2025 Miniature Christmas House Contest

This entry photo shows Ken's winning entry from the 2025 Christmas House contest - the Frosted Manor.

Winners of the 2025 Christmas House Contest

Overall Winners:

1. Ken - The Frosted Manor - $100 gift card
2. Jodie - Twinklebough Hideaway - $75 gift card
3. Edith - Quilt Shop in the Woods - $50 gift card

Whimsical Award:

Brenda - Grinch Place - $25 gift card

Innovative Award:

Nora - Blue Christmas House - $25 gift card

Village Award Winners:

1. Bonnie - The Christmas Ice Village - $25 gift card
2. Kay - Christmas Village on a Peaceful Christmas Eve - $20 gift card
3. John - Christmas Village "He's Been Here!" - $15 gift card

People's Choice Awards

1. Cheryl - It's GO TIME - $25 gift card
2. People's Choice Village - Donna C - The Gingerbread Grove - $25 gift card

Here are extra awards that we singled out by the judges.

Most Brilliantly Lit House

Cathy - Jordan Family Estate - $10 gift card

Happy Gingerbread Ornament

Pam - Christmas Ornament - $10 gift card

Most Victorian

Cristiana - Ye Old Bookshop - $10 gift card

Best Icicles

Cathy - Red Glitter Icicle House - $10 gift card

Most Unique Transportation

Misti - Holly Jolly Hoppery - $10 gift card

Best North Pole Setting

Nan and Mo - Where is Santa? - $10 gift card

Mid-Century Modern Village

Leesha - Dreaming of a White Christmas in the Tropics - $10 gift card

Most Colorful Village

Karen - Dutch Canal Houses at Christmas - $10 gift card

Lovely Layered Village

Joyce - Ozark Village Christams - $10 gift card

Please email me - [email protected]. Once I have your email address, I will order your Amazon gift cards.

See all the 2025 Christmas House entries on this YouTube video.

1. Ken - The Frosted Manor

What better way to begin displaying this year's contest submissions than with this beautiful house Ken made! It is as fine a glitter show as we've seen in a while. Lovely job!

2. Melanie - McKenzie Child's Steeple Church

Melanie's delightful church aspires to the heavens! Guided by the lovely angel on the left. Isn't the church delightfully framed by the golden trees?

3. Cathy - Jordan Family Estate

You can tell so much about people from how warm and welcoming their house is. The snow effects are magnificent, and the lighting just wants to draw us in, ever closer, for a more intimate view. Just lovely!

This house Cathy has given us exudes warmth and joy and Christmas spirit! Aren't the garland decorations incredible!

4. Cheryl - Holly Lane

Here is a wonderful set of houses! Each is unique, each is festive, each is colorful! Santa and the snowman are both very happy, and we are too!

5. Helle - Irish Cottage

Helle's magnificent little cottage is exquisitely displayed in this four picture collage. It is a virtual clinic on showing off one's creation to best advantage. Applause, Helle!

6. Melanie - Gingerbread Family House

You can just see the joy with which this gingerbread family shows off their beloved abode! Isn't this just the perfect gingerbread scene?

7. Pam - Lovely Christmas Ornament

This incredible Christmas ornament/medallion contains a beautiful little house with snow and trees, surrounded by glowing silver braid. So creative!

8. Ken - The Winter Estate Ornament

Have you ever seen a cooler estate contained within an ornament? Ken has done an amazing job with this! It almost has a snow globe aspect!

9. Lina - Aunt B's House

Aunt B's house is warm and cozy. The Santa and fireplace make a delightful background for her house.

10. Cheryl - It's GO TIME

We know deep down that making all of those toys and gifts must be a Herculean undertaking. How much more wonderful to see what a delightful energy the workshop projects. Doing that blessed work is a labor of great love and joy, as it should be. Magnificent, Cheryl! Great share.

11. Melanie - McKenzie Child's House

There are entries true to the Christmas spirit, but perhaps none more so than this submission from Melanie. The house seems perfectly suited to the scene, with the details complementing the whole so well. Lovely.

12. Alda - The Past Christmases House

Alda notes that this excellent house with icicles above the windows is intended as an homage to memories of past Christmases in Dickens's tale. How creative is that? It has certainly brightened our Christmas season in the present.

13. Becki - Blue Christmas

If Elvis ever inspired you with his Christmas music you can see how precious Becki's beautiful Christmas house is, how well it fulfills that promise. What a fun place for celebrating the holiday!

