Vintage Inspired Cardboard Village

For a couple of years now I have been ohhing and ahhing over those little vintage looking cardboard glitter houses. Sometimes they are large enough for table top display and sometimes tiny hanging ornaments. But...... I could never bring myself to buy any. The houses are always covered with so much glitter that the minute you touch it, it is everywhere!

 So I have continued to oh and ah from afar and leave them in the store.

 Until this year, when I decided I needed to make my own!

A quick search online brought up a template from Martha Stewart for a Winter Village. (Click on the link for a tutorial and the template.) I basically followed the directions Martha Stewart gives; print out the template, glue it to cardstock, cut out the house (an Exacto knife is a big help here), fold along the lines and glue together. Then the fun begins! It was so much fun painting and decorating them with "snow"!

(Forgive me if there are too many pictures. This has been my favorite Christmas craft this year and I am so excited with how nice they turned out!)

 If I had used primer like was suggested, the bases probably wouldn't have curled as much as they did. But they are still cute!

I was so excited to to discover the perfect product for the snow! A paint called Snow-Tex. It is the perfect texture and color. For just a hint of sparkle without going overboard, I coated the Snow-Tex with a white shimmer paint. 

 Did you know decorating with little Christmas villages is centuries old? It is primarily a German tradition, but many nationalities also celebrate the holiday with something similar. German-American's nicknamed the houses "Putz houses" using the slang word meaning "to putter around". The villages took a long time to get just right!

In the 1930's the little houses gained enormous popularity and everyone from Sears-Roebuck to dime stores sold Japanese cardboard imports. With the advent of electric Christmas lights, the houses were fitted out with yellow cellophane windows and a hole in the back for a light bulb to shine through. 

 I think my favorite little house is the white church with it's tall steeple and many windows. It reminds me of a vintage Christmas card. 

 This little bungalow I modeled after my cottage with a small front dormer and a low slopping roof. Of course I had to paint it pink! A color that was surprising popular for the little houses.

I hope you have enjoyed a stroll through my little village and history. Do you remember putting up villages or do you have a village every year?