How to Make A Glitter House From A Candy Box

These glitter houses, or putz houses, are so sweet and fun to make, and when a little candy box found it's way into the house I was inspired to transform it.

Glitter House Cabinet and Studio Makeover

Glitter putz houses on shelves in my craft room

I moved my glitter houses to a curio cabinet in the living room.  They had been on shelves in my studio - some of them for two years - and I was concerned about them becoming dusty. It would be hard to get the dust off the glittered surface.  I loved seeing them in my studio (which is a small bedroom in our house), but felt like they needed to either be packed up in plastic storage bins or put inside a cabinet.

Red Glitter House

Angled view of the completed red glitter house.

I have been inspired to make a glitter house with this fine red metallic glitter for a while now. I kept being drawn to the red glitter every time I walked by that section at the craft store.  Finally, I decided to buy it.  It kept calling to me  - so why not?

Peppermint Putz House

This is my newest glitter house. I am calling it the Peppermint Putz House since it is decorated with tiny peppermints  They're not real, of course. I had a pack of these hiding in my glitter house decor drawer. I usually refer to these as "glitter houses" but I can't resist the alliteration of "Peppermint Putz!"

Glitter House And Glitter Camper

You may remember this house when it was under construction as shown in this post.  Here it is all frosted with glitter.  The paint color is called "melon pink" but it looks orange.  I so like the contrast of the gray for the roof and fence.  This is an original pattern I made after being inspired by so many cute houses with towers on the internet.

And here it is with the lights on.  I always like to see them illuminated.  :)

Now how about something that IS pink?

And how about a glitter CAMPER?

This is a pattern from Kelly Vivanco that I found online. Here is a link to it on Pinterest.  This one has been a bear to photograph.  I have struggled to get the lighting and the angles right. You can see the shape well in these pics, but he pink is much more vibrant in real life. 

The pattern has legs and a bottom strip for the awning, but I felt like that obscured the front of the camper too much so I left them off.

One more for size reference.  It's pretty tiny!

The rounded edges were a new challenge and I think I would make some modifications to the pattern if I make this one again. But I think it will be a sweet addition to our Christmas Village this year.

I hope you have had a creative week and I'd love to see your work.  :)
Thanks for stopping by.

-Laney

Halloween Glitter House Minus The Glitter

Hello everyone! It's been a busy few weeks around here. I have been involved in some projects around the house instead of working on little houses.  :)  But today I am sharing this Halloween house now that it is all finished.  This is another pattern by Howard Lamey. He is so generous in sharing patterns and techniques.  I was also inspired by the amazing Halloween houses by my friend and fellow blogger Lucy at With Glue and Glitter. I enjoyed creating this house - quite a departure from the Christmas themed houses I usually make.  This house has no glitter on it, just different paint effects - with the exception of the tiny Jack-o-lantern beside the door. Got to have a little glitter!

I enjoyed distressing the fence. I started with a store bought fence, took it apart, added some texture and then painted it with a little black and brown acrylic. 

I added some "moss" from the floral department at the craft store to the roof and the yard.

 This pic shows a close up of the roof. I cut some shingles from cardboard, painted them and then added some moss to the roof. This moss came in a flat sheet with a peel off backing that allows you to stick it on.  The adhesive was VERY strong! Sometimes it was difficult to get off my fingers but I like the effect.

I created the sconces on either side of the door from cardboard.  In this view you can see that they are dimensional.  I also added some texture to the purple paint for the door frame.

I used an orange velum for the door and window.  I like the way it glows when the house is lit up.

Overall this his turned out to be quite a fun project!  

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found time to be creative this week.  :)

-Laney

Orange Glitter Houses

Hello friends!  Hope you have been doing well this week.  I have a few works in progress to share. And I seem to have had a thing for orange lately. I hadn't really thought about it until I was putting this post together. Typically, I don't use a lot of orange - but it has certainly appeared in my studio this week.

First up is this Halloween project that is currently on my work table. (Pictured above.)  A wonky house (pattern by Howard Lamey) and a worn out fence.  I deconstructed and altered a pristine white picket fence to make it look run down and weathered.  I painted the house bright orange then dry brushed with some black paint to give it an old and dirty appearance.  The roof is hard to see from this angle but it is a dark green. So far the base has a few layers of paint with more to go. The house is not finished yet either - there is more to add to the roof. This is the first house I have done that will not have any glitter on it - unless I change my mind and add just a touch somewhere!

I also have this house in the works..This is new pattern I designed, inspired by other houses with towers I have seen.  The paint color is "melon pink" but it's a orange-y pink.  I like how it looks with the with slate gray trim.  The tower will have a bit of gray trim near the top and this one will get a frosting of glitter.  :)

And in keeping with the orange theme here's a finished lime green house with melon trim and a happy snowman peeking over the fence. This one's probably headed for the shop or the craft sale in a few days. 

