What a wonderful time of year! Minnesota has some very pretty snowfalls and that inspired me to share with you something very near and dear to my heart. I created this Christmas house after searching several websites and SVG sites for the perfect Christmas house. I could not find one that wasn’t too simple and wasn’t too elaborate. So guess what? I made my own! My very own! And I am so very proud of it. And here I am sharing with you the step-by-step tutorial on how to put everything together. The file is available on my Etsy shop. Without further ado, let’s get into the magic of Christmas! Sidenote: I made some changes after I took the photos, the steps are still the same, but the colors will be the thing that changes.
Supplies:
- Cardstock Warehouse Cardstock Paper:
- Country Christmas Lessebo Multipack 83lb
- Cherry Wood Veneer
- Gold Touch MirriSparkle Glitter 104lb
- Silver MirriSparkle Glitter 104lb
- Red Wagon MirriSparkle Glitter 104lb
- Red Mirror 100lb
- Silver Mirror 100lb
- Adhesives
- Bearly Art Liquid Precision Glue
- Scor-Tape double-sided tape
- Hot Glue Gun + Hot Glue
- Glossy Accents
- Christmas House SVG File
- Clear Acetate Sheets
- Brick Embossing Folder (optional)
- Paper Crimper (optional)
- Fake Snow
- Various small decoration pieces from my stash
- Ribbon
Start out by cutting all of your files. They are color-coded differently and named so that you know what I’m referencing. I also gathered my Bearly Art glue, Glossy Accents, Scor-Tape, hot glue, embossing folders, and crimper.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s start putting this together. From your foundation, you’ll grab the two largest pieces to create a base. These two sheets are the only 12 x 12 you will need. They are already perforated, so fold those over as you would any box. Be sure to cut a slit at the bottom and top, so that it will fold properly. I’m using a rectangle of chipboard and hot glue inside the box before gluing it shut. This will make sure that the foundation is sturdy. Do that to both pieces and hot glue the box closed. Set that aside.
Put together the last box piece. I used Wood Veneer for this piece. Later on in the tutorial, you’ll see that I had to cut out a piece so that the window wouldn’t show through the base, but I have adjusted that in the final SVG file so you don’t have to do that. Gather the rest of the foundation and a couple of flanges. The front piece will attach to one side of the box, and the back piece will attach opposite. Carefully trim half of the flange down only on one side. This is because we do not want the flange to show through the front door.
Using solid pieces from your file, trace onto acetate. This will make the windows see-through. Attach those with Scor-Tape on the backside. It should look like this. Trim any extras around the edges if you need to.
Attach the front and back of the house to the sides of the box using Scor-Tape or hot glue.
Now let’s work on the sides of the house. Again, using the solid piece, trace that onto acetate, which will be for the windows. Adhere the acetate to the back of the side piece just as before. I cut out two pieces for both frames to add dimension and one piece for the window itself. Glue these together with wet glue. This is what the final piece should look like.
This is what I was saying earlier about me having to cut into the box in order for the windowsill not to peek through. I have since fixed that error and you shouldn’t have to do this. I just wanted to explain that so you won’t wonder why my box is wonky on the next few slides, lol! Add double-sided tape to the bottom and sides of your structure and adhere those to the opposite sides of the box.
Now we can move on to the roof. I cut the same rectangle out four times. One set will go on top of the other set. I use the crimper to add some texture to my roof. You’ll also need to grab some flanges for this. Add Scor-Tape to both sides of your flange. Measure it out to fit the front and back of your house peaks. Add Scor-Tape to the long end of the rectangles on one side. We will be connecting them with the flange. Attach one side of the roof to one side of the building using the Scor-Tape from the flanges. Try your best to center. There should be space on either side of the front and back of the house. I only attached one side until the very end of the project. Because I will be putting stuff on the inside of the house. If you cut a second layer to add texture like my crimped pieces, attach them to the top of the flat surface.
Now let’s move on to the front of the house. Glue together two of the circle rings using liquid glue. Also, grab the attic window and the front frames. Attach the front frame to the perimeter of the front of the house using wet glue, the window to the attic, and the ring around it using liquid glue as well. Finally, attach the strips to the lower part of the front frame to add dimension to the house.
I cut out three front door and window frames and layered them together to add thickness and dimension. Glue them together with wet glue and attach them to the space in front of the house. Pro tip: attach the frame first then add the windows second. Finally, you can add the door.
One thing to mention, I did cut the door frame out twice for dimension, which seems to be my favorite word in this blog post. 😉 I almost forgot, don’t forget to add your triangles to the top of the attic. I cut those out twice and glued them together with hot glue.
Let’s move on to some Christmas trees. I ended up changing my Christmas trees to gold because I wanted to resize my tree. I didn’t have any more silver paper to create another tree, so I had to move to gold. But either would have worked well. (PS, I did order more paper.😏) There are two parts to this Christmas tree. One has perforated lines down the middle, and the other has a solid base. I cut my solid base out twice, and I cut the Christmas tree with the perforated marks out six times.
