How To Build A Retro Christmas Putz House

This week on Mid-Century Merry Makers we will build a vintage Putz house out of paper, glitter and all sorts of magic. I have collected a series of resources for you to get started with plenty of inspiration and direction. Special Thanks to the Pink Tree Youtube Channel + the Facebook group: Nutz For Putz – as well as Lucy Foxworth of PaperGlitterGlue.com

What is a Putz House you might ask?
Well, from days long past, there was an infatuation with little cardboard Christmas Village houses that were imported from the countries of Germany, Japan, and Czechoslovakia. The collection and display craze of these little villages depicting “sleepy Winter scenes” from hamlets and quaint towns throughout Europe and the United States, were popular as far back as the late 1800’s and all the way up to the late 1960’s respectively. The greatest village houses that were ever built, were made by the humble Japanese back the 1930’s. These were BIG, BOLD, and graced an elaborate amount of embellishments to give them an almost fantasy-like look to them. Today, we call these sweet little gems “Putz Houses”. (Putz def: {German} “To decorate, put in order, ornament”). They have also been called “glitter”, or “sugar sand” houses as well…

What You Will Need
To get started building vintage-style cardboard houses you will need clean cardboard or card stock. You can save cereal boxes, the backs of writing pads – flat, firm and thick enough to be sturdy but not so thick that you cannot cut it easily with an exacto knife. In addition foam core or corrugated cardboard for the house bases. In addition, for this project you’ll need:

A sharp mat knife or Xacto knife (or both)
A stiff metal ruler
Aileen’s Tacky Glue
Clear glitter. Found easily at your favorite craft store.
Several sheets of white card stock paper that will run through your printer
Acrylic paints in the colors you would like to use for the houses.
Other accessories, such as tiny bottle brush trees, and pipe cleaners in colors
Snow Tex – A magical tub of snow-like goo.
Mod Podge
Here is the pattern for the house featured in the video below: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/68609594306095796/