14. Cristiana - Ye Olde Bookshop

There are many of us - you know who you are! - who find bookstores the most wonderful places to visit during the holidays. They are great for gifts and for feeding our spirits. With this wonderful entry, Cristiana has captured that truth. Such a fine Christmas scene.

15. Brenda - Winter Wonderland Cottage

Just look at the glorious colors of this wonderful holiday scene! And is that Burl Ives in the background?! It's just magnificent, Brenda.

16. Edith - Quilt Shop in the Woods

'Quilty Pleasures, indeed! The sign says: I cannot count my day complete, Till needle, thread and fabric meet. How cool is that! The bay window contains a sewing machine, a basket of fabric and a country valance.

17. Cozmik - Fairy Wonderland Cottage

Among the elements is this stunning creation: pom poms, resin, a ton of candy and pinecones! The door looks like one from The Shire, in Tolkien lore.

18. Brenda - Grinch Place

You can see how Grinch does not stand alone in Grinch place - there is no intimidating the cheerful Whos at Christmas! You have chose wonderful colors for this ensemble, Brenda!

19. Cathy - Red Glitter Icicle House

Cathy submitted several fine photos of this wintry Christmas scene, but there is something so festive and inviting about the colors when the house is lit, particularly when the lighting is as effective as it is here. Even the snowman is ready for a hug!

20. Nora's Hanging Christmas House

Nora's wonderful little house incorporates so much of what is magical about Christmas in this glorious scene. This is one to savor for a longer period of time.

21. Jodie - Twinklebough Hideaway

Can you imagine living in such a miraculous Christmas house? I see the happiest kids in there, drinking hot chocolate and dreaming of their next excursion on their sled parked below the deck. This may be one of the finest doors I have ever seen, through which to enter such a fine Christmas domicile.

23. Misti - The Holly Jolly Hoppery

While our imaginations are at play, why not a sleigh team of bunnies doing the hero work on Christmas?! Say to Santa Buns and and his four bundeers - Hopper, Vixbun, Thumper, and Rudolph, the red-nosed bundeer! Love it!

24. Nora - Blue Christmas House

Elvis-approved, Nora's wonderful little Blue Christmas house doesn't just have incredible glitter and bright color, look at the greenery with the bows beneath the windows. This year, a Blue Blue Blue Blue Christmas is just what the doctor ordered!

25. Nan and Mo - Where is Santa?

If you want a challenge for your contest submission, make an igloo with reindeer penguins and a sled! So nicely done! This is a wonderful collaboration, Nan and Mo! Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

26. Maureen - Santa's Christmas Workshop

It is easy to forget what an undertaking Santa has if he does not have a magical workshop for his challenge. Maureen has shown how important it is that the workshop is a welcoming place for Santa and the elves to work! I think the snowman is called in, too, what do you think?

27. Nora - Red Candy

Red Candy, indeed! The glitter really sets off this Christmas house, but look at the snow on the trees in front! One of the coolest features is the snow line on the mountain backdrop.

1. Village - Leesha - Dreaming of a White Christmas in the Tropics

Here is the overview of Leesha's spectacular Village in the Tropics. Sited on three levels, it is a tour de force of creative exploration.

Here are closer views of individual houses in Leesha's beautiful village! Enjoy!

2. Karen - Village - Village Advent Calendar

Here the top picture shows all of the houses,, with the bottom three pictures showing different views, including one of a house open with treats within. What an amazing village!

3. Bonnie - Village - The Christmas Ice Village

Sometimes you see a submission that really breaks the mold when it comes to important creative elements like setting and presentation. Perhaps you will agree that Bonnie's Christmas Ice Village is one of those. Great job with this village, Bonnie! Thank you for sharing it!

4. Donna C - Village - Gingerbread Grove

Here are three views of an amazing creation, DonnaC's Gingerbread Grove village. Every house has a unique concept, yet they all tie together so well! Have you ever seen a more delicious gingerbread train? Or cooler additional elements interspersed throughout?

5. Karen - Village - Dutch Canal Houses at Christmas

These beautiful Dutch Canal houses are really set off with the garland and the lights, but just as cool is the toy-filled sleigh! What a Merry Christmas awaits!

6. Joyce - Village - Loving Memories of Christmas

When creators talk about making colors 'pop,' this is the kind of thing they are talking about. Just look at how the rich colors bring this joyful Christmas scene to life! The snowmen know! Outbound Santa knows! You have made an exquisite village to share, Joyce. Thank you.

