• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Paper Glitter Glue

Paper Houses, Paper Crafts - Fun in the Making

  • About Me
    • Contact Me
  • Blog
  • Tutorial
  • Disclosures
    • Privacy Policy
  • Paper Glitter Glue Library
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / Putz house / What is a Putz House? And how do you make one?

What is a Putz House? And how do you make one?

Lucy · August 8, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Share13
Pin721
Share
734 Shares

Make your own winter village christmas wreath with glitter houses also called putz houses, miniature cardboard houses

What is a Putz House?

Recently I posted one of my little houses on a crafty-oriented Facebook Group and someone asked me a startling question – What is a Putz house? Perhaps I need to start off this blog post with a brief explanation of what a Putz house is. The name for Putz houses evolved from the German word “putzen” which means to clean or to decorate. And the name was gradually acquired by the little houses that were placed around the nativity scene for Christmas decorations in the early 1900s. Yes, these adorable little houses have been around for about 100 years. Designs and materials have varied dramatically over time.

Putz church from Village Brownstone and Village Bell tower dies #putzhouse #papercraft #craft
Putz church from my little house making Christmas party

How do you make Putz Houses?

Would you like to see more inspiration and instructions on making Putz or paper houses? There are so many places on the web to read about making these charming little houses in addition to my advice here. First, here is a comprehensive list of the tutorials on my blog, but after that I’ve listed the best places on the web to read about making little houses. As I find new information, I will update this post so you will have a list of the best information on where to learn how to make Putz houses.

Tutorials below are listed in order of construction:

  • Tools you need
  • How to make a pattern
  • Free patterns on my blog
  • How to make various bases for your houses
  • Finally, some of the different texture effects I use on my houses.

8 Essential Tools for Making Your Glitter House

I made a list of the 8 Essential Tools (inexpensive tools) that you need to make your own paper house. It’s available free on my paper glitter glue library. Just sign up for the newsletter and you will get instant access to the library and can download the list.

Paper Glitter Glue Tutorials for Making Putz Houses

Below are a number of patterns that you can find on my blog. There are at least 30 patterns for making little houses in the Paper Glitter Glue library.

Patterns and How to Make Patterns:

Easy Paper Houses – Free Pattern

Easy Paper Houses | Free Printable Pattern | DIY House template | Tutorial
Here are the Easy Houses all lined up. This is the simplest pattern to make.

And here are instructions on how to make and simplify your own Putz house patterns and templates:

Make Your Own Original Putz House Pattern – Part 1

Make Your Own Original Putz House – Part 2

Jennifer's paper Halloween House #putzhouse #Halloween #paperpattern
Jennifer’s Halloween Putz house made with the pattern above

Based on number of pins in Pinterest this is my most popular pattern – this variation on the Irish Cottage.

Christmas paper house for a Christmas Village Free pattern to make the German Half-Timbered Paper house #putzhouse #christmasvillage #glitterhouse #papercraft

Here is another very popular pattern – the Christmas Farmhouse.

Christmas Farmhouse paper house putz house for Christmas
Christmas Farmhouse in Stone 

Candy Corn Putz House Free Pattern

Candy Corn Halloween House - a putz house based on the candy corn shape and colors
The classic Candy Corn shape used as a pattern to make a happy Halloween house
Patriotic Putz House Pattern | Putz house template | Fourth of July Glitter House | Independence Day Putz House | #putzhouse | #glitterhouse
A July 4th Candy Corn house using the same pattern as above.

Make an Irish Cottage – Free Pattern

Irish Stone Cottage - free pattern #putzhouse #paperhouse #pattern
Pattern for the Irish Stone Cottage
12 Houses for Christmas paper house pattern
12 free Christmas Putz house patterns in the Paper Glitter Glue library
Halloween Paper Village printable patterns templates #halloweencrafts
Make your own adorable Halloween village with these 13 printable patterns

How to Draw a Steeple Pattern for Your Little Houses

Sometimes you need to make a steeple to fit a specific tower or roof on your little house. You’ll find instructions in the post listed below.

How to Draw a Steeple Pattern for Your Little House

Stone Stencil Clock House - Halloween house with a stone-like surface and shingled roof #putzhouse #halloween #papercraft
Stone Stencil Clock House with large steepled tower in center

Instructions for How to Make a Base and Add Light to Your Putz House

There are a number of ways to light up your little house. The most common way is through a light bulb in the hole in the back of the house. That’s the traditional way for making Putz houses light up. But even in the 1930s people started cutting holes in the bottom of the houses so they could insert the bulb underneath. That’s the way I make most of my houses with a hole in the base for lighting. However, I almost always include the hole in the back for tradition’s sake.

Back view Jennifer's Halloween Putz house
Back view of Jennifer’s Halloween Putz House showing the branch tree, ghost and graveyard as well as the traditional hole for lighting the house

How to Make a Base for a Little Cardboard House

How to Add Light to Your Little Houses

Abandoned Italianate Mansion Halloween House LED lights
Abandoned Italianate Mansion Glitter House shining with LED lights inserted in the base

Make a Back Door to light up your Putz house

How to make Back Door to light up your Putz House
DIY a back door for your putz house lights

How to Make a Rusted Roof for Your House Tutorial

One of my very favorite ways to make a roof for a Putz house (particularly Halloween houses) is with metallic tape and alcohol ink to add a rusted patina to the roof.

