Putz Village complete!!!

Welcome to the winter wonderland...

I completed my Putz village today. With the help of my youngest daughter, I added people and a few tiny details.

This charming little town now rests on the barnwood cabinet I built especially for the guest room (more on that later). Each night before a guests drifts off to sleep they can view this pastel paradise. Perhaps it will prompt sweet dreams of winter scenes. 

Winter comes...

Winter came to our home today. She rode in on a sparkling silver stag.

Photo courtesy of Steve Gourlay
Leaving in her path crystals and ice. She touched the last rose of summer, cloaking her in ice, setting her to sleep  until next years' awakening.

Today she dusted the mountains with snow. As if by magic they became host to the confectioner's sugar and crystaled rock candies.

Now I can begin... to listen to the sounds of the season in song. So I put on the music. Christmas music (just a tiny bit early....shhh). My old friends Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Buble and Burl Ives. Singing songs of my childhood,(My mother's favorite Christmas music) and inspiring an afternoon by the fire painting and crafting.

I love the tradition of a Christmas village. This year, I learned that the original "villages" were inspired by the placement of a nativity under the Christmas tree. A "putz" or Christmas village grew from that tradition.

Photo courtesy of pinterest.com

In the early 20th century many "putz" homes were made of cardboard and decorated with paint, glitter and miniature deer, trees and snowpeople. The first villages are accredited to the Morovian church. They mass produced and sold the tiny homes as a fundraiser.

 Later in the 20th century homes became ceramic and resin. Mass produced and sold in discount stores.

28 years ago I made my first village homes. A church, which of course every town needs. A few humble cottages and shops were then added. Through the years our family has added more buildings, people and accessories.(see our village in the next post).

This year, as a tribute to the original putz homes I decided to craft a tiny village in pastels for my guest room. My intention was to construct them from paper and cardboard. Today however, I made a hasty visit to the dollar store to see the new additions. Winter brought with her some additional treasures! I bought five tiny houses and a gazebo.

Joy filled my heart as I hurried home to light the afore mentioned fire, pull out the paints and begin crafting.

I first sprayed each house with a quick coat of white Rustoleum paint with primer. After allowing it to dry (mostly), I pulled out my crafts paints and set to work. 

Each tiny home, church and business was magically transformed into a tiny pastel dream! Acrylic craft paints were the first layer added to my white base. Then, light greens for the swags and wreaths. Acrylic white to highlight the snow. A layer of glitter paint for highlights.

The final step was to coat each little cottage in Modge Podge and press sparkling crystal glitter to every square inch.

I love my little houses. I will add some bottle brush trees and a few tiny reindeer to finish off my "putz" village. Look for a future post to see the assembled town!

'Hocus Pocus' books & spells

Our family loves the movie 'Hocus Pocus', and I've always wanted my own spell books. Try as I might, calling out "BBBoooooOOOOKK" did not work. 

This year I decided to take matters into my own hands. So on a Saturday afternoon, with Pandora Halloween music playing, my friend and I set to work. We got 6 hardbound books free from a local exchange. 

Then we gathered other supplies:

• hot glue gun with lots of glue
• aluminum foil
• printer paper or any other paper
• small piece of fabric (2" x 3")
• acrylic paint (black, white, orange, and brown)
• duct tape
• modge podge
• Sponge brushes/ make-up sponges
• simple Halloween shapes (ex. spiders, skull and cross bones, etc)
  

Instructions for the Eye Book:

1. Form a one inch ball of foil
2. Spot glue onto book front about 1/3 the way down and towards the right side of the book cover
3. Lay fabric piece over foil and duct tape down
4. Use hot glue gun to create wrinkles and eyelid lines around eye and seams on book. Let glue cool until hard.
5. Once finished with hot glue, paint over book cover with modge podge. 
6. Apply torn paper pieces to wet modge podge then paint over paper layer with modge podge
7. Mix brown paint 1 to 4 with modge podge on a paper plate. Paint mixture over entire book cover. Allow to dry
8. Using sponge brush and orange paint tap brush lightly in orange paint, then tap lightly to center areas between scars and seams. Allow to dry.
9. Using sponge brush or make-up sponge shade seams by dabbing on black or dark brown paint until desired effect is reached
10. With a small brush, paint eye
11. Shade the edges of the book with black and brown paint dabbed on

For other books, use a glue gun to add any raised designs to book cover. Then paint on a layer of modge podge. Smooth foil over entire book cover while modge podge is still wet. Allow to dry. Follow painting procedure as with Eye Book. 

We made 6 books for about $3 each.

My BBBBOOOOOOOKKKKKK finally came home!