Little Christmas House Shrine

Happy holidays to everyone!  I hope you are enjoying the winter weather, wherever you are!  Today, I am going to be using a couple of Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts' newest sets, the Little Folding House Shrine and the Tiny Christmas Shapes sets.  These are so cute and are sized just right to work together perfectly!

Outside with doors closed

Outside with doors open

Inside with doors opened

Make hinges by cutting two pieces of Tyvek to 2-1/2" x 3/4".  Paint both sides of the Tyvek with gold acrylic paint.  Paint both sides of the house with the gold acrylic paint.  One side (showing) only needs to be painted around the edges.  Set aside to dry.

Glue Tyvek "hinge" pieces to the three house pieces, as shown.  Leave enough space between pieces to allow the doors to open and close.  

Outside

Inside

This is a great time to use some of those paper scraps you've been saving.  These two pieces are from a Basic Grey Mistletoe & Pears paper pad.  

Run paper through Xyron 3" sticker maker.

Xyron 3" sticker maker

Cut paper just slightly smaller to fit each section, leaving a scant hint of gold edge.  Adhere to each panel.

Inside

Outside

Apply triangle paper pieces to the roof top, as shown, on each side, using the opposing prints.

Inside

Outside

Outside when closed in front

Add a strip of the gold Dresden border along the edge where the two papers meet, as shown.

Inside

Outside

Outside when closed in front

Cut two of the tiny scalloped shingles in half and paint with white acrylic paint or white gesso.  Let them dry, then glue to the top portion of the roof, as shown.

Outside when closed in front

Outside view on back

Fill in both sides of the roof top with the snow writer snow, as shown.

Outside when closed on front

Paint each of the pieces with acrylic paint, as shown.

Glue a small piece of mica to the back of the window frame.  Use the Snow Writer to add snow to the window frame and the green tree. (NOTE:  I added a wash of Burnt Umber acrylic paint to the window shutters to age them.)

I found a little white button in my stash, so I stamped "25" on it with black permanent ink, then ran a piece of red floss thorugh the button and tied it off.

Glue it to the top portion of the roof on the outside of the house, as well as the painted chipboard pieces, as shown.

Inside

I cut a printed word "NOEL" from one of the papers in the pad and glued that to the roof portion of the outside of the house.  Glue remaining chipboard pieces, as shown.  (NOTE: I glued a tiny strip of chipboard beneath the shutters, close to the window, so that I could angle them up and outward from the house.  This is optional, of course).

Outside

I have included a few more close-ups of the painted chipboard pieces for you.

Supplies Used:

GSLTiny Shingles Sampler

GSL Little Folding House Shrine (contact store)

GSL Tiny Christmas Shapes (contact store)

GSL Gingerbread House Mini Tall (window &  shutters)

2 strips Tyvek (2-1/2" x 3/4")
DecoArt Glorious Gold Metallic paint
DecoArt Americana Lamp Black acrylic paint
DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics
  Diarylide Yellow
  Hansa Yellow Light
  Primary Magenta
  Translucent White
  Cadmium Red Hue
  Burnt Umber
  Sap Green
DecoArt Snow Writer

Basic Grey Mistletoe & Pears paper pad 

Xyron 3" sticker maker
Gold German Dresden border
Liquitex white gesso
Mica Pieces
Alphabet/Numbers stamp set
Black archival ink pad
White button
Red floss


Thanks for stopping by, and have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Barbara

Halloween Cabana Row House

Hi everyone!  I just love this time of year!  Halloween is  probably my favorite genre for art projects.  I have always been a horror movie enthusiast, and I guess I am just in awe of creepy, slimey, gorey things.  So, when I saw the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Cabana Row House Set, my first thought went to a haunted house rather than a beach house.  So, here goes.  Join me now on my macabre interpretation of these cute fold up houses.

I chose the house and roof pieces labeled "D" and a couple of round windows for the peaked sides of the house.

Cut up a piece of plank paper along the plank lines, as shown.

Fold the sides and tab along the score lines and glue the tab to the side of the house.  Use clamps to hold the piece together while the glue dries.

I folded the bottom tabs up and closed the bottom of the box without gluing it.  This will enable you to use it as a gift box, place a battery operated candle inside, or whatever you would like.

