THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE

VILLAGE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE

The Little Red Schoolhouse is the 4^th structure in my Little village series of  tiny printie, cut & glue buildings.  It can be used as a stand-alone piece displayed under a glass dome and such, or it can become a toy in a dollhouse or toy store, etc.  It can also be transformed into a glitter building (as described for the church in this series) or become part of a snow village.

To construct the Schoolhouse print out a copy of the pdf file at the very end of this post onto matte presentation paper using your printer’s best settings. This will give you a true to scale, true to color, detailed printie.  When the ink has set, use small sharp scissors to cut out the building.

Using a pointed stylus & a straight edge, score across all tabs, sides and bottom lines.  Fold the side and bottom tabs in at right angles. Using glue stick applied with a small stiff-bristled brush glue sides and bottom together to form the shape.

Cut out roof.  Score across both lines.  Fold & glue stick in half so that the underside of the roof as marked is on the bottom.  When glue has set, fold in half again.  Use a gray watercolor pencil to color white edges.  Fold the top tabs of the building in at right angles.  Using glue stick adhere the roof to the top of the building so it sits evenly.

Cut out the steeple and glue it together as for the schoolhouse.  Glue it evenly to the top of the schoolhouse.  Prepare the steeple’s roof as for the schoolhouse roof.  Before you glue it in place, use a needle to poke a hole in in its center.  Glue the roof in place on the steeple. 

Cut out windows and glue stick over matching images on the building. 

Roughly cut out door and glue to a double thickness of a scrap of the same paper.  Cut out and glue over its image on the building.

Glue the triangle overhang to 5 layers of scrap of the same paper.  Cut out and glue in place on the building.

Rough cut the school sign and glue it to two layers of scrap of the same paper.  Cut out.  Color edges with a watercolor pencil in a tint close to the color of the schoolhouse.  Glue in place on the building.

Cut out the flag & score in half (this is probably easier to do before cutting it out).  Cut about a 3/8” long piece of very thin brass wire.  Fold the flag in half on the score line and glue it around the wire, tops even.  Poke the other end of the wire into the needle hole in the steeple roof, adjusting its height to your liking.

To create the tiny Schoolhouse Vignette as scene here:

The school sits on a base of a 1-7/16 sq. matboard.  To prepare the base paint the top a grass green.  

Cut a piece of lightweight gray paper to shape shown on diagram and glue (gluestick) it in place for the walkway & sidewalk.

Trim the edges of the base with a fine gray cording such Bunka using  a craft glue such as Crafter’s Pick The Ultimate.

Glue the schoolhouse in place on the base.

Using a fine model railroad turf/grass such as                                         http://www.amazon.com/JTT-Landscaping-Material-Blended-Autumn/dp/B002PP0GNE sift it with a fine mesh strainer to get the finest of the material.  Using a small stiff-bristled brush, apply a light coating of glue stick to the green area of the base.  Immediately sprinkle on your prepared grass and lightly tamp with a dry small bristled bush.  Tap and shake off excess grass.

For hedge use a green pipe cleaner -these are narrower than the usual chenille stems.  Paint with green acrylic paint to covering any exposed wire.  When the paint has dried t trim about half of the “fur” off all around the wire. It should be no thicker than the space in back of the schoolhouse.  Sharply bend and cut two pieces, each to fit across the front of the lawn/down the side/and to center back.  It may take a while to get the exact fit with sharp corners but keep tying on until they fit.  Using craft glue put them in place on the base.

For interest I added a white “post” on either side of the entrance  that sits a bit higher than the hedge.  A section of round toothpick, especially one with a carved top, can easily be sanded down and shaped a bit to use here.

http://www.peoplescale.com/

 http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com

Seven school children with back packs are in front of the school, (N Scale from PeopleScale,  http://www.peoplescale.com/ ). There is also one dog  ( n scale Dogs and Cats from Woodland Scenics (these are oh so tiny…one is forever lost on my workroom floor)  http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com ) who followed its master to school & is being told to “GO HOME!”

“School Days, School Days, Dear Old Golden Rule Days…”

PDF FILE TO PRINT OR DOWNLOAD:

"FASHION"- A VILLAGE CLOTHING SHOP

“FASHION”

A LITTLE VILLAGE DRESS SHOP

“FASHION” is the 3rd structure in my series of tiny printie, cut & glue, paper buildings. As with the others, it can be used as a stand-alone piece, showcased under a dome and such, or it can become a toy in a dollhouse toy store or child’s room, etc.  You may decide to transform it into a glitter building as was done for the Church in a previous post here.

 As seen, the shop has been glued to a 1-7/16” sq. matboard base topped with gray paper.  The edges of the base are covered with gray bunka cording http://secondchildhoodminiatures.com/supplies.html , starting and stopping at center back.  After the shop has been glued in place, both sides of it have a low planting (a green pipe cleaner -these are narrower than the usual chenille stems- painted with green acrylic paint to cover any exposed wire.  When the paint has dried the “fur” of the stem is trimmed almost to the wire.  Two pieces the width of the sides of the building are cut and glued to the base, snugged to the building.  For interest, the tiniest of red “berries”, sifted from Woodland Scenics’ Fruit are glued on the greenery, here and there (these are three bags of the tiniest of no-hole bead, one each of red, orange and white.  They have many uses mini-wise, think maraschino cherries, holly berries, & so on)

 http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/T47/page/1

A sign out front (printie) tells us “Fashions” is having a sale and our village ladies have turned out to shop for good bargains.  (Window Shoppers & Pedestrians from Woodland Scenics N Scale www.wow.com/Woodland+Scenics .)  

INSTRUCTIONS:

Using the PDF file attached, print out the building on matte presentation paper using your printer’s best settings.

Cut out the building; score on tabs and bottom/sides lines.  Fold side tabs to inside at 45 degree angle to sides.  Glue front and back to sides on tabs. 

Fold in roof tabs at 45 degrees.  Cut out roof, score across center both ways.  Glue in half with lined section to top.  Use a watercolor pencil in a shade to match roof color to cover the white edges.  Fold across center and glue to building’s top tabs, centered all the way around with folded edge facing front.

Glue the four windows and the door to a scrap piece of the same paper.  When glue has set cut them out.  Use watercolor pencil to cover the raw edges.  Glue in place, evenly, over the matching ones on the building.

Glue the FASHION sign onto a double thickness of a scrap of the same paper.  When glue has set cut out and glue evenly over the sign on the building. 

Score across the canopies/awnings just above the scallops.  Cut out and fold the scallop edges down.  Glue the back edges to the top edges of the three display windows at a very slight downward angle (so the rain will roll off, lol).

Cut out the three door steps & glue them stacked together.  Glue the straight edge to the building, just under the door.  You may choose to stagger the steps by cutting two back a bit so the step is not too high.

I like to use an acid free, blue glue stick for adhering paper on paper, especially with tiny pieces.  It is more forgiving/moveable than craft glue.  And the disappearing color lets me know that I have the glue where I want it.  I use Crafter’s Pick The Ultimate for everything else here, including the canopies.  And again, I can’t recommend these high enough, Dr. Slick Razor Scissors      http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Slick-Razor-Scissors                  I really love them, especially for cutting tiny bits and pieces.

 Have fun, and hurry because it is only a “ONE DAY SALE”!

On the pattern file below you can click on Zoom In to see the whole file before you print or save it.  Don't forget to use your best printer settings before printing.