Cardboard Christmas

Lynn,
I just can't cut windows like you guys do. I always use a die. This is my favorite window frame of all the dies I have. It's on a Sizzix die called Village Manor https://www.sizzix.com/661591/sizzix-bi ... lage-manor. Right now it is only available as a part of a bigger die to make the manor, but I think later in the year they will introduce as a smaller set with multiple windows that you can cut out 4 at one pass through the die cut machine. I've included a photo from the Sizzix website (with link).

John,
You inspired me to look a lace as a possible base for the balusters. The lace die I have was too big for the railing, but I did use it as fencing. And then that led to the offcuts for balusters. I have a modified
variation in mind for the "real" Wilkins house.

Lucy

Wow - a lot of work is going into this project. I can't wait to see your final house. And I'm interested in hearing your lessons learned. It's always a learning curve, isn't it?

Thanks Lucy for the info and the window

Catching up on my forum reading and was happy to see this here. As you know I have seen it on your blog but it's good to look at it again - this is quite the project! I am sure the Wilkins House will turn out well.

A couple more photos about progress on this house.

I finally wrote a blogpost about lessons learned from the prototype:
1. How to make a tower to fit a hipped roof - sort of learned this. Still working on the geometry.
2. How to draw a steeple pattern - I posted that in a tips and technique post when Paul had a reader ask about making these patterns.
3. How to make a second story porch or rather how NOT to make a second story porch - I wasn't very happy with the crooked front porch on the previous house. I have been much more meticulous in measuring on the real house.
4. How to cut small dowels to length - now I use a dremel tool to cut dowels better.
5. How to make a solid porch floor - using the Howard method with stacks of corrugated cardboard covered by a piece of smooth cardboard.
6. How to make folded cardboard stairs - I'm going to score the steps and add the sides separately to avoid the seams from folding the stairs.
7. How to make porch railings - measure, measure, measure.
8. And most important, do the hard things first. I learned to do the tedious details first while the project is somewhat fresh.

https://paperglitterglue.com/spring-man ... prototype/