I ran my "plank" strips through my Xyron 1.5" sticker maker.

Then, I started adding the "planks" paper to the sides of the house, varying the starting and stopping point, as shown.

Continue layering the planks paper up towards the roof, cutting strips slightly larger as you go up to the peak.  Fold the tabs under and cut off the excess paper.

Glue a square scrap of grey paper to the box bottom.  Do not cover the tabs.

Paint the three circular window pieces with black chalk paint, let dry.  Punch two 1" circles from a yellow-orange piece of paper. 

Glue yellow-orange paper behind window pieces, center and glue windows to peaked area on each side of house.  (NOTE:  The open circle window piece was glued behind the four pane window piece.)

Cut a piece of corrugated card board the same size as the roof piece.

Paint top of corrugated roof with Timeless (beige) chalk paint and Carbon (black) chalk paint to give the roof a very grungy look.

Paint edges of roof along inside edge with same paint mixture.

Adhere the corrugated roof to the top of the house.  I found it easiest to glue one side of the roof first, let it dry, then glue the opposite side.

I made a door by cutting striped print paper to 1" x 2", then adhered it to a piece of black card board.  Rough up the edges with sandpaper and add small snippets of black German Dresden border to the left edge to mimic hinges.  Snip off the brad prongs and adhere the brad top for a door handle.  Grunge up the whole door, hinges and brad handle with the paint mixture.

Adhere door at slight angle to front of house.  Cut a piece of black card board to 3-1/4" square.  Adhere to base section of box.

You will still be able to open the box bottom if you have not  previously glued it together.  This is optional, but I will be using it as a platform to add more embellishments along the bottom of the house.

Spread small splotches of crackle paste over the sides of the house with a small spatula, let dry.

Spread Black Soot distress ink over crackled areas with a sponge to bring out the cracks and grungy up the siding.

Paint each chipboard piece with Carbon (black) paint and Black Soot distress glitter, or Heritage (orange) paint and Spiced Marmalade (orange) distress glitter.  I found it easier to mix the glitter with a clear glue and spreading it over the painted chipboard pieces.  Some pieces will need to be painted and glittered on both sides, if the back side will show.  The ghost was painted with the Timeless (beige) paint mixed with Carbon (black) paint.

Adhere the chipboard pieces to the house, as shown in the photos below.  The smaller spider web was cut in half and half was placed on the front of the house.  The large bat wings extend from one side of the roof to the other.  I added a blue patina paint to the black German Dresden border along the roof line to help the bat show up better.  One of the ravens was placed atop the roof, as shown.  I cut a tiny slit in the roof to allow the foot of the raven to be inserted with a bit of glue.

The other half of the spider web was placed below the roof line on the left side of the house, as shown below.  The black cat was adhered to the left side of the roof with it's tail hanging below the roof line.

The larger spider web was glued to the right side of the roof with an orange glittered spider, and the ghost was adhered towards the bottom of the house.

On the back the word "SPOOKY" was adhered between the roof line with one of the ravens sitting atop it.

Fall and Halloween botanicals were added around the bottom of the house, along with some botanical mini pumpkins and a resin skull.

Supplies Used:

GSL Cabana Row House Set (C)
GSL Decorative Windows 1 to 24
GSL Spooky Shape Set
GSL Creepy Critters
GSL Spiders and Webs Shape Set (contact store)
Xyron 1.5" sticker maker
German Dresden borders
DecoArt Americana chalk paint (Timeless, Carbon, Heritage)
Golden Crackle Paste
Blue patina paint (Art-C)
Card stock (gray, yellow-orange, kraft corrugated)
1" circle punch
Plank printed paper (Tim Holtz Halloween paper stash)
Stripe printed paper (Graphic 45 Rare Oddities paper collection)
Tim Holtz Distress Glitter (Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade)
Clear glue (Paper Studio)
Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue

Well, there you have it, a beach house turned haunted.  I hope you enjoyed my Halloween cabana row house as much as I enjoyed making it.  Be sure to check out the Gypsy Soul online store for more fun laser cuts to use in all your projects, and the blog is also full of inspiration from the design team.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a wonderful and crafty day!

Hugs,
Barbara