Simple Winter Village Houses

What is it about winter village houses that make us smile? Every time I see these cute little towns in a frosty storefront window, I just stop and stare. It reminds me of a simpler time. It’s these special places that bring us together and facilitate friendships and community.

To keep this project simple, I've designed 5 free SVG, JPEG and PDF files for you. You will need the following supplies to complete this craft:

12 X 12 White Cardstock (80 lb) or higher

Vellum

Silver Cardstock

Green Cardstock

Silhouette Cameo or Cricut

Precision Scissors

Tape Runner or Glue Stick

Colored Tissue Paper or Crepe Paper

LED Candles

First, download the files from my blog. Then you have two options.

Option 1: (Easiest) Use the SVG files to cut your image on a Silhouette or Cricut cutting machine using 12 X 12 white card-stock.

Option 2: Print the PDF files on 8.5 X 11 card-stock. Your houses will be smaller with this method. Then use precision scissors and a craft knife to cut out the designs and score the folds.

Each house is made from three sheets white card-stock and two sheets of vellum. You will cut the same file twice to make each house. There are three files to complete each building. There is the building file, the roof file and the vellum window file. As an example the file names for one building will be Town Hall, Town Hall Roof, and Town Hall Windows.

Using a tape runner, add your adhesive to the backside of your cardstock around the perimeter of the windows. Then press your vellum into place.

Next, fold the tabs along the score lines in between the two pieces and attach them together using a glue stick or tape runner.

Then fold the outer tabs, along the score line and attach them together to form the house. Now fold the tabs on the roof line in toward the center of the house.

Cut out the roof portion of the building and fold in half along the score line. Then fold the chimney along the score lines and glue the tab closed, to form the square.

Add adhesive to the tabs on the roof line of the house. Center the house on the card-stock roof and press the tabs in place. I ran my finger along the tab to make sure it had a good bond. Then add adhesive to the other side of tabs and flip the house on to the other side of the roof. I reached inside the house to press the roof tabs tightly to the roof top.

Add glue to the tabs on the chimney and press it on top of the roof.

Each of the houses assemble in much the same way. So once you assemble one house, you will get a feel for the process. There are four houses in total and one evergreen tree. You can resize the evergreen file to make all different size trees.

Since these are paper houses, you can only use LED tea light candles in them. I chose the flickering tea lights to give a warm, glowing look. Coupled with the faux stained glass windows in the paper church, this was the perfect touch!

For a more detailed tutorial and to snag your free files, visit my blog.