Paper Houses Round Up

Enough with the quilling posts for a little while (whew, you might be saying)... it's time to get back to my mission of featuring all sorts of paper crafters and paper artists.

Today I'd like to showcase a nifty trend that kept jumping out at me from quite a few sites this holiday season:

snowy village by twelve22 [edit: no longer available]

I'm referring to the making of tiny paper houses... with enough variety to cause this Weeds (TV show) fan to start humming the theme song, Little Boxes.

cereal box houses by Bella Dia

Perhaps the wee ones are on school vacation this week and would enjoy making homes for their Lego people, or maybe, like me, you'll file the ideas away until next year when it's time to think about a theme for your Christmas mantel or tree. Visit each site for a tutorial, some with print-outs.

card ornament houses from DIYideas [edit: no longer available]holiday village by Claudine Hellmuth

milk carton/cookie-carrier houses from MayaMade

glittered cereal box village by A Field Journal [edit: no longer available]

And lastly, because almost nothing is impossible in this world we inhabit, here's a true paper house!photo credit: MaissonBisson

Elis F.Stenman began to build a summer home as anyone would in Massachusetts in 1922, with a wood frame, roof, and floors... but something caused him to choose a different path when it came to the walls, doors, and furnishings.


He used varnished newspapers - approximately 100,000 of them, 215 layers thick - to construct the walls.

exterior walls

Glue consisted of flour, water, and apple peels... but of course, apple peels.

curtain detail - Lookie! Folded paper stars!

The house is now a museum and is open for tours. Stop in to read the headlines.