7. Donna L - Village - Destined for a Wreath

Donna shared this lovely little village envisioned for placement on a wreath. We are glad we are able to see this version, beneath this little Christmas tree, as it is a terrific scene unto itself! What fun little houses!

8. Joyce - Village - Ozark Christmas Village

Here is a wonderful Christmas village with dramatically different aspects depending on the view. It looks lovely lit, but also an overhead view gives a unique perspective of the spacing between the thoughtful elements. This is a genuinely exquisite Christmas village.

9. Kay - Village - Christmas Village on a Peaceful Christmas Eve

You know you are creative when your village work is so magnificent and so extensive that you can't fit it all in a village submission! Look at this remarkable world Kay has created!

10. Nora - Village - Nora's Christmas Village

What a bright, colorful little village! This looks like a safe, love-filled location for a Christmas celebration! It is a fine share, Nora. Thank you.

11. John - Christmas Village "He's Been here!"

John says that he has just started making little houses by cutting everything out by hand with his trusty scalpel. The grey church in the middle is a Norman church based on old churches in the UK. It's the first pattern that he has created. We look forward to many more.

1. JOC1 - Melanie - Gingerbread Houses 2020-2025

We could not imagine a more delightful submission to kick off our Joy of Creation items this Christmas season! Melanie, what a beautiful, creative display! The house at top right is a free-standing contest entry!

2. JOC2 - Edel - Christmas Warmth on a Frosty Night

Edel's incredible house demands lengthy scrutiny to appreciate so many details. Often houses feature glitter, but this is almost more of a glaze phenomenon. I believe I see Frosty, himself, nestled by the tree!

3. JOC3 - Debbie - Battery Tea Light Gift Card Box

Just wow! Enjoy these views of Debbie's spectacular Gift Card Box! Isn't that magical?

4. JOC4 - Melissa - Christmas Centerpiece Ornaments

Melissa created these beautiful little church scenes under glass for use as centerpiece ornaments for a Christmas breakfast at church. Wouldn't that make the cuisine more appealing at any gathering! These are also gifts! One person per table will get to take one home!

5. JOC5 - Dominica - Hungry Christmas Snowman

Yes, this delightful Christmas snowman has a bunny, a bear cub and a Santa in his belly! What a fun creation! Great share, Dominica!

6. JOC6 - Joyce - 12 Days of Christmas Village

Applauding Joyce's 12 Days of Christmas houses is not volitional, they are just wonderful! Each house is numbered, with the theme of the day imprinted on its face. Who wouldn't be proud to display this scene at Christmas!

7. JOC7 - Brenda - Christmas Village ala Raven

Here is Raven inspecting Brenda's stunning village in the round. We see a wealth of Disney Christmas stars populating the village, with such delicious lighting and color choices. This is so much fun! As a village should be. We can only imagine children oohing and aahing over this, assuming Raven permits proximity.

8. JOC8 - Kay - Village of Advent Houses

What do you do when you have made a number of really beautiful advent houses? You put them in a village, as Kay did here! Who wouldn't be proud to feature such a display in their home!

9. JOC9 - Howard - Santa Toy Family Annex

Howard often shares a beautiful little house that he makes. This on is so elegant and beautifully designed. I always admire how precise and perfectly decorated his houses are.

10. JOC10 - Jackie - Mid Century Modern Merry

I just wanted to include Jackie's file that she shared in the Facebook group. It's a lovely Mid-Century Modern house file that is a free pattern on her website - A Cottage in the Forest.

2025 Miniature Christmas House Contest Rules

Holiday season is full upon us, and now it's time to celebrate with the next crafting challenge! I'm excited to announce the 2025 Miniature Christmas House Contest, where you can showcase your creativity by designing and submitting your own handcrafted miniature house inspired by Christmas and the Winter season! If you love Santa, Christmas wreaths, egg nog, Christmas or Winter scenes, this is your chance to share your artistry and win some fun prizes!

NEW FOR 2025! By popular demand, for the first time we are having a dedicated Village category in the Christmas House competition. Almost every contest, some of the most stunning entries are complete village scenes. Historically, they may have been handicapped by just having a single view on the contest page, which just may not show all they offer. This year, up to three photos will be posted for village entries. They are consistently some of the most inspiring craft displays we ever see, so now they will have a category unto themselves. We also hope to encourage more submissions of this type. They convey a spirit that single houses simply cannot, as they are all about people and community. Just as the holiday season should be. See the rules for that category, below.

Here's a great entry that Nora made in 2024. The Classy Christmas Cottage is a Christmas delight!

