This year I have tried my hands at quite a few crafts outside just gardening and growing plants. Even though supremely I call myself a non craft person I have to say crafting is pretty liberating. Once you start doing them no matter how good or bad you are it helps you build confidence and opens up your mind to new possibilities and ideas.
This might sound like a lot of Philosophy but I am talking from my own experience. I can now look at things and imagine things up just by looking at their colors , textures & seriously don’t need PINTEREST to inspire me all the time.
India where I belong “Juggad” a famous Hindi word is synonymous to us Indians and I am happy to report I now represent my community better with ideas and Juggad in abundance inside this tiny brain even while I sleep. (Ha Ha funny) Now lets get to today’s topic which my friends is How did I make a Christmas Village in couple of dollars & less than a day. Its fairly simple and economical and doesn’t need too many things so follow along if you please.
You will need (Supplies)
- A Foam Board or a Sun Board (Available in most stationary shops for less than 2 dollars)
- Adhesive or Glue. I recommend using a bond or any quick drying Glue over Fevicol but you could use that too
- A sharp cutter (Highly recommend a cutter over a kitchen knife here) I have used both and a sharp cutter is important to get you those clean lines
- A basic Ruler
- A pencil or any marker you prefer
Steps to Make Christmas Houses
- The first step is to choose some designs and the size you want your houses to be( You could even draw them on paper first). Take a gaze through the internet to see how different shapes and sizes combined together look nicer. So we want to vary their heights and width basically. Height could be whatever you prefer , width also but ideally measure your LED candles that you will want to put inside them like me for that glow effect the real essence of a Christmas Village . The width of the houses should ideally be allowing you to put a LED candle inside.
- After you have finalised the size , the number and a few reference designs its time to start drawing them on the board. Don’t go free hand here because the front , the back , the sides all should match when you stick them later to make them a box basically.
- Take a ruler , mark measurements and simply draw lines over them, this is the only stage where you need to be precise and careful. Mark the windows, doors , roofs everything with measurements over random drawings for a clean finish. Everything from here gets easy and is just cut and paste.
- Once you have drawn all the houses, the windows, the doors on the foam board its time to cut. * PRO TIP – At least a dozen people came back to me on Instagram asking how the finish was so clean. And I guessed most people struggle cutting the foam board neatly. So the trick here is never cut straight across the lines you drew. Take the ruler , Place it onto those marked line, hold it with one hand & put a little pressure & now using your other hand run through your paper cutter. You will come back telling how easy and effective this is to get straight clean cuts. This is how you do it !
- Cutting across the windows and doors can be a little more tricky and I suggest after you cut on one side flip the foam board and cut across the other side where you see the lines. This way they will come out neatly with just a little push of your finger.If they are stuck on a corner keep putting pressure through the cutter and they will eventually cut through.
- You can make small rectangular or square windows , longer ones with grills even. Just remember shapes that can be neatly cut over designer stuff . A round is pretty difficult to cut so avoid them I would say.
- Once you have cut all your sides for a house its time to assemble. For 1 house you will have 6 pieces – The Front , The Back , 2 sides and 2 Roof pieces that go slanting on top of the house. A small chimney if you like to add looks very cute.
- Carefully align and stick one side to the other using the glue if you are using a slow drying glue let one side stick and be completely dry before you put the other. And there you have it a DIY scandi style Christmas house. Now make a couple more or as many as you want.
- Place them on a mantle or wherever you would like, lift them & put a LED candle inside each and see the Magic when you lit them up in the evenings. Add other Christmas elements & Decor pieces like Pine cones , Trees. Together they look adorable and are all so pretty. Also a total conversation starter trust me.
There you have your “Christmas Village ” is ready in under a few dollars and precisely half a day. I had most supplies at Home already & this idea struck all of a sudden. Actually had been looking for some cute Scandi style Tea light holders in such shapes for a very long time but didn’t get around to finding them here in India so one evening I just thought lets try making them with the foam board I use for my Photography work and I think they turned out fairly well. If you try these do let me know how it went By the way I also have a small video Tutorial on my Instagram page in case you would like to see. (Linking it here)
If you want a complete round up of all my Christmas crafts this year then you’ll find them here ( 5 Easy Christmas Crafts we all can make)
Ok then I shall go fetch myself an odd Coffee this afternoon because why not.
Ciao
Kamakshi
