Playing With Wood Houses
by Jackie McColl
Back to basics! I played with wooden houses when I was a kid- they were always my favorite and I still love to make little villages! These are eco friendly, made from soft pine, untreated furniture leftovers- what a great way to recycle :)
These little houses are so easy to decorate! Here Helga just used acrylic paints and when they were dry, she added images and some glitter for a bit of bling! Gorgeous!
I love gesso, so it was natural for me to slap some on a little house, let it dry and add just a few images for embellishments. Our inchie sheets are a perfect match for these tall skinny houses.
After I used gesso on this house, I decided to try out a new stamp I bought. Using Staz-on ink, I just applied it right over top of the dry gesso and loved the effect so much that all I did was add a few images from our new Steampunk transparency sheet and voila- a whimsical butterfly house :)
We had an art day at Helga's place awhile back and Cindy made these two adorable houses using acrylic paint and then stamping over the paint when it was dry. I love the way she added the windows and door so you can see who is peeking out! It would be fun to personalize this by adding actual photos of your family members or pets :)
This was one of the first houses I played with and because I am hooked on Steampunk, I had to make a cuckoo clock. Using Helga's fabulous turquoise background sheet, paint and some gesso over top, I was able to get the effect I wanted- layered and aged. Add some images with tacky white glue or glue stick, some watch bits and letters.... there you have it- a fun cuckoo clock!
So now I am hooked on steampunk houses.... the wood is so soft that poking holes to add the metal bits is really easy- an awl, a pin or whatever sharp object you have on hand will do- add a dab of diamond glaze to secure things and you are done- easy peasy! Here I painted on a layer of acrylic paint and then I added bird transparency images on top. Love this look! Steampunk bird houses.... must make more.....
My little sister is having twins so I HAD to make a couple of little keepsakes for the nursery- I came up with "Baby punk!" Acrylic paint on the outside, a little sanding to distress the wood and letters from our cool collage sheets to spell out the girls names. Then for a lighter side of steampunk- some colorful beads and flags strung onto wire and poked into the sides of each house :) Let your imagination run wild!
Check out this adorable little ornament Helga made from one of the mini houses! All she did was paint a Wood House with acrylic paint, add images and wrap some pretty string and ribbon around the outside to make the hanger. A little dab of glue here and there, tie a knot and the it makes the perfect tree ornament or gift topper- nice!
Of course I had make some holiday houses for my village :) These were a blast to make and so quick! The Santa house was sanded lightly afterwards to distrss it- I used an emery board cause I didn't have any sandpaper- works great. Some images from our Xmas inchie sheet and a bit of painted German scrap (my new addiction!) and there you have Santa's workshop! Mona's House was easy too- the labels from our handy labels sheets fit perfectly. Another little tip- Sharpie markers are awesome for inking edges or outlining and a gel pen works great too for making little dots or doodles :) Mona likes her pad!
And what is a village without some haunted houses? I didn't even paint the two on the left- just collaged straight onto them using a glue stick and our awesome Halloween background sheet! My sharpie marker came in handy too for coloring the sides and outlining. Sit down and do some with your kids- they will have a blast too!
Ta da! Here you have it! Our Wood Houses are awesome! They say it takes a village to raise a child- well it takes some ARTchicks to make that village- and fun we had doing it too! We would love to see your villages..... post them to our Facebook fan page.