can say I pretty much "nailed it" to match the vision in my brain, but as to how
it goes over for others...well, I'll let the audience be the jury here.
So, here's the share on "How To" and let's hope I took enough photos for you to easily follow!
I started out gathering materials- that included an order of all-white MatteStock
(the hard kind of cardboard used to help frame a photo inside the glass/wood frame) I
found for a great deal on amazon.com. This stuff is sold almost any way you'd like and
in just about any color/core color you'd like. A stack of 50 goes a long way over many
projects during the year and -usually for me- into the next.
This would be my hard base shell for each of the 8 houses I needed for the peeps on my list.
I also needed to order the TH Alterations Die Surf Shack- that embellishes
the TH Alterations BigzXL Die Village Dwelling (this was already in my drawer).
And, of course, that 12x12 burlap stack by The Paper Studio found at Hobby Lobby.
After die cutting the base pieces (roof, floor, ONLY 3 sides of the house die
are needed; the entire FRONT WALL- with the front door- will not be needed at all...
and porch roof, porch flooring from the Surf Shack die)....
AT THIS POINT: I didn't bother worrying about the windows. I wasn't sure I wanted any.
I needed the same cuts of each roofing piece from the burlap-
BUT- the burlap needed to be slightly larger in all directions on all sides. An "overlap"
to look realistic. So out came the TH snippers; my trusty standby Helpers which cut
the burlap very neatly and nicely. I'm an "even-balancer" and can eye-ball it with
pretty good accuracy, but you could also use a pen to mark out dots or lines
to use as guides for keeping your lines straight.
After cutting all the coverings of overlapping burlap for the main roofing pieces,
I did find that some small snippets needed to be made; the mid-way indent on the
main house top piece, and little snips made on the corners to allow them to all "hang".
Those ends and corners were very stiff, but after the roof is all together, and some
Distress Ink in Vintage Photo was applied to the edging, with some Distress Black Soot
"streaked" to look like dirt or soot from smoke, those corners became softer.
Now, I saw I would need some coloring over that stark white of the sides
of the mat board. I know, I know; I'm too detailed. But my OCD tells me that if
I can see a flaw, then I must fix it! All I could think of was those TH Distress Crayons and
how I finally had a new package of them just waiting to be tried out. Yep- like a charm!
When it came time for adhering the materials together, I had a feeling I would need
to break out the hot glue gun again for this one. The burlap was too thick and too strong
for a mere Glider Tape, and Glossy Accents (my usual go-to glue for just about ANYTHING
craft-wise or household use), simply because the only glossy thing about this project was
going to be added at the very last. I just didn't want little glimmers of glossiness showing up in the
light since I am usually pretty heavy-handed with my Glossy Accents and actually LOVE
that bit of extra glue that hardens to a gloss. In the end, the hot glue gun worked VERY nicely!
Here's where it's time to add that Distress Ink. The hot glue stuck the pieces
together firmly enough that vigorous rubbing with Blending Tools was easy.
And that stiff, strong burlap actually softened up a bit and did a natural ragging/shredding.
All that was left to do on the upper part of the house was to glue the roof pieces together and
then glue the rest of the bottom half of the house to the roofing. So far: it was looking CUTE!
This part begins the walls. The first thing was to choose IF there were going to be
windows, and then WHERE those windows would be. I decided that since this was a "stable",
only one window was needed. There were only going to be 3 walls total (remember: I don't need
the entire FRONT part of the Village Dwelling die- the wall with the front door), and a back
window would look cute to peek in from the backside of the finished project. So having all those
windows to cut- that work just got nixed for me. I only needed to put my plan for "wood" walls into
the making. That part was solely based on Tim Holtz's Halloween Inspiration:
CLICK HERE
I loved the way Tim chose to make each "panel" of siding from individual "boards"- the
entire thing seemed pretty easy to do, just rather time-consuming. BUT; good things happen in
their own time, and I wanted these gifts to keep on giving for years to come. If the PAPER gift
itself wears out... the idea and "How To" can still be looked up, copied, or shared.
So while I wanted to keep that idea of wood slats, I did things a bit differently than Tim...
I took plain Kraft Stock from a paper pack randomly purchased for heavy duty inside stiffness
for my Tags. It actually started out a very similar color to one of the shades I wanted. I cut
several 8 1/2 x 11 sheets into four pieces each, then ran each smaller cut piece through my Big Shot
(it was late at night, so the Vagabond had to stay off) and used my new TH 3D Impresslit Lumber.