Make a Rusted Roof for Your Paper Houses

Sea-Worn Beach House angled view
Angled view of the Sea-Worn Beach house with the Rusted Roof
Metal roof close-up on Greystone Clock House Halloween house to add to your spooky Halloween decor #putzhouse #paperpattern #papercraft
View of the metal roof on the Halloween house

How to Make Unique Bases for Your Little Houses

You don’t always have to make a traditional base for your little houses. There are lots of options for making bases for Putz houses. One thing I love to do is make a book base for the house. And you can do a lot with ribbon rolls as well to make Tree Stumps as the base of the house or as a pedestal to put the house on.

Making Books for Craft Projects

Old Book house - paper house on a cardboard book base #halloween #putzhouse #papercraft
Halloween house on a book base

Make a Tree Stump House

Easter house on a tree stump base #putzhouse #Easter #papercraft
Easter house on a tree stump base

Slippery Slope Bat Wing House Base

Make a base for a Halloween paper house #papermache #paper #craft #putzhouse
Layered cardboard cut to resemble stairs (slippery, steep stairs) covered with paper mache.

How to add different Textures to Your Houses

Although these are not traditional techniques for Putz houses, you can make lots of different textures on your houses – bricks, stones, slate, or peeling crackled wood.

Stone Texture – How to Add to Your Papercrafts

Stone Texture tutorial - use texture paste and paint to mimic stone on your paper crafts #craft #papercraft #tutorial
With texture paste and a stone stencil make stone siding for your little house
Greystone clock paper putz house painted for stone texture #halloweenhouse #putzhouse #paperpattern #papercraft
Completed painting the stone texture on the Greystone Halloween House

How to Use Crackle Medium for Your Papercrafts

Village Manor Crackle Paint Siding example
See the lovely tiny crackled siding on the Village Manor house

Most of my houses are made for Halloween since I sell them to raise money for an October fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. They are not traditional Putz houses, though they are made exactly the same way – just with different decor.

Additional Resources on the Web to Make Putz Houses

Many of the websites listed below are more traditional in the decor of the little houses with wonderful instructions. You will find them  informative and seriously inspirational.

Excellent Tutorials for Putz Houses:

Little Glitterhouses

Howard Lamey is an incredibly generous builder of Putz houses meaning that he shares his patterns and knowledge freely. His website is littleglitterhouses.com where you find instructions on how to make them. It’s not regularly updated, but the basics are incredible. When you go to Pinterest and search for Putz houses or glitter houses – you’ll see that many are made are by Howard or from one of his patterns.

Cardboard Christmas Forums

The Cardboard Christmas forums are an absolute wealth of information for making putz houses. And as a bonus, one of the original members is Howard Lamey who posts regularly and shares his knowledge and patterns there as well. You do not have to be a member to read ALL the posts there. Sign up if you want to be a member and ask questions or reply to posts. There is a nominal cost of $1/month which was initiated to prevent fake sign-ups. It is well worth it.

An additional website associated with the Cardboard Christmas Forums is the Papa Ted’s Place where the incredible history of the little houses is preserved. Paul Race hosts both of these sites which is a real gift to the putz-makers of the world.

Christmas Notebook – Building a Putz House 

Rhonda of Christmas Notebook makes lovely glitter houses. She has many tutorials on her website demonstrating steps in making the houses.  As of this writing, she regularly updates her website. She is very active making lots of beautiful Putz houses.

Cassie Stephens

I stumbled upon Cassie Stephen’s blog by accident. She is an art teacher in Nashville, TN so the projects are beautifully artistic as you would expect. I am including her website because in one little party, she demonstrates the simplicity and appeal of making the little houses.

Little house from Cassie Stephens art teacher #putzhouse #papercraft
Little house made at Cassie Stephens little house party

That’s about it for now. I will keep this post updated so you can always find new information from my website here. I hope you find this information helpful in your putz house building journey. Let me know if you have any other sources you like to go to. Or let me know if you have any questions, I will be glad to answer them (assuming I know the answer, of course).

Want to remember where you found this article? Then pin to your favorite crafting Pinterest board.

Christmas church putz house with links to how to make putz house or glitter house for your holiday village
How to make a putz house or a glitter house

 

 

Get the Paper Glitter Glue Newsletter

Subscribe to get my latest newsletter by email. Also get access to the Paper Glitter Glue library. I will send you a newsletter every one to two weeks.

Success! The password to the paperglitterglue library is housekey. Type it or copy and paste it into the password box. Now check your email to confirm your subscription. Please know that I will never send you any spam and I will not share your email with anyone else. You will receive my newsletter every 1-2 weeks. Also you may unsubscribe at any time.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

I will not send you spam or share your email with anyone. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit
Share13
Pin721
Share
734 Shares

Filed Under: Putz house, Tutorial

Previous Post: « Make a Miniature Book for Apothecary Halloween House
Next Post: Apothecary Halloween House – Weber and Judd’s Potions Shop »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Find a topic on Paper Glitter Glue

Follow me on Social Media

Follow me button for Pinterest
Follow me on Facebook logo
Follow me on Instagram logo

Recent Posts

  • Shamrock Candy Box – Free Pattern
  • 14 Days to Spring Crafts
  • DIY Valentine Piñata Candy Box
  • Easy DIY Heart-Shaped Candy Boxes
  • Make this Cute Valentine Candy Basket

Popular Posts

12 Houses for Christmas paper house pattern
12 Putz house patterns so you can make your own Christmas village or Christmas wreath adorned with the little paper houses
Halloween Paper Village printable patterns templates #halloweencrafts
Make your own adorable Halloween village with these printable patterns
Christmas paper house for a Christmas Village Free pattern to make the German Half-Timbered Paper house #putzhouse #christmasvillage #glitterhouse #papercraft

Archives

Categories

© 2019 · Paper Glitter Glue