Papier-Mâché Mini Cottage Luminary

Posted by DecoArt on Sep 9th 2015

Light up an adorable mini country cottage using DecoArt Media® Fluid Acrylics and some imagination.

NOTES:

Let dry completely between painting steps.

Using a 1" flat brush, paint a coat of Titanium White onto the entire outside and inside of the house. Mix some Titanium White with a dab of Carbon Black to get a light grey color. Paint the chimney with the mix.

Use a 3/4" circle punch to punch 70 circles from the metallic copper cardstock. Mix about (3) parts Titanium White, (1) part Cerulean Blue, and a dab each of Hansa Yellow Medium and Carbon Black. (This will create a blue-ish green similar to copper oxidization.) Dry-brush some of this mix onto the edges of the circles. Save mix for next step.

Use the remaining mix from the previous step to paint the outside bottom of the house.

Using Quinacridone Burnt Orange with a small flat brush, paint the bricks on the sides of the chimney. Paint Carbon Black inside the top of the chimney.

Use a bone folder to curl up the painted edges of the copper cardstock circles. Use craft glue to adhere the circles to the roof, working from the bottom to the top. (Stagger the placement of the circles so they don't line up with the previous row.)

For the peak of the roof, fold the circles in half and use craft glue to adhere them to the top of the roof. (See photo.) Use scissors to trim the circles as needed.

Use needle-nose pliers to pierce a hole in the top of the chimney. Use the pliers to poke a very small amount of quilt stuffing into the hole. Use a tiny dab of Liquid Glass at the base of the chimney to hold the stuffing into place.

Use Americana Matte Decou-Page to adhere scrapbook paper of choice inside the lid of the box.
Cut out 16 pieces measuring 3/4" x 3-5/8" of four different scrapbook papers.
Use Decou-Page to adhere the scrapbook paper strips onto the sides of the house, starting from the bottom and working up.

Overlap the strips by approximately 1/4" and alternate patterns as desired. Repeat to add scrapbook pieces to the lid. Coat the entire box with Decou-Page to seal. Allow to dry completely and then dry-brush with Titanium White to give the house a softer look.

Use a Silhouette electronic cutting machine to cut out a window shape of choice from white cardstock. (These are approximately 1-1/2" x 1" wide.) Cut out 16 windows.
Place one of the windows onto the side of the box. Use a pencil to mark all four corners of the inside of the window. (Three sides of the house will have the window centered and one will be off-center to allow room for the door.) Carefully use a craft knife to cut through the walls of the box to make an opening slightly larger than the pencil marks.
Using Decou-Page to adhere scrapbook paper to the inside of the box. Cut out holes for the windows. Use Titanium White to paint ledges where the windows were cut from the house.

Set aside four of the window shapes. Adhere three window shapes together with craft glue. (This will add dimension to the windows so that they stick out from the sides.)
Wad a piece of white tissue paper up into a ball. Flatten the paper and place it onto a silicone cutting mat. Use Decou-Page to adhere the windows to the paper. Fill the window openings with Liquid Glass. Set aside to allow to dry completely.

Once dry, use scissors to cut the excess tissue paper away from the window frames. Use craft glue to adhere the dimensional frames to the outside of the house. Use the remaining single window frames and adhere them to the inside of the window openings inside the house.
Use Hansa Yellow Medium and a 1/4" flat brush to paint the inside bottom of the box.

Form a small amount of air-dry paper clay into a shape that resembles a window box. Once the clay is dry, paint it Hansa Yellow Medium. Use a small flower punch to make small flowers from scrapbook paper. Use the needle-nosed pliers to pierce a hole in the center of each flower.
Insert a mini silver brad through the hole in the paper flower and press the pointed ends of the brad into the window box. Repeat for the desired number of flowers. Use craft glue to adhere the window boxes to the house.
Cut three pieces of white cardstock 1-1/4"x 2-1/2". Glue the three layers together. Cut eight pieces of 1/2" x 1-1/8". Glue the pieces together. (You will end up with four stacks of two layers.) Glue the small pieces onto the larger pieces to look like a door. Paint with Quinacridone Magenta. Use needle-nose pliers to pierce a hole in the door and insert a mini silver brad for the handle. Use craft glue to adhere the door to the house.

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