Fold the trees in half and glue them together three at a time. This will create two sets. Glue your card base together using wet glue. This creates a solid firm backing. Now attach one to the left of the solid base and one set to the right using hot glue. This will create a nice full ‘dimensional’ Christmas tree.
Let’s move on to the stairs now. On the left side of the photo, you will see a smaller set of steps. Use those first. The next steps are for the outside. The first strip covers the top of the stairs, if needed. The second strip covers the bottom. On the right side of the photo, you will see these pieces have perforated marks. The top one is the backing piece that is attached to the house foundation, the middle one is a box, and the last one is the steps itself.
Put your box together. Fold over the stairs accordion-style and fold the backing, but do not glue that just yet. Now, take any leftover flanges you have from the previous connections and measure out small pieces on the back of the steps. Place them in the exact places I did in the photo below. Once you have attached them to the base of the steps, trim down on the opposite side. Now, using the smaller outlined steps, carefully attach the flanges to match the outline of the steps. I use hot glue because I’m impatient. In hindsight, I should’ve used wet glue. But never fear, that’s why we have the offset to cover that. 😜
Apply the backing piece by attaching the top first, then attach the sides. Now you can put that offset piece to cover the sides. Your box should fit neatly underneath the stairs. You may have to use a little wiggle wiggle to get everything to fit, but it will work. Add the final piece to cover the bottom of the steps.
I embossed my chimney pieces with a brick embossing folder to add texture. This is optional. I also embossed my faux rug. I couldn’t decide if I wanted it red or blue, so I cut them both. The chimney goes together like this. I used hot glue to make sure this stayed put. Make sure you bring that smaller piece to the top edge of the larger piece. Using any leftover flanges or grab a new one, add them to this side of the chimney. This will allow you to add hot glue and put it onto the house.
To make my snow, I used glossy accents and fake snow together and added it to the paper “drippy” strips. Let sit for a while to dry.
Set your house on the foundation box we made earlier. We will create the snow effect on it as well. I positioned my box to the center back and traced around to get the perimeter I wanted in order to create snow all around the left, right, and front sides. Set this aside to dry as well.
To make my faux rug look more realistic, I cut some bakers twine into small sections and glued them around the perimeter of the circle. Then I un-twisted the string to make it frilly. I thought I was going to use the red beads as a decoration but opted against it. But that is an option if you want. I ended up just gluing the blue circle to the back to cover and secure the string.
I decorated my Christmas tree with some leftover gift wrap I cut into strips, those red and white foam snowballs, and a mini bow and ribbon. I finished that off with some twinkle fairy lights that I got from the Dollar Tree. I took one of the boxes from the file and used it as the base for my Christmas tree. This will allow it to stand up straight and adhere to the inside of the house. Once I had the tree standing inside the box, I added hot glue to the inside to keep it secure. Then, I finished it off with a bow at the bottom and matching one at the top.
Now you can turn on your favorite TV show and cut out all the present boxes that you want in order to have a nice full gift set underneath your tree. I did this in many colors of cardstock. Then, I cut 8 in white card stock that I will use to raise my foundation. I decorated most of the boxes with tiny items that I have around the house.
Add hot glue to the bottom of your rug and adhere it to the inside of your box. Add your Christmas tree to the back of the rug with some hot glue. Stack your presents around the tree. Glue those together with hot glue as well. Now you have a tiny little Christmas scene inside your house!
Grab a flange and adhere to the top of the roof using Scor-Tape. This covers the roof connection and adds stability to the top. Fold over the scallop border strips and apply with glue to attach it to the under roof. Your snow strips should be dry at this point. Add them to the roof as you see fit. There is a straight strip for the side of the roof and one strip with perforated marks for underneath the side. Sidebar: I should’ve attached my chimney first, but I forgot. I would do that first before adding the snow strips. At this point, I remembered and added my chimney with hot glue.
Now we’re going to go back to the white boxes that I created for the foundation. Using hot glue, attach them to the underside of the foundation. This adds height to the base so that it can match the height of the stairs. Now you can add some wet glue to the back of the stair box and attach it to the center front of the foundation. Now we can add our fences. Cut out enough to go around the perimeter of your box. I believe I used 15, Add glue to just above the bottom crossbar on the fence and attach it completely on the foundation. I rounded the fence to go around the corners to make everything look nice and neat.
Hot glue your main house to the center of the foundation. After adding all of the decorations to your heart's desire, you have a finished Christmas house! The poinsettia came from another SVG file therefore I cannot include it because I did not make it. But you can find any poinsettia file and add it to your door to make a wreath if you so choose. I used tiny Christmas trees from the dollar tree to adorn the front of my stairs. I also added glossy accents to the front of my stairs to add some fake snow there as well.
I added some lights around the perimeter of the house to make it even more festive! I love how it looks in the dark! So, so, so pretty!! You absolutely have to have this file in your arsenal! So what do you think? Will you be making this?
Please let us know what you make! As always, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you! If you are super fancy - tag us in your creations on Facebook or Instagram. You can use the hashtag #cardstockwarehouse to be featured on our page!
Toodles,Tmika
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