Wooden Christmas Row Houses with Lights

Make adorable miniature Christmas row houses with lights to add whimsical charm to your decor this holiday season.

I’ve got such a fun craft for you today. Yes it’s a little early for Christmas, but if you do a handmade Christmas you have to start early! Today I’m going to show you how to make these stinkin’ cute mini Christmas houses. It all started when I saw this at Hobby Lobby:

I couldn’t stop thinking about how cute it would be as a little row of Christmas houses. Maybe it’s because I visited Charleston, South Carolina this past summer. I just had to make my own little Rainbow Row Christmas style.

A big thank you to my sponsors at Hobby Lobby for making this post possible.

Here’s how you can make your own little Christmas village. If you’d rather watch a VIDEO TUTORIAL, scroll to the bottom of this post!

Materials Needed:

Rustic Birdhouse Wood Panel
Craft Paint
Cardstock and Vellum, Assorted Colors
Fine Tip Glue Pen
Assorted Miniatures: Wreaths, Trees, Picket Fence, Etc.
Battery Operated Fairy Lights
Mod Podge
Glitter Snow

Step 1: Paint the wood. I chose vintage pastel colors just for fun, but you could definitely go more traditional with red and green. Paint the roofs white so they look like they’re covered in snow.

Step 2: Make all of the windows and doors. I used my handy Silhouette Cameo machine and downloaded pre-made designs from the Design Store (here, here, here and here). If you don’t have a craft cutting machine, you can definitely cut these by hand, it would just take longer. I lined all of the windows with vellum to mimic the look of glass. It worked surprisingly well! I recommend using a fine-tip glue pen to glue all of these small pieces together. I lined the back of each door with a piece of craft foam to make them stick up off of the houses and add dimension.

Step 3: Add details. I added miniature wreaths and trees, a little snowman made of pom poms and a mini picket fence. To make the garland on the fence, I cut up two of the mini wreaths. The knobs on the doors are little golden beads. Don’t skimp on the details… that’s what makes this project fun!

Step 4: Brush Mod Podge anywhere you want snow to pile (along the bottom of the houses, on windowsills, on the roof, etc.) then sprinkle the fake snow onto the wet Mod Podge to make it stick. It’s best to work in small sections so the glue doesn’t dry before you can sprinkle it with snow.

Step 5: Add lights! I used hot glue to secure little LED star shaped lights all along the rooftop. Then I glued fake mini Christmas bulbs on top just for fun. Glue the battery pack to the back of the sign, making sure you can still access the batteries and on/off switch.

Then turn those lights on and watch the whole project glow.