Make Your Own MCM Merry

More people request that I design Mid-Century Modern houses than any other kind of building. For the 2025 Great Halloween Spooktacular I designed a Halloween themed MCM creepy house. I recently decided I wanted to update it for Christmas. Besides a new Christmas party scene, I wanted to add a chimney for Santa!

If you are looking for your own scene for the inside of the house, you can search for ones using Google, FreePik, Pixabay, or Creative Fabrica, or you can make your own. I started with an empty room decorated for Christmas and used my paint program to add clipart presents, animals, people and other elements I found on Creative Fabrica and Pixabay.

You can also use AI to generate a picture. I have my own reservations about AI, but AI can generate a decent image with the right prompts. I was concerned about how much energy is consumed in creating an image, but research online indicated that it is equivalent to running a microwave for a few seconds. If you have a subscription membership to Creative Fabrica you can use their AI image generator for free until early December. After that they are going to a separate AI subscription, or at least for the pro features (I am currently unclear on what they are.) Creative Fabrica has a free trial for both, and often run sales. DeepAI.org also has a free AI image generator.

This Is How You Make The MCM Merry

Size of the finished building as designed will be approximately 5 3/8″ W x 3 3/4 D x 4 1/2″ H (including chimney.) These measurements do not include the size of the base. I consider this a beginner pattern.

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The MCM Merry Pattern Specific Materials

My free pattern for The MCM Merry from the A Cottage in the Forest Library. Design #97. Get the password for free by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.
Dura-Lar Clear film for the large window panes if you are going to use a scene instead of vellum. I Just started using this, and actually like it more than Cricut Acetate as it is thinner and easier to use. Both the Dura-Lar clear film or Cricut Acetate protects your scenes and gives your building a more finished look. You could instead use clear report covers or clear packaging.

Favorite Materials Supply List

Cardstock, Cardboard (Kraft Board or alternative), 30 point Chipboard, or Aluminum Can – your choice! Cricut is no longer selling Kraftboard, so I now link to the 120 lb. cover cardstock by Accent Opaque that I use.
Translucent Vellum or pictures to go in the windows.
Glue – If using cardstock, I suggest Bearly Art Glue or Art Glitter Glue. For aluminum cans, I use Aleene’s The Ultimate Glue. For cardboard or chipboard houses, I like Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue. I put it in a bottle with a thin metal tip.
If using chipboard or kraft colored cardboard, start with a base of either Liquitex white gesso or black gesso as primer.
Decorative papers (optional – for cardboard.)
Multi-surface satin finish acrylic paints or Ranger Distress Inks or Distress Crayons (for cardboard or cardstock.) Both the FolkArt and the Craftsmart paint brands work equally well. If you use distress inks, make sure they dry thoroughly before handling the pieces or you will have stained fingers. I speak from experience.
Glitter Gel Pens. I love these for coloring in small details. The company also carries another set with metallic, neon and fluorescent gel pens.
Tim Holtz Texture Paste or Tim Holtz Distress Grit Paste to make brick or stone chimneys, walls or sidewalks. I actually prefer grit paste as it makes my stonework look rougher or more craggy than texture paste.
Stencils to use with the texture or grit paste to make stone or brickwork. Be careful to buy or make stencils that fit the scale of your building. For brickwork I often use the Honey Bee Salvaged Bricks stencil or the Stretcher Bricks stencil I cut myself. For stonework I usually use either the Chimney Stone stencil I made myself, or the Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Mini Set #28 Stencils.
Bone folder (optional, but strongly suggested) A bone folder helps you make sharp folds when you are using cardstock or cardboard. I have found it even helps with aluminum cans. I now use my bone folder to deepen score lines all the time.
A Cutting Machine like a Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore
A hand-held craft blade like an X-Acto knife or Cricut TrueControl Knife. I also have a hand-held knife called the Excel Knife. It is nice in that it uses the cheaper craft blades, but the blade doesn’t work its way loose like the blade in my X-Acto knife often does. You will also need a cutting mat or a glass media mat to cut on.
Metal Edged Ruler with cork backing
An Embossing Machine and folders.