Thanks for reading!  I hope you're having a creative week.  I'd love to see what you have been up to.

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Pink Glitter House Church

This is one of my latest Glitter House Projects - a Pink Church.  This is a remake of a vintage design made by the Dolly Toy Company in the 1930's or '40s. I'm not sure of the exact year. This pattern was made by Howard Lamey. The decorative windows and the cardboard trees were part of the design. Thanks Howard for a wonderful pattern!

It was fun to make this church since it was a reproduction of an old one made so many years ago. I have never made a reproduction- type glitter house before. I'm sure my version is not truly authentic - I wasn't really trying to make it that way. I think the original was white but I couldn't resist making it pink!

The pattern itself was interesting to construct with some new challenges for me - especially related to constructing the center tower and the roofs/spire. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

The trees show up best the photo above. They are covered in green metallic glitter. In real life they are a little brighter than this - a nice Christmas green. These are the first cardboard trees I have done. I think I prefer the bottle brush trees but these were fun to try.

I wasn't sure how the windows would look since I printed them on regular printer paper instead of vellum but they glow nicely when the "lights are on" at night.

In other news, I am trying out a new blog header. I made several so I am giving this one a whirl. What do you think?

Thanks for reading. I look forward to seeing what you have been working on!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday

Green Glitter House

My green glitter house is complete. I had to rework a few things, and then it was time for a base, a fence and - you guessed it - glitter! Making the porch and porch posts was a fun challenge. I opted for blue windows for this one. I thought the typical yellow windows I usually use would blend too much with the lime green trim on this little house.

I think I like the blue - they still glow yellow when the lights are in though. The warm color of the yellow lights overpowers the blue acetate. But that's OK - it will match the rest of the village from last year.

This house is inspired by a real house. You can see a pic of it in this post.  And an "in progress" pic here.

It started with these basic pieces plus the porch posts - which are also made from cardboard. I created the porch roof section as a separate three dimensional piece and glued it in place.

This photo above is a view of the roof piece from the back. 

I know ya'll probably aren't really thinking about Christmas at this time of year, but these little houses are just so compelling to make and I find I need to plan/work ahead to have them all ready in time.  ;)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a creative week!

Progress on the Green House

I've made some progress on my green house. It's not all glued together yet, but I am trying it out.. Not sure I'm happy with the porch. That may need to be reworked.  The roof over the porch was a new feature for me to make. I think the way I constructed that worked out well. It's the floor of the porch I am unsure about. That is a completely separate piece and may need to be thinner. Of course I have taken some artistic liberty with design and the colors. ;)  The trim looks yellow in these photos but it's more of a lime green in real life. When the weather clears up here I should get some better pictures with natural light. This house is about 4 inches tall.

Porch posts are just lightly held in place at this point - just trying to get a feel for how it looks.  I usually use yellow paper for windows but I am wanting something different for this one. Maybe a light blue?? I am wondering about snow, too. Should I add that or just some glitter? Decisions, decisions. I have also made the base for the house and the fence is awaiting a coat of paint so hope to make any changes and get this little house completed soon.

Hope you are having a creative week! I'd love to see what you have been up to.

-Laney

Linking up to Paint Party Friday

Designing a new Glitter House

Designing a New Glitter House

So I have a new house design in the works and have been sketching out ideas and working on dimensions.  I started by first determining how large I want the house to be. Here I have measured out for the house to be 4 inches wide by 4 inches tall.

Then I start deciding on the sizes and locations for other items such as the windows, doors and any other architectural features I want to include.

Inspiration

This particular little house is based on an actual house my husband likes that we see when visiting a nearby county. This blurry pic was snapped as we drove by!

Next Steps

The porch on the front is a design feature I have not made before so it should be fun to figure out the best way to design that - especially with the stone porch posts. I'm not sure I will try to make an exact replica but rather will use this house as inspiration.

With my sketches finished the next step is to draft the pattern in paper and make sure all the pieces fit before cutting the actual house out of cardboard.

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

I think one of the reasons these houses are so fascinating to create is the blend of creativity and technical/analytical skills involved. On the one hand you get to be artistic with paint colors, glitter and embellishments and on the other hand there is precision and some "engineering" required.
Have you ever taken those quizzes online that tell you whether you are more "right brained" or "left brained"? Right brained  people are said to be more creative and left brained people more logical. I usually score right down the middle! Maybe that is why this balance of art and engineering appeals to me.