I chose my fave go-to Distress Ink, Vintage Photo, and dabbed it across the "top" inside for some
dark inset impression of deeper bark veins. I ran each piece just once... for now.
Next; I used some Vintage Photo in the Distress OXIDE Ink. This time, I used my
Blending Tool to 'scrub' the ink all over the embossed "wood panel". I used a bit of pressure so
that the inside grooves would get a bit extra here and there. I used my heat tool to dry all the inks at
this point. And THEN: I redid the previous step before this: I inked up my 3D Impresslit and ran
each piece (again, inking up each time for each piece) through the Big Shot for a second time.....
.... and THIS is what I ended up with....compared to what I started with!
Then, I took each of those smaller panels and cut each into 5 sections. This would
be entirely up to each person's preference, but I chose random sizes: 3 wider than 2.
And on the 3 wider 'slices' of the former panel; I used a TH Distress Ink Marker (in Black
Soot) on the FINE side of the 2 sided marker, to draw a line dividing those wider pieces into
what LOOKED like 2 more slices each. Then I also used the same Distress Black Soot to run along
the edges of each cut slice that was going to show up on the top side of each newly created panel....
..... the new panels that would be created by slightly overlapping each piece
-using Glider Tape- making sure that the edges with the Black Soot are the ones
showing and the unedged parts are underneath.
Now it was time to put the wood panels onto the walls. This is when I found that it was
going to work better (due to the thickness of the Mat Board) to just trim off all the creased folds
that are supposed to fold over each section to hold them to the next section. After all; the sections
would already be held together by the WOOD PANELS. So it made it much easier to simply
"wrap" the entire frame together using Glider Tape once again. By using a blade knife to help
trim the window opening (there would be a trimming around the window on both inside and
outside- as it was available on the Surf Shack die. The only REAL tricky part? To make sure
I had enough panels made up to cover EIGHT stables! And, I did!
Here you see I am wrapping all around the bottom of the house part- with the seam
left on one corner of the outside, and one corner seam on the inside. Each of the slants of the roof parts helped cover the slants of the inside- but I kept the "wood" all going in the same direction.
Making the bases of all the 7 that would be gifted, was pretty easy, There would be
push-button candles inside the tops of those. But on the one I was keeping for myself; I
had a rather different idea I wanted to try. My inspiration came from my own Guest Designer
I found some shiny gold metallic in a stack in my stash that I thought would work
for both strength and looks. This was one of those times my stash coughs up nicely!
So I basically just used the main base I cut from Mat Board (back at the start of this)
and just used another cut of this gold stack for the other 7. But on this one: I cut and folded
until I had a risen stage for covering up the little surprise underneath it all...
... A SET OF LEFTOVER HALLOWEEN CLEARANCE!!
Since purple was considered to be a rich cloth color affordable by only kings,
AND, that was rightly suited for The King of Kings: the very reason we celebrate
these holidays: CHRISTmas is about the birth of JESUS CHRIST.
I'd purchased the button sets and the 'littles' at Hobby Lobby- specifically finding
the right ones I wanted. The only "blonde moment" was when I picked up 8
sets of the main Nativity crew and the little note favors; I skipped out on
the set of 3 Wise Men and some camels. I kinda wish I'd gotten at least 1 set.
I had this brain dance when I figured out that I could die cut 2 of the porch floors
from the Surf Shack die, put them together like a box (empty sides in with the Mat Board cut
trimmed down to fit inside for some stability) and use that also as a bit of a mini stage riser!
The pieces all fit so well inside and by using hot glue, it's all kept pretty securely.
The final results really had me excited! Grandson Cole LOVED it, too!!
Nativity as is- without light switched on.
Nativity with light switched on.
A hole cut through the bottom, threaded all up along the walls and then to the front
and back of the pieces inside on the riser, gave a soft regal glow. Dots of hot glue secured it all.
Given inside the Gift Sacks....they were light to carry and also very personal.
That's the way CHRISTmas should be. ;)
Thanks so much for joining me on this crafty journey- whether you popped in to
read one or two posts, or stayed for the entire ride! What a year it has been, and I am so very
grateful for being able to live in a place where we are allowed not only to come together to
share, but that I am in such AWESOME company: the people who enjoy CRAFTING!!
Thank you for the tips shared, the dies and tools passed on (in bargain circles), and inspiration
shared. But, THANKS most of all.... just for honoring me in the humble way of calling you all
"FRIENDS"!
Be Safe ringing in 2019,
and as always;
HAPPY BLOGGING!
