Christmas Advent Carousel hack - pt 2

So once the rooftops are out of the way and you've cleaned up all that glitter, we can move on to putting a house or two (or 25) together. First I cut out a container, drawer and back, then score them on the lines for folding.

You can ad masking tape to hold the tabs while they dry. I had to sand the edges of my first one with an emery board because it was such a tight fit. I don't use a glue gun for the houses because I don't like bumps on my houses but I will use a glue gun later to give the project extra support, just not on my houses because I want them as smooth as possible. I'm very sloppy with a glue gun.

You may have to do a little trimming and massaging things into place depending on how well your lines are scored. It's OK if it doesn't line up exactly because we're going to cover it with paper anyway and trim where necessary.

I painted the sides on my drawer and container that I wasn't going to cover with paper. No need to paint the bottom of the container as it will be glued to the platform.

The rest is just making it look pretty and gluing things into place. 

Two down and only 23 more to go. And that might take a couple of days but after I get at least nine houses made, I'll move on to part 3 and go over putting it together bottom layer first.

This is my pattern that you can use:

    

Next: Making the platforms and stacking layers - pt 3

Christmas Advent Carousel Hack - pt 1

I'm pretty busy from now until Christmas but I've only planned two Christmas projects for the end of this year so far. But they are doozies in as far as design, quality, detail and an enormous amount and variety of materials and time to make them. The first one is a Christmas book nook of Santa's Workshop. I've reached a stopping point on that one until I can find just the right bottle brush tree to use. And my plexiglass is scratchy so I'll have to try to buff it out or buy a new piece.

You can do this one right along with me and maybe we'll get it done before Christmas. Well, at least I will because I'm moving right along!

My biggest project is a Christmas Advent Carousel made with houses and inspired by the Hobby Lobby wooden advent project that many people cannot find because it sells out quick or is out of their reach budget wise. I've decided to make my own version. So I sat down and calculated the size I need to make based on two basic patterns I combined, redrew and enlarged for the little houses I wanted. 

FIVE LAYERS

For the rotating levels, I did the math so you don't have to. Getting each part done so it looks like I have a plan. This is a learn as you go and based on the size of my houses which are 2-3/8" wide at the bottom. Five levels! I lost my protractor so I had to print one out. Working on the bottom level with 9 houses, I made a 14" diameter circle and divided it in ninths and will put a house every 40 degrees close to the edge. I need to get some foam core board next shopping trip. Here's the dimension of all the levels:

Bottom level - 9 houses, 14" diameter circle, placement 40°

2nd level - 7 houses, 12" diameter, placement 51.4285714° (51 ½° is close enough)

3rd level - 5 houses, 9 ½" diameter, placement 72°

4th level - 3 houses, 7 ¾" diameter, placement 120°

Top level - 1 house, 5" in diameter, placement center

I cut my templates out of only two pieces of poster board but the levels are not cut out in the middle, unless you want to cut a small hole in the center for running the light strand through on the top four layers. Other than that they are complete circles. I think I am going to make cylinders to help support mine through the center because the houses are lightweight, I don't want to crush them. I made my templates to save paper. You could probably just cut your circles right on the foam core board though and mark the degrees on it.

HOUSE SUPPLIES

I cut out a pattern and made a prototype to get the fit. It fits tight. My drawers pull out from the side cutouts because the knobs are just for decoration, not very functional anyway. There are four parts to my houses. 1) Sides, bottom, roof container, 2) back of container, 3) drawer and 4) rooftop,

You're going to need a lot of cardboard. I had some saved up because I make a lot of stuff using it. I'm still going to need some more to finish this project. You could just use poster board if that's all you can get and just double it up or glue paper to the inside and outside. That will make it stronger but they don't have to be as sturdy as wood because the weight of the upper levels are not going to rest on them anyway. Still, you want them to last from year to year without getting crushed.

So using my templates, I am ready to cut out some more pieces.

When assembling the houses, I leave the plain side on the inside and paint or glue paper to the print side. I also glue my assembly tabs on the container to the outside of the box where necessary so the drawer can easily slide in and out. I cut out paper pieces to cover and decorate the outside on mine.

I make the house numbers from 4 ½ cm x 4 cm squares and glue half round 6mm plastic pearls on them. I use a Spectrum Noir alcohol ink marker #BG5 to hand draw my numbers on.

Measure the front and sides of your box to get a pattern for your paper pieces if you cover them with paper. I got these paper patterns from BlossomPaperArt on Etsy and printed mine out.

THE ROOFTOPS

You can start on these right away. You will need 25 of them at 2 ½" x 4" scored down the middle. I know I'm not consistent. I use both metric and American standard measurements. Sometimes you need to be more accurate so I switch to metric but everybody has a ruler with both, right?

Then I paint mine with acrylic paint and let them dry. You might want to use an undercoat of gesso or thick white paint to cover the printed material completely before you paint the off-white coat. Once they are dry you can mark the shingles with a marker and then add glitter.

I use buffalo snow and a clear crystal glitter but you can use what you like. Once you get them all done, you can set them aside for now.

Coming up in pt 2 - Making a house template and putting them together.