Make Your Own Village Bookstore

Now that the 2025 Great Halloween Spooktacular is behind me, I started to look at what other kinds of buildings I want to make for my village. I decided that I have a lot of house patterns on this site and need to make more shops and village buildings. While I was looking at pictures for inspiration, I found one that reminded me of a bookstore near us, so I decided to make my shop into one. Though I include pictures for the inside of a bookstore, this building can be made into any kind of shop, or even a regular house. Wouldn’t this look great as a potion shop for Halloween?

Several elements really appealed to me about this design. I wanted a shop front that was not symmetrical as I find that more interesting. I also liked the bay display window and the upstairs balcony. I made the doors operable so they can be opened out, in, or kept closed. I included an extra set of doors in case you want to glue two together to make them thicker, as well as a set with tab hinges in case you are cutting your building out of cardstock and want the doors to be a different color.

If you are looking for pictures for the inside of your shop, you can search for ones using Google, or you can make your own using AI. I have my own reservations about AI, but I can not draw, and AI can generate a decent image with the right prompts. If you have a subscription membership to Creative Fabrica you can use their AI image generator for free. DeepAI.org also has a free AI image generator. 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. I include a set of bookshop interiors, as well as a set where I changed the white balance on them as the 1st set was a little too pastel for the look I wanted to achieve.

This Is How You Make The Village Bookstore

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

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The Village Bookstore Pattern Specific Materials

• My free pattern for The Village Bookstore from the A Cottage in the Forest Library. Design #95. Get the password for free by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.
• Dura-Lar Clear film for the display bay window pane. I Just started using this, and actually like it more than Cricut Acetate as it is thinner and easier to use.
• A black pen for your cutting machine. I like the .3 Extra Fine.
• Optional: Lawn Fawn Dark Brown Woodgrain Cardstock. I have used this in several of my designs, anywhere I want a wood grain. If I hadn’t bought it, I could have used Kraft colored Cardstock and a wood grain texture folder to make my own.

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 Village Bookstore

• Download Village Bookstore pattern from A Cottage in the Forest library
• Import Village Bookstore pattern into your design software
• Cut out the pattern – I use my Cricut Maker. Texture if desired.
• Fold the body of the house.
• Make the display bay window.
• Glue on the window and door frames. Glue display bay window onto front.
• Glue together the body of the house.
• Add the bottom insert.
• Glue on the roof and dormer.
• Glue on balcony and steps.
• Glue on the chimney, awning, window shutters, flower boxes, and sign.
• Make base and decorate as desired.

How To Make The Village Bookstore

Download Village Bookstore Pattern

Download the Village Bookstore pattern from A Cottage in the Forest Library. It is design #95. 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 Village Bookstore 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. I have started making all of my score lines red so that you can tell that they are intended to be are 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.) Only the outside edge of the display bay window and the doors are folded towards the front (valley folds.) See below for tips on folding the bay window.

Texture or paint your body pieces now if you are going to. I liked the look of my village pub where I used a stencil and grit paste to make stonework on the front of my building, and stucco walls on the sides and back, so did the same here.

If you are going to make your bookstore out of cardstock and want your doors to be an different color, use the alternative front and back.

Make the Display Bay Window

Here are a few tips for folding the display window. Remember to fold your pieces before you texture and paint them. You may need to fold them again after you paint them, but it will be easier to find the score lines if you have already folded your pieces.

Use your jewelry pliers to fold the tabs.

Use your straight edge and bone folder to make the tight folds around the window.

Glue the window frames onto the display window.

Glue the bottom tabs to the sides of the display window. This picture is of the inside of the display window.

Glue the bottom of the display window to the inside, making a shelf.

Glue the top tabs to the sides of the display window. You can now glue the Dur-lar into the inside of the display window, though I found it detached while I was gluing the display window onto the front. Either make sure your glue is very dry, or wait to add the Dura-lar until after you attach the display window to the front.

Glue on the Window and Door Frames. Glue Display Bay Window onto Front

Glue on the window and door frames.

If you are using the separate doors, glue the tabs onto the back of your building. Don’t fold them open until the glue is dry.

Apply glue to the top and bottom of the display window opening on the front. Slide the tabs on the sides of the display window through the opening and hold the display window tight to the front until the glue dries.

Turn the front over and glue the side tabs of the display window to the backside of the front. I used my jewelry pliers to help me hold the tabs down until the glue dried. If you haven’t previously, glue the Dura-Lar into the inside of the display window. If you are having trouble iwth too much glue leaking onto your Dura-Lar, consider painting on the glue with a small paintbrush, or using narrow double sided tape.

Turn back to the front and glue the trim pieces onto the display window. I made the trim pieces a little long to accomodate various thicknesses of materials. Trim off the excess.

Glue scenes into the windows, or vellum if you prefer. Before you glue on the scenes, you may want to put a few small items on the shelf of the display window.

Glue Together the Body of the House

Glue the body together.

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 on the Roof and Dormer

Glue the roof onto the building, with the hole for the dormer in front. If you are going to shingle your roof, it is easiest to shingle it before gluing it onto the building. I have included a shingle pattern, and used 40 shingles. Alternative shingle patterns can be found at https://acottageintheforest.com/shingle-patterns/

Fold the gable, then glue together. Add the window trim and vellum.

Glue gable onto roof. Add the roof to the gable.

Glue on Balcony and Steps

Fold and glue together the sides of the balcony. Use your jewelry pliers to hold the pieces together while the glue dries. Glue on the extra balcony railing on the outside to make the balcony stronger. You may have to trim extra railing at the ends depending upon the thickness of the material you used.

Glue the balcony onto the front of the building, directly under the upper door. Hold in place until the glue dries.

Fold the steps and glue. Glue a small step on top of a larger one and glue the steps under each downstairs door. I used a digital paper that I found on Creative Fabrica for the stone step pattern. If you have a subscription it is Stone-digital-paper-72524355. I shrunk the pattern to 5″ wide, printed it out on 80 lb cardstock, and cut my steps and chimney decorative strip out of it.

Glue on the Chimney, Awning, Window Shutters, Flower Boxes, and Sign

Fold the Chimney and glue. I used a decorative strip of the stone digital paper to make the chimney more interesting.

Glue on the chimney, awning, shutters and window boxes. Attach your bookstore name as a pen drawing onto the book sign. I also included an A frame sign in the pattern that you can use. I found the print and cut graphic in Cricut Access.

Make Base and Decorate as Desired.

Enjoy making the Village Bookstore yourself! 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 VILLAGE BOOKSTORE

FREE CUT FILES & PATTERN FOR VILLAGE BOOKSTORE

Download the Village Bookstore Pattern

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Get the password for the library with the free Village Bookstore pattern and SVG/DXF/PDF/Studio3 files here by filling out this form:

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