crafty christmas – tea light houses

i saw these little houses at a press show back in july, a christmas press show in july. i thought they were fabulous. the lady making them helen musslewhite has an increadible talent. she made some fabulous centre pieces which were beyond magnificent. check this centre piece out. truly inspiring.

christmas in a martini glass         paper christmas treewinter wonderland in a dome

she did however make some simpler house lanterns, which with tracing paper windows and a little battery tea light inside, looked outrageous too.

lanterns

i thought i would have a go…

what you will need:

– card of various colours, we just used white to start with
– pencil and ruler
– scalpel and cutting board
– double-sided tape
– glue stick
– battery tea lights

i drew out a simple cube shape, with flaps on two sides and an extended flap at the top of one to attach to the roof later.

then with a pencil i drew where the windows and door would be and cut these out with a scalpel. i then glued some tracing paper over the windows.

i scored the folds with the back of my scapel and put some double sided tape on the tabs down the side of the house and pulled them together and stuck them down.

i cut out a square of card for the roof, and cut a wavy line along two of the edges, and stuck a rectangle of card on top with wavy edges too. makes it look a bit snowy. i stuck this roof onto the larger tab and there it was my first tea light house.

not as blooming brilliant as one of helens but practice will make perfect, i’m sure!

finished house

Comments

  1. December 2, 2013 / 19:31

    You are all over Christmas and inspiring me missus – love these!

    • December 3, 2013 / 21:01

      i might just be getting my christmas craft on BOOM!

  2. December 3, 2013 / 11:27

    Ooh they look so cute!! Hooray for electric tea lights, opens up so many ideas!

    • December 3, 2013 / 21:02

      aren’t they the most genius idea, love them!

  3. December 3, 2013 / 11:27

    Oooohhh, lovely! have they ever caught on fire?

    • December 3, 2013 / 21:02

      don’t put real tea lights in, get the battery ones they are brilliant!

  4. December 3, 2013 / 12:08

    How gorgeous are those!

    Might have found a use for my laser cutter :0)

    • December 3, 2013 / 21:03

      you have a laser cutter….. *envy face*

  5. December 3, 2013 / 12:15

    They are beautiful and didn’t you do a marvellous job!

    • December 3, 2013 / 21:03

      bless you and thank you, not sure marvellous but i’m going to make some more so hopeful they will get better!

  6. December 3, 2013 / 15:21

    Aren’t they gorgeous? I could make a whole village with the girls, what a great idea. I must invest in one of those special knives though first 😉

    • December 3, 2013 / 21:05

      get a cutting mat too before you ruin your table! i want to make a little village too x

  7. December 3, 2013 / 20:46

    Oooh they are so pretty, the kids would love this, can you do us a template/ (lazy crafter) Only joking, nice to find a really original idea 🙂

    • December 5, 2013 / 21:50

      i can try!

    • December 5, 2013 / 21:51

      i just copied the idea from that lovely lady, going to make some more over the weekend, it was strangely therapeutic!

  8. December 4, 2013 / 12:06

    those are beautiful!! will be having a try!

    • December 5, 2013 / 21:52

      oh please do, the possibilities are endless!

  9. December 11, 2013 / 11:33

    These are ADORABLE – thanks so much for linking it up to the Parenting Pin it Party. The pictures of the other creations are wonderful too…making me wish I did have a bit of craft in me! 😉

    • December 16, 2013 / 23:23

      i’m going to make a couple more and make a little village then they will be really cute!