A couple of weeks ago I promised to remake the Halloween farmhouse as a Winter Holiday Farmhouse. Everything always seems to take me longer than expected, but hopefully you will like one of the reasons why: I have learned how to make SVG patterns that import into Cricut Design Space with the score lines as score lines instead of cut lines, and with those score lines already attached to their shapes! This not only makes patterns so much easier for you to make, but also for me to design as I no longer have to make separate files with solid and dashed lines. It was a bit of a learning process, with a fair amount of trial and error since I didn’t have anyone who would teach me this new design technique, but I did have a file with the new technique and reverse engineered it.
I will now go back to my previous projects and redesign them using the new technique. Look for version 2.0 for each of the October 2020 or earlier files in the next couple of weeks.
For the Jolly Farmhouse I took the basic shape of my Halloween Janky Farmhouse, changed the style of the popouts, the doors and window frames, and added a porch with steps to the front door. I also included a file for the “snow” in case you want to to use glitter cardstock to add it as an accent. I use HTV (iron on glitter vinyl) that I iron onto aluminum for mine. Lastly, I included a file for a farm fence.
Below are my two versions of the farmhouse side-by-side. I haven’t yet added many embellishments to the winter farmhouse besides the snow.
I realized I have not been good about designing embellishments for your houses besides the fences. I will start working on a series of blog posts with designs for more fences and trees, as well as other embellishments.
This Is How You Make the Jolly Farmhouse
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Jolly Farmhouse Pattern Materials
- My free pattern for the Jolly 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.
- Translucent Vellum
- 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 a Sizzix embossing folder with decorative up and down stripes for the walls (unfortunately, I can’t find the name of it as I believe it is discontinued), the Sizzix Latticework embossing folder for the roof, the Old Fashioned Bricks embossing folder for the chimney and the Crackle folder by Darice to texture the snow 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 Christmas 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 Jolly Farmhouse
- Download the Jolly Farmhouse pattern from A Cottage in the Forest library
- Import the Jolly 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 & porch
- Make base and decorate as desired
How To Make The Jolly Farmhouse
Download the Jolly Farmhouse Pattern
Download the Jolly 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 Jolly 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 Jolly Farmhouse Putz Back file, as well as the Jolly Farmhouse Main Body, Roof and Chimney, and Popouts & Windows files. If you want the back to have windows and doors import all of the files except the Jolly 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.
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 a Sizzix embossing folder with decorative up and down stripes for the walls (unfortunately, I can’t find the name of it as I believe it is discontinued), the Sizzix Latticework embossing folder for the roof, the Old Fashioned Bricks embossing folder for the chimney and the Crackle folder by Darice to texture the snow 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.
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. I forgot to take pictures as I assembled the Jolly Farmhouse, but here are pictures as I assembled the Halloween house.
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 & Porch
If you are going to add snow, glue onto the main roof before attaching the chimney.
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 porch pieces are very small and I suggest you make them out of cardstock instead of cardboard, though I managed to make them out of a fairly thick aluminum can. Once again, I forgot to take pictures, so show the steps here in cardstock. Fold the posts into long rectangles and glue. Fold the porch with stairs as shown in the picture below.
Glue each of the stair side tabs, then attach under the front door. Attach the posts to the porch and glue the porch roof to the top. I glued it so it slanted at an angle. The folded edge is glued to the front of the house. Glue snow onto the roofs as you like.
Make Base and Decorate As Desired
For the Jolly 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 white glitter HTV (heat transfer vinyl) onto my base, and textured it with the Crackle folder by Darice. I love the texture the Crackle folder provides to make the white glitter HTV look like snow.
I include a farm fence file. I’ll start posting some tree files soon.
Enjoy making the Jolly Farmhouse! I would love to see your finished design. Please share a photo of it with me by emailing me at Jackie@acottageintheforest.com.
MAKER’S GALLERY FOR THE JOLLY FARMHOUSE
FREE CUT FILES & PATTERN FOR THE JOLLY FARMHOUSE
Download the Jolly Farmhouse Pattern
Get the password for the library with the free Jolly Farmhouse pattern and SVG/DXF/PDF files here by filling out this form:
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Thank you!!!
Thank you for sharing and for taking the time to understand adding score lines! That’s a big help. Question: Do you cut your cans on a Cricut?
I do cut them on a Cricut Maker. I suspect you could cut them with a Cricut Explore, but I find I often have to fiddle with the settings as cans come in so many thicknesses. Also, the blade does not cut through the cans all the way. It just scores a cut line, and then you wiggle the can back and forth on that line until it snaps.