Tiny Village 2013

Now available from my Etsy Store!
Tiny Village 2013 is a set of 8 miniature paper buildings. The tallest building in this set is 1-1/8 inches high. The buildings were designed to use for scenes in dollhouses or inside of ornaments, eggs, domes, as glitter houses, putz,  or simply as decorations in your home wherever you want to place a charming little accent. They are not just for Christmas!
 
There are three color choices, white, black and gingerbread brown. There is also a smaller micro size version of this kit. These assembly directions are also used for the micro sized kits. However note that some of the details in the micro scaled kits have been simplified in order to make that reduction in size possible to cut. Building #12 does not have a bay window. There are no divided lights on windows. Building #15 does not have an overlay, fold down, top detail on the towers and no extra trim over the entry passage.

The White Tiny kits sold prior to September 2015 (the larger size, not the white micro kits) have a coated paper with a soft pearl finish that faces the outside of the building.

 The buildings in the kit Tiny Village 2013 begin with number 8 and end with number 15.
 Tiny Village 2012  contains the buildings 1 thru 7.

Please refer to the posting on this blog http://glitterhouses.blogspot.com/2014/03/tips-for-folding-tiny-pieces.html for extra advice on making and handling the folds on some of the very small pieces. As all the fold lines have been perforated they are easy to bend but the micro size kits do best with a bit of assistance from tweezers and such.

You may need to use a sharp knife to remove chads from some of the window openings but don't remove the hinged doors.

 Before you begin assembling a building glance all the way through the instructions so you familiarize yourself with what happens to all the pieces. If you wish to decorate a building with gel pens or felt tip markers it is easier while the pieces are flat. However glitter should be done after assembly

Tools needed are as follows. A sharp pointed craft knife, a #11 blade is good, I use the knife for removing any hanging chads from windows and for helping to remove excess glue before it dries. It is also good for gently pushing the walls into position. You can use a toothpick or fine point glue applicator bottle for adding just the right amount of glue. Toothpicks can also reach into deep spaces to help you adjust the edges of pieces during the glue steps. Bamboo skewers are also a great tool for reaching inside of the buildings to encourage the walls into proper position. Tweezers with slanted, straight across tips, often called eyebrow tweezers, will help you hold onto the very small parts and help with making bends on them. Your finger are the only clamps you will need. Just use them to gently press the parts together until the glue grabs. When gluing paper a small amount of glue is best as you don't want the parts to get soggy.  Clear drying, thick, PVA glues work well but choose one that dries water resistant if you wish to decorate the building with paint or glitter. My favorite glue is Crafters Pick "The Ultimate". See the sidebar of this blog for sources on materials such as glue, glitter and tools such as the fine point glue applicator bottle with a .7mm metal tip. I love these applicator bottles, they make the assembly go super fast! A .7mm stainless steel sewing pin makes a great stopper for the metal tip. It is important to only use stainless steel pins as regular pins will rust.
Building #8:

If you wish to have your doors partly open you should place them in that position before you begin assembling the buildings.

Bend all folds lines on this kit completely flat  back against the adjacent sections before doing any assembly. This slightly weakens the cardstock on the bend lines making it easier to fit your kit together.  Test fit the pieces without glue so you feel comfortable with how it is going to go together.

Note that if you have a kit that was cut before the year 2015 the micro sized version of this building very likely does not have divided lights.

The outline of the base area on all buildings is your guide to bending the walls in the correct direction.

In all buildings in this kit the walls always rest on top of the base surface.

Fold back the sides of the front dormer and slide the roof into place.
After the glue is dried you can burnish smooth the perforations along bend lines using the back of your finger nails or other very smooth object.

Fold and glue the chimney along one edge. After that join is dry it can be installed on the roof. See the next photo below for the correct position of the chimney.

Fold and install the small dormer roof gluing as indicated by red lines on the cut edges of the cardstock.

Congratulations you are finished with the assembly.

















Building #9:
TIP
It is a good idea to put your parts into a bowl as soon as the package is opened. That way your sleeve or hand won't  sweep a tiny roof or chimney onto the floor.

Parts inventory.

Apply glue as indicated. You can glue one or two walls at a time or do the whole thing at once if you feel confident.

Use a toothpick to nudge walls into place using it to reach inside the building if needed.

Now the main roof is glued to the top of the walls. The notches that fit around the twin bays will help you center the roof.

Time to put on the small gable roofs.

Assemble the chimney and glue it in place in the center of the roof line.

Finished!

















Building #10:

A little building with a stair step gable. The end walls and the front dormer window are made as separate overlays to create more detail and depth to the surface.

Parts inventory

The edges of the two narrower end walls will rest on top of the edges of the front and back walls.

