Let's talk about cardboard Christmas houses and accessories

Visit our Contributors' Pages:
Visit Family Christmas Online Visit Howard Lamey's own web page, LittleGlitterHouses.com Click to Sign Up for Maria Cudequest's Collectibles Blog
Visit Family Christmas Online Click to visit Papa Ted's Place - the ultimate cardboard Christmas house resource. Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page



Note: To ask a question, sign up for our "Christmas Times" newsletter, or learn how
to apply for membership to this forum, please visit our Contact page.


Note: All content on this forum is Copyright (c) 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 by Paul D. Race
and by the posters who have contributed specific content. All material is for your personal use only. No content
or plans may be republished or sold, nor may any plans be used to make products to sell without prior written
permission from Paul D. Race and the individual who contributed the content or plan in question.
For permissions or questions about this policy, please contact us using our Contact page.
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 12:11 pm

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 18 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Sand coating
PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:51 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:51 pm
Posts: 706
I've only ever coated my houses with glitter.

Can someone outline how to use sand. And possibly what kind to use and where to get.

I think you need to add paint to it too.
But I'm kinda clueless how to pull this off.

Thanks


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:30 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 4:27 pm
Posts: 1678
Image

PutzinVT,

Howard used sand in his "Picture Window House" instructions at:

http://littleglitterhouses.com/paul/pic ... _house.htm

There are several tips embedded in the article. The photo above shows the house before the windows are installed so you can see the texture.

- Paul


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:57 pm 
Offline

Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:32 pm
Posts: 2336
Here's how I have used sand, where I got it, etc. This was an ugly plastic playschool log cabin house that had been discarded at the curb--but I knew it had good bones.

So I sprayed the entire thing with Krylon fusion paint for plastic--brown--I considered it a sort of primer in this step-then using slightly thinned elmer's white glue, I did a few sections at a time with a paint brush, then pouring craft sand while the glue was wet from an old coffee can--over a newspaper of course so I could put the excess sand back into the can when I started a new section. It did not matter what color the sand was--though I had bought white--because as soon as it dried overnight, I hit it with more brown spray paint--let it dry about four hours forthis step--then hand applied the green color with acrylic craft paint by brush

There are people who color their own sand using a few dollops of powdered food coloring. Here's a pix of my "log cabin"--I got the sand from Walmart--used a finer grain sand


Attachments:
logcabinplasticputz.jpg
logcabinplasticputz.jpg [ 145.5 KiB | Viewed 26279 times ]
Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:42 pm 
Offline

Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:59 pm
Posts: 128
Location: Long Beach, CA
I think both Howard and Maria have great ideas about using sand. I have used both sandbox sand and white floral sand and like them both. I wanted a stucco or adobe type finish (Southern California, you know) so I simply mixed a pinch of sand in with a small amount of paint in my painting palette (the plastic lid to a pint food container) and painted it on after I had primed the house. When it dried I scraped the window edges to clean them up.
Also used both sandbox sand and a coarser construction sand we had left over to add to paint for the snowy ground. And glued it to orange paint for a gravel path.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:45 pm 
Offline

Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:59 pm
Posts: 128
Location: Long Beach, CA
Maria, I like all the Easter things in that photo you posted. I have made about 16 rabbits, of 5 different designs and 3 different sizes (up to 30 inches tall) and stick them in the front yard, one a day starting 16 days before Easter. This is a big pedestrian street so lots of viewers enjoy the reproducing bunnies (no, none of them are in flagrante, actually).


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:18 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 4:27 pm
Posts: 1678
Maria,

I've used several Fischer-Price and Playskool structures on my garden railroad. Model railroaders who cut up models to make other models call it kitbashing. I call repurposing discarded toys to make models "trashbashing." See http://www.btcomm.com/trains/primer/trs ... shbash.htm

Yes, they're too big to use on a tabletop display. :-)


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:10 pm 
Offline

Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:32 pm
Posts: 2336
Very interesting Paul--will have to call attention to this in the next everythingcroton vintage posting.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:09 pm 
Offline

Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:32 pm
Posts: 2336
Nan, would LOVE TO SEE PHOTOS for posting over at EverythingCroton potentially.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 4:51 pm 
Offline

Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:32 pm
Posts: 2336
Here's a "trashbashing" project I'm working on - read about trashbashing again at http://www.familygardentrains.com/prime ... shbash.htm

Anyway I found this fisher price piece at a tag sale for a dollar (there' a store too and I am holding it on the side). As you can see, it's a work in progress. It's very large and will probably go with my antique feather tree putz this Christmas as a solo piece.

Here's the original; here's what I have done so far. I wanted to achieve a very old look; next stop, windows, door, glitter, decorations, base


Attachments:
house.jpg
house.jpg [ 66.67 KiB | Viewed 26177 times ]
house1.jpg
house1.jpg [ 43.02 KiB | Viewed 26177 times ]
Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Sand coating
PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:32 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:35 pm
Posts: 1093
Take a peek at my haunted house I made with a sand finish “Welcome to the Cardboard Christmas Forums entry on October 27th. I also mixed the sand right in with the paint. I used florist sand, very fine I purchased at Jo Ann’s Fabric. I really enjoyed making this house the sand was a lot of fun to apply!!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 18 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  




Click to see sturdy Lionel(r) trains that are perfect for your Christmas tree.



Note: To ask a question, sign up for our "Christmas Times" newsletter, or learn how
to apply for membership to this forum, please visit our Contact page.


Note: All content on this forum is Copyright (c) 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 by Paul D. Race
and by the posters who have contributed specific content. All material is for your personal use only. No content
or plans may be republished or sold, nor may any plans be used to make products to sell without prior written
permission from Paul D. Race and the individual who contributed the content or plan in question.
For permissions or for questions about this policy, please contact us using our Contact page.



Visit our affiliated sites:
- Christmas Memories and Collectibles -
Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site. Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Visit Papa Ted Althof's extensive history and collection of putz houses, the largest and most complete such resource on the Internet.. Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page Click to sign up for Maria Cudequest's craft and collectibles blog.
Click to visit Fred's Noel-Kat store.
- Family Activities and Crafts -
Click to see reviews of our favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Free, Family-Friendly Christmas Stories Decorate your tree the old-fashioned way with these kid-friendly projects. Free plans and instructions for starting a hobby building vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. Click to find free, family-friendly Christmas poems and - in some cases - their stories. Traditional Home-Made Ornaments
- Trains and Hobbies -
Visit Lionel Trains. Free building projects for your vintage railroad or Christmas village. Click to see Thomas Kinkaded-inspired Holiday Trains and Villages. Big Christmas Train Primer: Choosing and using model trains with holiday themes Building temporary and permanent railroads with big model trains Click to see HO scale trains with your favorite team's colors.
- Music -
Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson.  Download them all for a 'period' album.
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable.



Click to trains that commemorate your team!

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group