Steps to Make The MCM Merry

Download MCM Merry pattern from A Cottage in the Forest library
Import MCM Merry pattern into your design software
Cut out the pattern – I use my Cricut Maker. Texture if desired.
Fold the body of the house.
Glue on the window frames. Attach Dura-Lar, acetate or vellum windows.
Glue the body of the building together.
Add the bottom insert.
Glue together the roof. Add the chimney
Make base and decorate as desired.

How To Make The MCM Merry

Download MCM Merry Pattern

Download the MCM Merry pattern from A Cottage in the Forest Library. It is design #97. Don’t forget to unzip it. The pattern is available in multiple formats – as a SVG (scalable vector graphics), DXF (drawing eXchange format), as a studio3 file for Silhouette, or as PDF file. I now include a 1″ square in with all of my SVG, DXF and Studio3 files. Scale the pattern so that the square is 1″ to make the building in the size it was designed. Of course the wonderful thing about SVG files is that you can easily scale them to make your building whatever size you would like.

Choose between whether you want a regular back with the light holes at the bottom of the building (this is the option I make below) or if you want to use the Putz Back, where the light hole is in the back of the building.

Import MCM Merry Pattern Into Design Software

As of this blog post, a Cricut Design Space update in 2021 broke the attached score lines. You will need to go through the pattern in Design Space and change the score lines to Score and then attach them to their object. I am still designing so that if someday Design Space fixes their problem score lines and drawings import as actual score lines and drawings attached to their object, though I have pretty much lost hope of that ever happening.

Here is a great tutorial from Jennifer Maker’s website on attaching score lines. Use the included pdf to determine which lines are score lines (the dashed lines.) These need to be changed from “cut” to “score”, then attached to their object. See the example below. All of my score lines are red so that you can tell that they are intended to be score lines.

Cut out all of your cardstock, Kraft Board or aluminum can pieces using my pattern.

Refer to the PDF I included with the SVG pattern for the name of each of the pieces you need to cut out. Texture your pieces using your embossing machine and texture folders if desired.

Fold the Body of the Building

Fold the body pieces towards the back or inside (mountain folds) except the Upper Front piece, which has both mountain and valley folds.

Texture or paint your body pieces now if you are going to. For this model I used 100 lb colored cardstock.

Glue on the Window Frames. Attach the Dura-Lar, Acetate or Vellum Windows

Glue on the window frames. The window frames can either be glued to the outside of the building, or the inside. Your choice can really change the look of your house, with the frames on the inside providing a more modern look. For this model I glued them to the outside. Also, I provide an extra layer for the lower front. If you are using a thick material you may not need it, but if you are using a thin cardstock glue the extra layer onto the lower front to strenghten it.

You can glue on the doors now. I wasn’t sure what color I wanted them, so left the doors for later.

Add your Dura-Lar, or acetate, and/or vellum. Add scenes as desired. If you are using my scene, print it out at 4 3/4 wide That will give you a little wiggle room to line up the picture. You will need to cut the top half into 3 different pannels.

Glue Together the Body of the House

Glue the middle part of the top front to the 2nd floor. If you painted, the side of the 2nd floor that you colored should be on the outside, as the top floor overhangs the bottom floor.

Glue down the rest of the top front to the 2nd floor.

Turn over the sides. Draw a straight line from the notch.

Glue on the side walls. Use the lines you just drew to align the tabs of the upper front.

Glue the bottom front to the side walls and 2nd floor.

Glue on the back.

Add the Bottom Insert

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.

Glue Together the Roof. Add the Chimney

Fold the long sides of the roof inwards and glue. You need to push the sides in tight so that the building will fit.

Fold the short sides of the roof inwards and glue. Place a dot of glue where each of the sides meet and hold them together until they dry.

Color and texture the chimney. If you are interested in using a stencil and grit paste to make bricks you can find a tutorial here. Fold and glue the chimney together. I found a stacked stone seamless pattern by searching Google and printed it out on my cardstock. Remember to color the inside of your chimnyt too unless you are going to put cotton it it to look like smoke.

Place the roof onto the building. Don’t glue down until you check whether the chimney fits in the notcch. I did not make this a removable roof as I was concerned that the notch for the chimney would make the roof weaker. Glue the chimney onto the side of the building, fitting it between the notch of the roof. Depending upon the material you used and how you textured the chimney, you may have to make your notch wider. Hold in place until the glue dries. Glue on the doors if you haven’t done so previously.

Make Base and Decorate as Desired.

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