Apply glue on top of the side walls of the main structure as indicated by red lines.

Stand the building on a table while installing the overlay so that the bottom of the building and overlay are flush with each other. Your fingers will help align the side edges.

Glue the main roof to the building. The glue is applied along the cut surface of the main building. The roof rest down inside of the overlays so that the stair steps are exposed along the top edges after the roof is glue on.

The sides of the dormer fold in after the roof is on.

Put a tiny drop of glue inside the dormer sides to hold them in position before installing the dormer roof. Some versions I have cut of this design do not have side pieces on the dormer.

The dormer overlay is glued in position. The top edge will butt against the underside of the dormer roof.

Fold the chimneys and glue as indicated in step one in the photo. The sides of the chimney rest on top of the chimney base.

Then apply glue to the cut edges as shown in step two and slip the chimney into the notch in the roof.  The tip of a #11 knife can be slid between the chimney side and the notch to help ease the chimney in position, it is a tight fit.

Note that the micro version of this building does not have bottom pieces on the fireplaces.

The top edge of the chimney and the top edge of the side wall overlays will be even. See final photo below for how that looks.

All done and congratulations!

Building #11:

This building has a second story overhang that is historically called a "jetty".

Parts inventory

Apply glue as indicated by red lines.
The walls will sit on top of the base.

The front wall with the window will be glued on top of the cut edge of the side wall with the corner being flush.

Now the upper front wall is glued in position.

The roof is glued on top of the walls.

The dormer roof is installed now.

Glue the chimney in position as indicated in this photo.

If you look at the building from the side the back of the chimney and the back wall of the building line up with each other on the same plane.

Congratulations you are finished!


















Building #12:

A bay fronted building with a tapered chimney.

Parts Inventory

Note that the micro sized version does not have identical windows to the full size version.

 The wall folding in from the left will sit against the opposite side wall. At the top edge the right side wall will be flush to the front wall to permit the bay wall to wrap around properly without interference.








The bay walls sit on top of the base.

The roof installs now. The small trim piece at the top of the gable glues in position after the roof is installed.

The notch in the roof for the chimney will be flush to the side of the wall the chimeny is installed on. See photo of the completed building for how the chimney fits against the wall and roof.

The two short edges at the top of the bay roof are the first parts glued then left to dry before installing the dormer roof on the building.

Towards the bottom of the lower side edges of the bay roof they will slip inside the edges of the notch in the roof. But the upper part or the bay roof sits on top of the main roof. Do a dry fit to see this feature before you apply the glue.

Then glue is applied to the side edges of the bay roof and to the top of the bay walls.

Glue the edge of the chimney sides and let dry. Then place glue on the back of the chimney and on the base of the house where it rest to finish installing it.

Congratulations you are done!

Building  #13:

Now we step up the game with a little more complexity on the next few buildings. But you have the experience to do this. Just take it one step at a time.

Note that on the the micro sized version of this building that were cut before the year 2014 there many not be a bay window with roof. Also it does not have divided light windows. A later upgrade in equipment enabled me to create those small details.

Your inventory.

First the two story section of the building is wrapped around and glued in place.
The wall on the right will glue over the cut edge of the wall wrapping around from the left for a flush finish at the corner. As always the walls rest on top of the base.

The one story wing now folds up to rest against the two story section. Apply glue on top of the base section but it goes on the cut edges of the side walls.

Now the bay window folds up and is glued to the main structure. Glue on top of the base but on the cut edges of the side walls.

There is a tiny tab at the top of those side walls, it will slip just inside of the notch at the top of the opening cut into the main building. Check to make sure the bay sides look parallel to the sides of the building before the glue sets and that the lower edges of the bay are flush to the base.

Fold the bay roof and put glue as shown in photo. The glue goes on the cut edges of the cardstock. Tweezers are a must for this task.

Rotate your building and look at the roof from below to be sure it is installed evenly and pushed down against the top of the bay wall.

Assemble the roofs and chimney pieces and let dry completely before installing them on the building.

Only apply glue to one roof at a time.

Notch for chimney faces the one story wing.

Be sure to check the roofs for level while the glue is still wet.

Apply glue to the base of the chimney and to the wall of the main structure.

Be sure to check your vertical alignment of the chimney before the glue dries so you can reposition if needed.

Congratulations you are finished!

Building #14:

A triple fronted building such as would be used at the corner of a city block.

Note that the micro sized version of this building that were cut prior to l2015 may not have divided light windows. It also has a single door instead of a double door.

Your inventory.

Please look through all the steps before you begin the project.

Always look ahead at the photo for the next step before you begin applying glue so you can see what you are trying to achieve. That will help prevent errors in the assembly process.

The side wall will wrap around and glue onto the base and the front window wall will glue over the cut edge of that wall.

