Cardboard Christmas

I've been busy this fall with several restorations. It is truly amazing how dirty some of these houses are when they arrive. After a good cleaning, repairs, sand or glass glitter, and of course, Pete's coconut and windows, they become quite presentable.
Here are some before and after shots:

I have seen this next house all over Ebay this fall, and I ended up with two of them at a good price which makes it worthwhile to restore. This house was particularly dirty and after cleaning the colors really came to life.

And finally, a couple of houses that didn't need major repair, but again a cleaning was in order, along with some patching.


I built a new top piece for this house because it was missing and added several projections that were missing from the roof trim. I made a new tree and refreshed the coconut.
This sweet house needed cleaning and regluing of the roof trim and opening up the holes. The windows were crooked and bunched up so I carefully removed them and reglued them in place. (with major patience required here and not a little frustration.) The only thing left of the tree was the trunk so I made a new top. He needed a lot of coconut replacement on the base but Pete had made a great match for me.

Great effort, Laurie, and great advertising for Pete.

I love how the chimney on the last house doesn't go all the way down.

Just what I like to see...more little houses saved from destruction...they look refreshed...but not overdone...their quaint charm still shines...

My very best regards...Howard...

Yes, saved from destruction. And saved from being ebayed or etsied with way too embellishments.
Once you cleaned them the colors were really pretty remarkable. I really like seeing the before and afters.

MARVELOUS restorations!