Our House Kit

In preparation for the new classes we are teaching in 2011, it's time to clean out the warehouse (my garage) of the leftover kits from 2010.  We have posted the "Our House" kit in the Etsy shop.  The book board in this kit was hand cut by us to create the house shape and is super easy to put together (the house base is 5 x 6" and 7" tall).  When you lift the roof off the house you will find a small book inside, perfect for telling the story of your family.  There is also enough room inside the house to store mementos.  Think "time capsule" here...such as letters, pictures, trinkets or souvenirs.  You can find more photos in by clicking on the Our House link.

Our House Kit

We thought is might be fun to show you how we put the house together.  If you want to cut your own house from book board you will need 8 pieces of 5 x 7" book board. 

Measurements:

front and back: 5 x 7" with angles cut out at the top

2 sides : 5 x 6"

1 base : 5 x 6 1/8"

2 roof pieces : 4 1/8 x 7"

1 center spine in roof : 1 1/8 x 7"

Building the House

 1.  Gather the 4 main house pieces together; 2 sides and two tall ends with the roof peak.  The book board has already been covered in paper.

2.  VERY IMPORTANT STEP: the sides of the house (6 x 5”) must butt up against the front and back pieces of the house, so the house remains 5” wide when you are looking at the front door.  Use a liquid glue to secure corners of house.  

3.   Add 1 x 6” strips of paper to cover each corner of the house (we used vintage book paper). Trim away any excess.

4.  Once the sides of the house are together, add a ring of Glossy Accents around the top edge of the base piece.  The house will sit ON TOP of the base piece. Set house aside while the Glossy Accents dries.

Creating the Roof

1.  Punch 6 holes in the spine piece with a Crop-a-dile (small hole size) for signatures (this has been done for you in the kit).

2.   Lay all three roof pieces together with patterned paper facing up. This is the underside of the roof.

3.  Butt roof pieces up against each other and tape together using two 7” strips of gaffer tape.  By doing this, you will cover the holes again and will have to poke through gaffer tape with a paper piercer to add signatures in the next step.

Signatures

1.     Crease 9 pieces of paper in half so they are 5 1/2 x 4”.  Open up papers and lay in one stack.  Mark the top paper to match the holes in the spine piece.  Punch the two holes all at the same time with the small hole of a Crop-a-dile.  

2.  Gather 3 of the papers...this makes one signature.

3.  Thread elastic through signature, then the spine of the book, and back through the signature, so that the elastic barbs are on the inside of the book. Note: You can also sew the signature into the book with the traditional method of using waxed linen, tying the knot in the center of the signature.

4. Repeat threading with each of the 3 signatures.

 Well, we hope you like this short tutorial on the basics of making the house.  Really super easy once the book board is cut!

On Monday we will have pictures of the 2 new classes we are teaching for 2011.  We are so excited for these classes.  Super fun, technique based classes...lots of Ranger inks, stains, and sprays, 10 Seconds studios metal (love it), vintage ephemera, and of course LOTS of 7gypsies goodness.

  Love it, love it, love it!