General Archives - A Cottage in the Forest

2026 Great Halloween Spooktacular

Cottages, Free Patterns, General, Halloween, Houses, Miniature Village Ideas, News / July 23, 2026

The 2026 Great Halloween Spooktacular will start soon! I will post the pictures of each of the projects and their dates. You have 24 hours to download the files and watch the instruction videos on the Spooktacular pages (9 am EST to 9 am the next day.) However, you still need to get a Free pass to do so.

Once the day of the project is past, the only way you can get the project is to buy a VIP PASS. These will be available even after the Spooktacular ends.

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2025 Great Halloween Spooktacular

Cottages, Free Patterns, General, Halloween, Houses, Miniature Village Ideas, News / July 28, 2025

The 2025 Great Halloween Spooktacular will start soon! I have posted the pictures of each of the projects and their dates. You have 24 hours to download the files and watch the instruction videos on the Spooktacular pages (9 am EST to 9 am the next day.) However, you still need to get a Free pass to do so.

Once the day of the project is past, the only way you can get the project is to buy a VIP PASS. These will be available even after the Spooktacular ends.

2025 Great Halloween Spooktacular Read More »

The Halloween Haunts Collection

Cottages, General, Halloween, Miniature Village Ideas, News / August 17, 2024

In celebration of my first time participation in the Great Halloween Spooktacular, and while brainstorming ways to fund my website, I decided to make a collection of Halloween buildings and accessories that you can buy at a discount. Also, the ideas I have for Halloween buildings are endless! I have designed five new building patterns, plus related accessory patterns for the Haunted Haunts Collection. The collection includes all the files you need to make a monsterously fun Halloween village!

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The Great Halloween Spooktacular

Cottages, General, Halloween, Miniature Village Ideas, News / August 2, 2024

The Great Halloween Spooktacular has started! I am going to post the pictures of each of the projects as they are revealed. You have 24 hours to download the files and watch the instruction videos on the Spooktacular pages (9 am EST to 9 am the next day.) However, you still need to get a Free pass to do so.

Once the day of the project is past, the only way you can get the project is to buy a VIP PASS. These will be available even after the Spooktacular ends.

The Great Halloween Spooktacular Read More »

The Victorian Village Collection

Cottages, General, Miniature Village Ideas, News / July 9, 2024

Back in 2021 I joined with Teri Hanson of a Covered Chipboard for a year in which we each produced a Victorian building pattern for sale every other month. It was fun, but life caught up with us the next year and we decided we didn’t have the time for both our individual websites and producing files for PHM. We each retained our own files. While brainstorming ways to fund my website, I decided to bundle some of my individual Victorian Village patterns into a collection that you can buy at a discount. I have collected 5 building patterns I designed, plus related accessory patterns into the Victorian Village Collection. The collection includes all the files you need to make an elegant Victorian village!

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The Fairy House Collection

Cottages, General, Miniature Village Ideas, News / May 25, 2024

When Lucy asked me to design a fairy house for her Whimsical Fairy House Challenge, I decided that no fairy village was complete without at least one shop. So besides designing Viola Cottage, I also designed the Forest Fairy Bakery, which you can find in a bundle that Lucy is now offering for sale through her website called The Fairy House Collection – Fairy Houses for All Seasons. I have never participated in a collaboration like this before so I am quite excited!

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How To Change The Scale Of A Pattern

General, Technique Tutorials / March 11, 2024

Even though I have a couple of previous posts regarding scale, the one question I receive over and over again is how to change the scale of a pattern. The questions usually fit into one of 3 categories:

1. If you know the current scale of a building, how do you actually change it to a different scale in Cricut Design Space.

2. If you don’t know the current scale of a pattern, how do you determine it?

3. What to do if you think the pattern you downloaded isn’t to any particular scale or is between scales.

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Miniature Village Ideas

General, Miniature Village Ideas / February 27, 2024

I realized recently that most of the pictures sent to me are of individual buildings. While I love to add the pictures to the tutorial pages as inspiration for others, I long to see the buildings included in a village with other buildings and accessories. I decided to add this gallery page where I can share the pictures of villages that you send to me.

If I receive enough pictures, I may set up multiple pages with villages for different holidays or seasons. I am currently building three villages – Christmas, Halloween, and Spring/Summer.

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A Question of Scale

General, Tim Holz Village / January 24, 2022

I frequently get asked questions about the scale of my designs, especially in regards to my kits. Sometimes this is due to people wanting to buy accessories to go with their houses. Other times they are concerned on whether the houses will fit well with a train layout, or vintage Putz Houses. With the new Tim Holtz Village Dies, another question is how much to shrink my patterns so they are the same scale as the new dies.

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What A Difference A Fence Makes

Cottages, Tim Holz Village / July 2, 2020

Until Sizzix released its addition to the Tim Holtz Village dies in the spring of 2016, my village was very boring. I could make a house, or I could make a church that looked like the house with a bell tower on top. My friends and family loved them both, and wanted their own, made of their personal favorite cans. That quickly got tedious. At the same time, I was still digging through trash cans trying to find enough aluminum cans to make these two buildings. I was ready to throw in the towel.

Thankfully, the Village Bungalow die was released and changed everything. Although it had only 5 new elements on it, it was a game changer. Suddenly I could add fences and gabled windows to my buildings. I dove into creative research and my buildings went from being merely structures, to creations.

What A Difference A Fence Makes Read More »

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