How to make a Christmas village

Step 1
Start by measuring the width of your bits of wood and drawing a line down the middle.

Step 2
Use a 45 degree set square and draw on the roof shape.

Step 3
Cut your houses. Use a drop saw to cut each house. Fleur found it easier to make the two roof cuts and then cut the house off the length of wood. This gives you a long length to hold on to and was safer than working with a small piece of wood and having fingers too close to the saw blade. It makes the cutting a bit more tedious, but it was easier and safer. Sand off any rough bits with some sandpaper. Wipe off sanding dust.

Step 4
It’s time to paint your houses. Fleur made a ‘white wash’ effect by mixing some water with the paint, painting it on with a paintbrush and then quickly wiping it off with a paper towel. Fleur applied two coats like this. Paint houses in Resene Cararra, Resene Coral Tree, Resene Norway, Resene Highland and Resene Rivergum. Experiment with the amount of water you add to the paint, the length of time you leave the paint on and how many coats you do to give the desired intensity of colour.

Step 5
For the windows, use painters tape to make a rectangular shape and paint on with Resene Black.

Finished project
A close-up of the finished Christmas village project.