🏆 How to Enter

Submission Opens: December 1, 2025
Entry Deadline: December 19, 2025
Winners Announced: December 23, 2025

To enter, create a miniature house that embodies the spirit of Christmas or Winter. You can use cardstock or cardboard as the main material for your house, submit a photo of your creation along with a brief description of your design to my private Facebook group or email the photo to me - [email protected]. More details below.

Design Inspiration for Christmas House Contest

We welcome submissions of Christmas/winter houses with festive features of every kind, including but not limited to children, pets, poinsettias, Christmas cacti, wintry trees, and seasonal delights.

ENJOY! FUN IS WHAT IT'S ABOUT! The first day to enter the contest is December 1, 2025. Your entry must be in by midnight on December 19. I will announce the awards on December 23. We'll announce the winners here.

Remember the entry dates start December 1 and the deadline is December 19, 2025. Winners announced December 23.

And thanks in advance for entering. This is going to be FUN!

Prize List for the 2025 Miniature Christmas House Contest:

• First place - $100 Amazon gift card
• Second place - $75 Amazon gift card
• Third place - $50 Amazon gift card
• People's Choice award - $25 Amazon gift card
• Whimsical award - $25 Amazon gift card, to a submission that characterizes a whimsical version of the Christmas season (rather than realistic version of a house)
• Innovation award - $25 Amazon gift card, for the submission with the most novel innovation. That can be part of a house or structure, or it can be an embellishment, or anything else super creative you can think of.
• Two Kid's awards for two separate divisions (10 and under, and ages 11-16) - $25 Amazon gift cards
• Village award - $25 Amazon gift card, to a submission that displays a village of houses and other structures to seasonal effect

(The Whimsical and Innovation awards will go to submissions that did not win in the top placings category, to expand the winning possibilities. Obviously any entry can win the overall awards, so they would win one of those and not a category prize.)

I reserve the right to expand prize categories and awards, and I always do this. Even I do not know what those special awards will be until I spend some time with the submissions.

Rules for the 2025 Miniature Christmas House Contest

1. Have fun

Really, the entire purpose of this is to have fun and to share the fun. Simply make a house that expresses a Christmas or Winter season theme or atmosphere and enjoy the process, the fine company.

To emphasize this point, the contest period is now open to what we call "Joy of Creation' submissions, of which we received 21 for this year's Halloween contest! That's a new record several times over! Every year we seem to have members who just want to participate in the creative challenge, not the contest itself. We applaud this mindset, because it reflects the spirit of our group so well, where satisfaction is found in creation of little houses and scenes and in the sharing of that with friends.

The Joy of Creation Option

We enthusiastically welcome and encourage Joy of Creation submissions because you may not be interested in competing for prizes - you just like to create and share. We want to see and appreciate what you make. In addition, we are not setting any limit on such submissions. Just please add the tag #JoyOfCreation when you post them. For that matter, these submissions can also be items too large for contest qualification, creations from previous years or even creations that are not houses. Express yourself! Do please name them.

You are all so creative and imaginative, you're an inspiration!

2. Name Your Design

First NAME YOUR DESIGN! This helps the judges (and contest visitors) remember each design. It also adds to the design.

It's much better for those viewing your creation if it has a name. Some of the names of submissions in prior contests are incredibly creative. Naming your design enhances your submission, and is an avenue of creative expression in its own right. (There is no penalty for forgetting to name your house, it just means I will have to name it and it may be less imaginative than a name you could include. Naming your house is a creative opportunity unto itself.)

Please write a sentence or several sentences about your creative process, your inspiration and the like. People request this because they want to learn from you. Inspiration is contagious.

3. Three Ways to Enter the 2025 Miniature Christmas House Contest

a) Post your house in the Paper Glitter Glue Facebook group with the tag #2025MiniChristmasHouse. Please join this Facebook group so you can enter there. It's the best way to enter. (This is best way to insure your submission is captured without issue.)

b) Email me a photo on or after December 1. The address is [email protected]. Please include the title 2025 Mini Christmas House in your email title so I can find the photo easily in my email box and include it as an official submission.

c) Follow me on Instagram and post your 2025 Christmas house and tag me @lucyf7b on Instagram.

We start listing official entries on December 1st. Your house does have to be made during the 2025 calendar year (not necessary for Joy of Creation submissions). If you are submitting a village for the Village category, structures in the entry may be from previous years, except, at least one house must be from this year.

Finally, after you have submitted your house and we get the entries all posted here, please check to be certain that I have faithfully captured your submission(s)! Email immediately if I missed something or made an error with it!

