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.
I consider this 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 cardstock when the 120 lb is too thick to make sharp folds.
- Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue. I have begun to paint on my glue with a paintbrush and really like the resulting control. You could also 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)
- This building needs to be glued together in a specific order. I suggest reading through all of the instructions once before you start gluing.
- 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 the Gingerbread Tudor …
Your kit will include either the Regular Back and Regular Bottom Insert, and Back Timber trim plus step, OR the Putz Back, Putz Bottom Insert, and a strengthening ring for the Putz hole, OR a solid back and bottom insert, 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 show the order of construction without any 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) except for the one valley fold on each of the sides.
2. Next, determine if you want the timber trim to cover both the first and second story, or just the second story. If only the second story, cut the timber trim below the second story as I show on the right in my example below. I will show the rest of this tutorial with the timber trim covering both the first and second story. See the examples at the bottom of the page for other ideas.
3. Glue on the timber trim.
4. Glue on the window trim, the doors, and crossbars onto the doors.
5. Glue the vellum in place if you are using it. I colored several of the panes with glitter gel pens to give them a stained glass look.
6. Glue together the body of the house. Since the side walls fold outwards, I glue the bottom part of the sides to the front and back, wait until the glue has dried, then glue together the upper portion of the walls.
7. 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.
8. Fold the overhang pieces on each side of the roof.
9. Glue on the roof. I glued down first one side, waited for the glue to dry, then glued down the other. Glue together the peak of the overhang.
10. Fold the steps, the upper window roof, and the chimney. Glue together and decorate each.
11. Glue steps and upper window roofs to both the front and back. Attach the chimney to the roof.
Use the included cardstock to make a base. I include a 3D evergreen tree in the kit. Instructions 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 Gingerbread Tudor!! I would love to see your finished buildings. Please share a photo with me by emailing me at Jackie@acottageintheforest.com.
Examples for Inspiration
