Make Your Own Janky Farmhouse

Who else wishes the Halloween season lasted all year? Though many of the houses I make for Halloween can be used for other seasons, I just find that they are more fun to decorate for Halloween. I decided to sneak in one last Halloween house before moving on to winter holiday houses.

The Janky Farmhouse is another collaboration of Shabby Shimmer Designs and A Cottage in the Forest. Again, my pattern is not an exact replica of the sketches Shabby gave me. I changed the proportions a bit so that would size well with the Tim Holtz Village. Shabby also used reproduction Putz windows and had a Putz-style back (round hole in a blank back.) I provide Halloween themed window and door frames, and also offer two options for the back – either the traditional flat Putz back with a hole, or backs with windows and doors so that the Janky Farmhouse looks like it belongs with the Tim Holtz Village and the other buildings I design.

Below is the Janky Farmhouse made by Shabby Shimmer Designs out of cardboard and chipboard.

Cardboard Janky Farmhouse made by Shabby Shimmer Designs

Next week I will take the basic farmhouse shape and make a pattern for a Jolly Farmhouse for your winter holiday village. I plan to change the popouts, window and door frames, and fence.

This Is How You Make the Janky Farmhouse

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Janky Farmhouse Pattern Materials

My free pattern for the Janky Farmhouse from the A Cottage in the Forest Library – get the password for free by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.
Decorative Cardstock, Cardboard or Aluminum Cans – your choice! I have been messaging with Teri Hanson of The Covered Chipboard who makes many of her houses out of cardboard. After trying many cheaper cardboards she has gone back to Cricut Kraftboard. It is the only one she said acts consistently – it folds very well, doesn’t split apart when folded, and you can paint on it.
Orange Vellum Paper
Optional if you want to make it look like an original Putz house: Reproduction Putz windows
Double sided adhesive tape – 1/8″
Glue – If using cardstock, I suggest Art Glitter Glue. For aluminum cans, I use Aleene’s The Ultimate Glue. For cardboard houses, you can use Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue
A Cutting Machine like a Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore or X-Acto knife or Cricut TrueControl Knife
An Embossing Machine and folders. I used the Old Fashioned Bricks embossing folder for the walls & chimney, the discontinued Sizzix Toil & Trouble bats embossing folder for the roof, and the Crackle folder by Darice for the window frames, door, and base. The Old Fashioned Bricks embossing folder and the Crackle folder are two of my favorite folders and I tend to use them on almost every house.
Bone folder (optional – for cardstock and cardboard) A bone folder helps you make sharp folds when you are using cardstock or cardboard.
Decorative Halloween papers (optional – for cardboard)
Paint or Ranger distress inks (optional – for cardboard or cardstock) I don’t use paint or inks on my buildings, but have seen really cute houses colored with distress inks.
Glitter and clear glue (optional – for cardboard to make a glitter house)

Steps to Make the Janky Farmhouse

Download the Janky Farmhouse pattern from A Cottage in the Forest library
Import the Janky Farmhouse pattern into your design software
Cut out the pattern – I use my Cricut Maker
Texture the pieces (necessary if using aluminum cans.) I use my Sizzix Bigkick
Glue on window frames, then attach vellum windows
Assemble the house structure
Add the popouts, bottom insert & roofs
Attach chimney & stairs
Make base and decorate as desired

How To Make The Janky Farmhouse

Download the Janky Farmhouse Pattern

Download the Janky Farmhouse pattern from A Cottage in the Forest Library. Don’t forget to unzip it. The pattern is available in multiple formats – as a SVG (scalable vector graphics), DXF (drawing eXchange format) or PDF file. Currently, I do not have a Silhouette or Brother Machine to test the corresponding files. If you have problems using those files please let me know so I can troubleshoot what might be going wrong.

Import the Janky Farmhouse Pattern into Design Software

At this point you will need to choose whether you want a traditional Putz-style back wall with a hole. If so, choose the Janky Farmhouse Putz Back file, as well as the Janky Farmhouse Main Body, Roof and Chimney, and Popouts Windows Doors & Stairs files. If you want the back to have windows and doors import all of the files except the Janky Farmhouse Putz Back file.