4. Permission to Post Your House Photo on my website and on social media

In submitting your creations, you are giving me permission to post a picture or pictures of your project on my website and social media just like I did for the Halloween house contest. I love to share your projects because they are all so remarkable. This allows all site visitors and guests to see your creations, which can help inspire them in turn. Usually we post only your first name with each house with no personal information. If two members with the same first name post submissions, I usually add a single initial to differentiate them as being from separate people.

5. Size Limitation for the 2025 Miniature Christmas House Contest

Here are the size limitations:

Base - no limitation on the base so you can landscape as much as you want, but the size of the house does have limitations

House height - no taller than 12 inches tall

Width of House - no wider than 12 inches

Depth of the House - no deeper than 10 inches

Villages or small groups of houses are welcome as long as each house is no bigger than the measurements listed above.

Note: It is much harder to take in all the details in one photo. We need one good photo for the judges to look at except in the Village category. We are allowing 3 photos for the Village category. Post as many as you like in the Facebook group, but for the judging we usually have room just to include one photo here.

6. Use any pattern you like

For your entries, you can use your own pattern, my patterns here on PaperGlitterGlue.com, patterns from my friend, Jackie of A Cottage in the Forest, Tim Holtz houses, or even a purchased pattern.

7. The house must be made of cardboard or cardstock

Your house needs to be paper-based - made out of either cardboard or card stock. No wooden houses. But you can use other materials for the base, landscape, and embellishments.

8. Creativity and Originality are emphasized

Creativity and originality are important and will be emphasized in judging. Hint: Let the fun shine through!

Also creativity in naming your house helps to make it more special. Please tell us a little bit about your house - how you made it, what inspired it, etc. We all love to read about the creative inspiration behind your projects. We are delighted to note that people are becoming much more creative with house names. It is a very welcome trend.

9. You may enter up to 3 houses, but the houses must be unique and constructed in 2025

Up to three submissions, all of houses created in this calendar year. (Again, note, this rule does not restrict submission of 'Joy of Creation' houses, which are not eligible for prizes. That does not compromise our appreciation of them and you! And, you may submit as many Joy of Creation items as you like.)

10. Rules for submissions for Village category

Houses made in prior years may be included in villages submitted this year, but if you submit the same village for more than one year, it should include at least one house created in 2025. Though this is somewhat arbitrary, there should be at least three houses/house-like structures to constitute a village. You need not specify that your submission is a village. Village submissions are eligible for the overall. You may also enter one of the houses as an individual house. However, we only give one award per person.

Note: Donna's North Pole in the South village DID win the overall in 2023.

11. How to Vote for the People's Choice Award for this Year's Contest.

You will have one vote when you post a comment at the end of this post AFTER ALL THE ENTRIES ARE IN, VOTING STARTS ON December 20th midnight on December 21st . And you have another vote on my YouTube channel. Subscribe to get notifications of when we post the contest video. So! Two votes per person, if you choose to exercise them. Please note this is intended to be about fun and creativity, not competition. Vote for your choices, but please don't 'stuff the ballot box.'

12. If you win a prize ...

Please contact me by email so that I can get it to you expeditiously! Send Email

GET THE KIDS INVOLVED MAKING A MINIATURE CHRISTMAS HOUSE!

We always love to see house submissions from your children (in TWO categories this year! Ages 10 & under and 11-16. Please include their first name and note their age with the submission so I can get them properly entered in the correct category). Allow their youthful creativity to flow. The names of the children's submissions will be placed in a hat and drawn randomly. Those submissions aren't - and should not be - competitive. They should have fun with no other concerns! But we love encouraging them to exercise their imaginations and creative skills.

Note: Prizes in children's submissions in the two age categories will be by a random drawing. No competitive pressure! No value judgments.

So that is the Miniature Christmas House Contest for this year. Whatever you do, enjoy it! Enjoy making your houses and sharing them. That's what it is all about.

Deadline for submissions for the 2025 Miniature Christmas House Contest is December 19th

Deadline for photo entries is December 19 and the winners will be announced on December 23.

And if you want to be inspired ...

Here are links to previous Christmas House contests:

2021 https://paperglitterglue.com/2021-miniature-christmas-house-contest/

2022 https://paperglitterglue.com/2022-miniature-christmas-house-contest/

2023 https://paperglitterglue.com/2023-miniature-christmas-house-contest/

2024 https://paperglitterglue.com/2024-miniature-christmas-house-contest/

Questions?

Email me - [email protected]