Now you will be wrapping that upper section around the wall you just glued into position.

Be sure you look at the next photo below this one to see where you are going with this step.


There is a perforated flap at the end of that upper wall section that does not get glued in place at this stage. that section is there to support the front wall that will be folding up later on.

Now you will start forming the center projected section that covers over the front door. The sides come down and form two "brackets" that would support the bottom of the bay on a real building.

There are two perforated tab sections at the sides that do not get glued at this time. However they are used at this time for squaring up the walls of your bend that forms the floor of this jettied bay. Look ahead at the next photo to see one of them folded in as a positioning jig for squaring up the base of the bay into a 90 degree bend.

How your bay should look when glue up. Remember those side tabs should not be glued in position at this time.

View of the bay from the front. The brackets are glued on the cut edge and lie on top of the wall below them flush along those side edges.

Now the bay wall fold up against the tabs from the side walls and is glued onto the surface of the tabs.

 

Now the tabs on the upper section get glued to the upper side bays.

See next step for clamping them in place using tweezers.

Clamp tabs in place with tweezers until the glue has grabbed.

Bend up the font gable walls and fold back the support tabs gluing into position.

Glue the attic section to the top of the building.

Back edge of attic floor will touch the back of the main structure wall.

See photo below before you start applying glue.  It is important to adjust the front walls of the buildings bays. The bays can be flexed with your fingers into alignment to the attic floor. You can do it as a dry fit before gluing but you will also need to do a final adjustment. If not perfect remember old buildings like these get lopsided over time.

The is how the top floor should look when viewing from below.

Fold the roof into the profile as seen in this photo. When the roof is installed the top center back edge of the roof is flush with the back wall of the building. The chimney will be gluing flush against that back wall surface and projecting on above the roof.

Glue chinmey together and let dry before installation.

This is how the chimney looks like installed. Put glue on the back wall of the building to stick them together.

Congratulations you are finished.
Lots of steps but well worth it!
A fascinating tiny building with a lot of detail and depth of interest.

Building #15:

A gatehouse that might have been the entrance to an estate or village shopping district. Or it could have been a folly on an estate.

Note that some of the micro sized version of this kit that were cut prior 50 2015 do not have the top overlay of detail on the towers or the overlay just above the tunnel.The center window has two sections instead of three.

Parts inventory

Remember that there is no entry trim is on the micro sized kit for this building for kits that may have been cut prior to 2015.

The tunnel liner is installed first. The tunnel liner is taller than the opening in the wall.

See photo below for positioning the first stage of  glueing the tunnel liner. The tunnel edges will sit on top of the walls and the base.

Fist stage of tunnel installation is the the back wall of the builing. The base folds up.
The sides of the tunnel and the base are flush along those surfaces. The tunnel is taller that the top of the opening in the walls of the building.

Next apply glue to the cut edge of the front of the tunnel and old the front wall of the center section of the building up against it. Be sure to align the edges flush.

You will begin folding the tower walls around gluing them to the base. I rec omend doing this in stages. First glue the wall sections shown in this photo. Let dry then add glue to the next section of the lower base of the tower.  I have not shown those as red lines in this tutorial.

Do one tower through completion of steps then go back and do the second tower.

The front center section of the building is folded at 90 degrees to form an overhang above the tunnel. At the side of the center section is a small tab that slips into the notch in the tower side. See closeup photo below for how it will look when properly installed.

Apply glue as shown in the photo. Be sparing with the glue and remove any excess left of the surface quickly by using as a scraper the side of your #11 knife blade tip.

The center section of the front will fit flush against the front and lower edge of the notch in the tower to form a nice 90 degree bend.

Bend out the upper trim area at the top of the tower.

Now apply glue on the upper edges of the tower walls where they complete the hexagon. This is a butt join, no overlap of edges. Don't get glue on the edges of that upper trim, they need to be free to bend down.

Apply a small amount of glue on the face of the upper trim as shown by the red line.

Fold down and hold with tweezers until the glue grabs. Do one section at a time.

The roofs for the tower are a snug fit. Gently push them down into the tower  with the tweezers flexing the top of the tower with your fingers if needed to slip the roofs into place. If you look at the roofs closely you will see they have a shaped edge with projections that will fit into the notches of the tower top.

A little dab of glue is plenty. Remove any excess glue from the exterior walls with the tip of your knife.

Install the trim piece against the lower center front wall.
The top of the piece will butt against the bottom of the upper projection.

Now the tower roof is glued onto the top of the walls of the center section. It will slide all the way towards the front of the building until the notch in the roof sides hits the towers.

Congratulations you are finished with all the buildings in your kit.  Job well done.

I hope you had a great time!