I included the bottom insert piece as this building has a large footprint and you may need it to stiffen up the sides at the bottom of the building depending upon what material you are using. It probably isn’t necessary if you are cutting out of cardboard, but is needed with the aluminum cans and cardstock. This tends to happen whenever any wall is more than a few inches wide. Use heavy cardstock or a thicker aluminum can.

Bottom insert piece for the Jolly Farmhouse

With the new design technique I’ve learned, you no longer need to worry about changing and attaching the score lines if you use Cricut Design Space!

Cut out all of your cardstock, cardboard or aluminum can pieces using my pattern. If you are using cardboard and don’t intend to glue glitter or decorative papers onto your house, I suggest visiting Lucy Foxworth’s blog at Paper Glitter Glue where Lucy explores multiple ways to paint and texture your cardboard house.

Refer to the PDF I included with the svg pattern for the name of each of the pieces you need to cut out.

Texture The Pieces

If desired, texture each of the house shapes using your embossing machine and texture folders. I used the Old Fashioned Bricks embossing folder for the walls & chimney, the Crackle folder by Darice for the window frames, door, and base, and the discontinued Sizzix Toil & Trouble bats embossing folder for the roof.

Glue On Window And Door Trim

For the front and back doors, sandwich a piece of vellum between the attached front door and the separate door. Be careful not to smear glue into the window pane areas.

Glue on all of the rest of the window and door trim. You can add them after you put the building together, but it is much easier to add while the walls are flat.

Use the 1/8″ double sided adhesive tape to attach vellum to the inside of the building pieces. Again, this is much easier while the walls are flat. You could use glue to attach the velum instead, but if you use too much it can bleed into your window space and ruin the look.

Assemble The House Structure

Sign and date the inside of your work now. When I use a bottom insert, I sign the insert.

Fold along the score lines. On the Front Right piece, fold the left tab towards the front, not towards the back.

Glue the Front Right onto the Back, first gluing the sides, than the roof tabs. I use plastic binder clips to hold the pieces together while the glue dries.

Glue the Front Left to the Front Right tab, first gluing the side, then the roof tab.

Lastly, glue the Front Left to the Back along the back seam.

Add the Popouts, Bottom Insert & Roofs

Glue on each of the popouts, aligning the cutouts for the light.

Check the fit of the bottom insert piece, adjusting any of the fold lines as necessary. Align the door cutout on the back, and glue into the bottom of the farmhouse. I put the bottom insert piece flat on my work surface and lower the building onto it. I can then use a pen inserted from the top to push the tabs against the sides of the building. The bottom insert piece helps to stiffen and square up the walls of the building.

Then glue on each of the roofs. With the Main Roof, remember when you fold it that you have a valley in the front, while each of the other folds are a peak. I have a cutout on the roof where the chimney will sit to allow light to filter out from the top of the chimney.

Attach Chimney & Stairs

For the Chimney, I made a separate fold piece to go over the top of the chimney. This adds a little more dimension to the chimney and when you glance inside it looks more finished. Glue it on before you glue the chimney together. When dry, attach the chimney.

The stairs are very small and I suggest you make them out of cardstock instead of cardboard. Do not worry about getting your folds straight. This is a janky Halloween house! Glue to each of the stair sides, then attach under the front door.

Make Base and Decorate As Desired

For the Janky Farmhouse I start with a rectangle of aluminum 6 1/2 inches wide by 6 inches deep. I cut a small circle under where the building will sit, then texture the base and turn under 1/4 inch on each side. This allows me to string fairy lights under the bases of the different buildings in my village. In this case I have ironed black foil HTV (heat transfer vinyl) onto my base, and textured it with the Crackle folder by Darice.

I include a fence file. Most of the rest of my decorations come from cutting dies I own, but the 3 trick-or-treaters on the front are from Cricut Design Space Access. #M8003F71, #ME6F6CEC, & #M8B609FE. There are a lot of fun graphics that you can use for trick-or-treaters.

Enjoy making the Janky Farmhouse! I would love to see your finished design. Please share a photo of it with me by emailing me at Jackie@acottageintheforest.com.