Are you more right brained or left brained? Do you think this affects what you like to do artistically?

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a creative week!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday

Yellow and Pink Glitter House

Aside from painting faces I have been working on glitter houses behind the scenes.  This one is yellow with pink trim. It is based on a  pattern by Howard Lamey. The yellow is actually a bit softer than it appears in this photo but this was the best shot I could get in the studio tonight.  The house has been glittered and the base is ready for snow and glitter.

Some tools of the trade.

Above I am adding the snow/paint mixture to the base and fence. After it dries overnight I can add the glitter.

Trees are getting the treatment, too.  Snowy trees are are the perfect compliment to the little houses.

And some fence experiments are in the works.

So that's what has been going on around here. What have you been up to?

-Laney

linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Valentine Glitter House

I have been cooking up this little glitter house with a Valentine theme.  So even though Valentine's has passed for this year I wanted to share this pink glitter house with you. I experimented with drawing little hearts and decorations on this house.  I may need to try a more subtle glitter to let the designs stand out more.

I added little peppermint "candies" and red bows, then painted pink snow onto the bottle brush tree. 

The "candies" and bows are really left over from Christmas. Shhh! Don't tell anyone.

Wouldn't pink snow be fun for Valentine's Day?

I hope your Valentine's Day was sweet and I hope the rest of your February is too.

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Turquoise Glitter House with White Trees

This week I have a picture of the completed turquoise glitter house I was working on in this post.  I was pleased with how it came out and think it coordinates well with the colors of the decorations on the trees.  It is currently living in our second village in front of the living  room window.

We decided to use these winter trees and combined with the houses and the rustic table it seems to work!

Not much art going on right now what with Christmas preparations and family visiting.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and/or Happy Holidays!

Thanks for visiting and I look forward to seeing what you have been working on and having a peek into your Holidays.

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Christmas Village

Glitter House Village

We've been busy getting ready for Christmas over here. Part of that included setting up a village using some of my glitter houses on top of the TV cabinet.  I used a spare white curtain for the ground and lit the village with a those strings of tiny LED lights. The lights in between the houses were buried under some fluffy quilt batting. That made the hills kind of glow.  We may move some things around, but for now we have been enjoying it in the evenings.

Creative time has been a little limited and pushed aside by holiday shopping, decorating and preparations the last week or two.
I hope you have found time for some creative fun this week. I look forward to seeing what you have been up to!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Blue Glitter House

Blue Glitter House

I was inspired to create a blue glitter house after seeing a few around the internet. I thought the blue shade would look so frosty and cool under the glitter.  I love making my own patterns so I sat down with the graph paper and eventually ended up with this.

But before I get to the pretty, finished house it has to go through this stage below - drawing and drafting and redrawing and redrafting. And measuring and thinking and cutting and folding and testing and back to drawing and drafting again!

Then it's time to glue and prime and paint and glue and glitter . . . 

But all in all it's a fun undertaking with lots of steps and techniques involved. I like the variety of tasks in the process.

And once it was all finished this little guy showed up to stand guard outside the new house.  ;)

I hope you are having a great week with some time for creativity.

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday.

Inspiration for a New Glitter House

Isn't it funny how inspiration can strike?

This week I have been working on a new glitter house. All because I went shopping.  :)  
I purchased some white bottle brush trees already decorated with turquoise, aqua and silver beads, so of course I had to make a turquoise glitter house to go with them!

I selected two colors of acrylic paint - a lighter and a darker turquoise shade. Above is how the house looked after construction and painting.  You can see the trees in the background. You never know where your inspiration will come from. I had no idea when I went shopping that I would find these trees and be excited to make a new glitter house for them to nestle up against.

 Once the house was together and painted I set it aside to dry. A couple of days later I added glue  . . .

and glitter!

Something about adding the glitter really brings them to life.  (And usually makes a few other things sparkle, too.)

The next task is to make a fence and a base for the house and trees to sit on.

Hope your week has some inspiration and sparkle in it!

-Laney

Linking up with Paint Party Friday

Sweet Little Twin Glitter Houses

These two glitter houses  - in green and pink - look like twins or a matched set, don't they?  I made them from the same pattern, obviously.  I wanted to make a design that had room for a wreath under the peak of the roof, so I came up with this model. I modified a pattern by Howard Lamey.  I love the simple design and created both of these for an upcoming craft sale.

I made the fences by cutting the top edge with a decorative blade. The yards are just large enough for a frosty tree and a sweet little deer.

I love the soft pastels even though they are not traditional Christmas colors. I think they add to the "sweetness factor."  A touch of snow and plenty of glitter finished them off and brought them to life.

They are ready and waiting to brighten the holidays!

-Laney