This kit is for personal use ONLY. Please do not copy, distribute, or sell any part of this design or the instructions without my permission. Pre-Cut Beach House @2023 Jacqueline Smith
Please read all instructions prior to beginning the project. If you are new to making houses, make sure you read and understand each step before placing your glue.
This is a great kit for a beginner.
Before you start your new kit, think about how you will want to decorate it. You can paint the house, paint the house and glitter it, glitter just parts of the house like the roof, use the kit pieces as a guide to cut out decorative paper that you can glue onto the house, or just leave the building white for a modern look. If you leave any portion of the house as unpainted cardboard, I suggest spraying with a matte acrylic sealer like Krylon or Modge Podge Sealer.
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Suggested Material List . . .
- Pre-cut kit has been cut from White Kraft Board. This is equivalent to 120 lb cover cardstock or cardboard. Some of the pieces with tight folds may be cut out of 100 lb cover cardstock when the Kraft Board is too thick to make sharp folds.
- Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue. I put it in a bottle with a thin metal tip. If you are new to making kits, you may want to use Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue as this allows more time for you to reposition your pieces if you make a mistake.
- Bone Folder – A bone folder helps you make sharp folds when you are using cardstock or cardboard. While the kit comes pre-scored, I strongly suggest you make the scoring deeper with a bone folder.
- Multi-surface satin finish acrylic paints in your color choices. Two coats are usually required.
- To glitter the house: Extra fine glitter or extra fine iridescent glitter and Spectra Glitter Sparkling Crystals (mixed 50/50) and Modge Podge. I like to apply the Modge Podge with a foam brush to one side of the building at a time, glitter, then move on to the next side. You may like your building glittered with only the extra fine glitter, but I liked adding a slightly chunkier glitter to it too.
- To make the snow: For a smooth coat on the roof, I use Woodland Flex Paste, Woodland Soft Flake Snow, and Hemway White Ultra Sparkle Glitter. Apply the flex paste and sprinkle a combination of the soft flake snow and Ultra sparkle glitter over it while it is wet. For rougher snow on the ground I like to use SnowTex, then sprinkle with the mixture of soft flake snow and glitter. If necessary, use a little Modge Podge on a brush to add more of the snow mixture once the flex paste is dry.
NOTES . . . (read before starting)
- Due to variations by each builder you may find a trim piece a tad longer than needed. If this happens, simply trim it down to fit.
- DO use the cutting guide below to identify all of the pieces! It’s always a good idea to lay out all of the pieces before you start so that you have everything in the correct place. I include a few extra window frames in the kit.
Cutting Guide for Beach House …
Your kit will include either the Regular Back and Regular Bottom Insert, and 2 windows and trim, OR the Putz Back, Putz Bottom Insert, 1 windows and trim, and a strengthening ring for the Putz hole, depending on which option you chose when you purchased the kit.
Let’s get started . . .
The following instructions are to show you how the building should be constructed. I list the order of construction without discussing paint or glitter. Think about how you will finish the building and if any parts will need to be painted or finished before being glued in place.
There is no wrong way to paint, glitter and glue. Personally, I like to paint the trim and walls when flat, then glue the trim onto the building, add the vellum, and then glue the building together. I then glitter the completed building. However, I know people who glitter the building while flat before gluing it together. I suggest you try different methods until you find out what works best for you. Tutorials for various ways to decorate your house can be found on this website.
Constructing the Building
1. Fold each of the body pieces towards the back or inside (mountain folds.) There are horizontal score lines on the building. DO NOT fold on these lines. There are used for placement of the horizontal trim. On my model below I glued on decorative paper below the horizontal score line to make the house two-tone.
2. Glue the window frames, shutters, and the door onto the building. The shutters have horizontal score lines that I used as guides to paint on trim.
3. Glue the window sashes onto the inside of the building.
4. Glue the vellum in place if you are using it.
5. Glue the side walls together.
6. Check the fit of the bottom insert piece, adjusting any of the fold lines as necessary. You may need to trim the corners. Glue in the bottom insert piece now as it will help to help to stiffen and square the walls of the building.
7. Glue on the roof. Also glue the horizontal trim onto the body of the building above the score line.
8. Glue the window shades above each of the three windows.
Construct the Platform
9. Fold the stair frame, squaring up the frame as much as possible.
10. Glue each of the stairs onto the stair frame.
11. Determine where you want your stairs to be on your platform. This will determine where you start gluing on your railing. For my all white model I decided to center the stairs. For my color model I made them more to the right.
12. Glue the wider strip onto the inside of the bottom of the railing.
13. Place a bead of glue on top of the strip you just glued on and push the platform down onto it, wrapping the railing around the corners of the platform.
14. Glue together the four bottom platform sides.
15. Turning the platform upside down, glue the bottom platform sides to the bottom of the platform, being careful to center the bottom piece.
16. Glue the stairs to the platform, then attach the railing to both sides of the stair a well as to the railing.
17. You can leave the platform as it is, or use the thinner trim as a handrailing, or trim at the bottom of the railing. I have done both in the picture below.
Use the included cardboard to make a base. I glued sandpaper to mine.
Instructions on how to make the 3D tree can be found here.
This building can be finished with any method you are used to. Don’t worry about it being perfect. Just have fun and enjoy the process!
Enjoy making your Beach House!! I would love to see your finished buildings. Please share a photo with me by emailing me at Jackie@acottageintheforest.com.
Examples for Inspiration
