Easy Tiny Paper Church - Quick Holiday Craft

When I was making my Gingerbread house with gingerbread paint, I didn't really think about how busy people are. Even with all the issues 2020 has brought to us, people are still BUSY. So if I design a craft that takes a lot of steps, I know it's going to take a lot of time to make. That is what I love to do and actually make time to do. But still I realize that it is important to design with projects that people can make easily and quickly. People need quick wins that fill their need to create, but aren't time-consuming. That's where the tiny paper church comes in.

The tiny paper church is easy and fast. First, it's made from card stock - something that people have on hand or could easily buy. Second, it's easy to cut out even if you cut your projects by hand. And third, you can put it together in 15 minutes or less. Finally, I think it's seriously cute.

Here are all the little paper houses in this easy craft series:

These miniature paper churches come in two sizes - the tiny version is 1.75 inches across the front and about an inch deep. It is 4 inches tall. The small version is 2.5 inches across the front and 1.5 inches deep and 6 inches tall.

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Material for Making the Tiny Paper Church

Card stock - I used either 65# or 110# card stock - either works
Glue - Any PVA glue will work, I used Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue
Decorative options:
- Gel pen - the Uniball Signo is my favorite
- Paint the color of your choice
- Glitter, anyone?
Cutting method - I cut the tiny churches out with my Cricut Maker, but the design is still easy to cut out by hand
Embroidery Thread
Large needle

How to Make the Tiny Paper Church

Download the free Tiny Paper Church pattern from the Paper Glitter Glue library
Cut out the tiny church pattern
Use the pen or paint to decorate your little church
Or use contrasting colors of card stock
Glue the body of the church together, then the roof
Adhere the church tower and steeple together, then glue to the roof
Make a hanger for the little church if you want it to be an ornament for hanging.

To get more details about how to make the paper church, read on.

1. Download the free pattern template for the tiny paper church

If you are new to my craft blog, here is how to get the church pattern. Subscribe to the Paper Glitter Glue newsletter where I share craft tips and inspiration and new projects. The form is right below. You will get the password to my library right away. And I will never send you any spam.

Then go to the library and you have access to all the files in the library. All of the free files are listed in chronological order. So pay attention to the month and year for the file you are looking for. This miniature church is found in the November 2020 section as the second project in the 12 Day Craft-Along series.

The pattern for this tiny holiday paper craft is available in 2 formats - a printable PDF format and as an SVG file to use with automatic cutting machines.

2. Next cut out the pattern

As you can see from the photo above, this pattern is easy to cut out by hand. It's actually designed so if you don't have a cutting machine, you can cut it out simply.

If you are using an automatic cutting machine, you have to make sure that you have specified the score lines and attached them to the card stock piece. I have done most of that for you if you are using a Cricut and Cricut Design Space. But there is one place where you have to attach the cut lines of the roof flaps and roof tabs to the body of the church.

First select the group that includes the main structure of the little church.

After you select that group, click attach which is at the bottom right hand corner.

And you know it is correct when the entire group is labeled as "Attach" as shown below.

3. Decorate your Tiny Paper Church

It is much easier to decorate the tiny paper church before you assemble it.

For this paper craft project, I chose to decorate the church in two ways - one with a white pen and the other is just using contrasting card stock colors.

My favorite pen of all time is the white Uniball Signo. It is amazing how beautifully it allows you to draw with white ink. I made a small and tiny version of the church decorated with the white pen. It's supposed to be like gingerbread. As you know, I have an infatuation with gingerbread. To make your life easier, draw the design on before you glue the church together.

One other easy option for decoration is to use the windows and the door options included in the pattern. Also be sure to glue them on before you glue the structure of the church together.

4. Next glue the tiny paper church together

This little church structure is so easy to glue together.

First, fold along the score lines to make it easy to assemble.

Make the 3 sections of the miniature paper church - the main body, the tower, and the steeple

After that apply glue to the glue tab on the side. Then glue the tab to side of the church. Do the same thing with the steeple tower and the steeple itself.

Apply glue to the side of the steeple tower.

You don't need a lot of glue for this tiny house. Here's the church side right after I glued the tab to the wall of the church. In fact, it is so easy to make this tiny church, you can use tape adhesive if you want.

Glue the roof tabs to the roof flaps

After that, fold the paper church roof flaps inside the roof tabs and glue the roof tabs to the roof flaps. You can use a binder clip if you want, but it is not really necessary. I used it to hold the roof tabs down while I took the photo. Another thing to note is that it's ok if the roof tabs overlap. You can trim them if you want, but I don't think it is necessary.

Adhere the church roof in place

Finally, apply glue to the upper surface of the roof tabs and adhere the church roof in place. Hold in place for a minute or two. Fortunately, card stock sticks together quickly.

Glue the church tower to the steeple

Next, glue the church steeple tower to the steeple. This step is just the tiniest bit tricky because you have to put the steeple on straight. Often, my steeple is a little crooked, but no one really notices because the little church is so cute. That's just not what people pay attention to (I tell myself).

Please note on the photo below, I got a little over-exuberant with the glue.

And here is how the tower and steeple look.

Glue the steeple tower to the roof of the church

Now glue the tower to the roof of the church. After I made several versions of the church I added some tabs to the bottom of the steeple to give it more surface area to adhere to the roof. If you make it an ornament, you just don't want the steeple coming off.

Mop up excess glue with a q-tip or a toothpick. I almost always have to do that because I tend to use too much glue.

5. Glue your paper church to a card stock base, if desired.

To simplify construction, just glue two layers of card stock together for the base. I just kind of estimated how big to make the base - something like 2.5 inches by 1.5 inches for the tiny church. And round the edges of the base because it will be stronger. Sharp corners tend to get bent.

If you want to put the small version of the church on a base (which refers to the slightly larger version of the tiny church) use a piece of cardboard about 3.5 inches wide by 2.5 inches deep. And if you want to add more landscaping, make a bigger base. The small version of the church is large enough for a tea light to fit underneath so you can leave off the base if you want. Both the tiny and small versions of the church have a hole in the back if you want to use the tiny LED light strings to add light.

6. Make a Hanger for the Tiny house

This is another simple step. Thread a needle that has a large eye (like a crewel needle or embroidery needle) with embroidery thread or baker's twine. Poke a hole in the steeple roof about ¼ inch down from the top. Pull the needle through and then tie the thread in a knot. That's it.

Now you have an adorable little church ornament that doesn't take much time at all. You could make a multitude of tiny churches for your tree or for a garland or a wreath or as gifts. Serious cuteness in no time at all.

I hope you enjoyed making a little tiny EASY paper church. It's a good craft to make with kids. And you know they love little tiny things. Remember that this little church would be perfect for decorating a Christmas wreath.

Also you make other tiny structures to complete your little village. The tiny paper house ornament has a design on it that you can use with the Cricut foil transfer tool or a pen.

Let me know if you have any other questions - email me at [email protected]. Please be sure to check out all the other crafts in the 12 Days Craft-Along.

Easy Tiny Paper Church - Quick Holiday Craft