Supplies:
*Pattern (2 pages)
*Heavy Cardboard (work area, trailer base)
*Light Cardboard (trailer & roof top)
*Transfer Paper (or carbon paper or make your own)
*Hot Glue
*Craft Glue
*Scissors
*Xacto Knife
*Paint
*Tissue Paper (or vellum)
*Felt (enough to cover house base & to add to top of roof)
*Electric Tea Light (battery powered)
*Decorations
*Glitter
Difficulty Level: Hard - It doesn't look very difficult, but it was, rather. Lots of cutting.
Time: Took me 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Took my friend & The Sister about 3 - 3 1/2 hours.
Directions:
01. Print out the patterns (images below - direct link to download at Retro Renovation below that).
02. Lay the carbon paper onto the plain side of the lightweight cardboard (such as a cereal box you've cut open). Lay the printed out pattern on top of the carbon paper. Using a pencil or pen, trace the entire pattern (all lines, window openings, door, circle for door knob, & the tabs).
*I have carbon paper already, so it's what I used. You can use another type of transfer paper, or you can make your own, as shown by Retro Renovation. Use charcoal or a pencil to colour in & sheet of plain paper. Use the charcoal/pencil side facing the cardboard & the pattern on top of this.
*Pattern (2 pages)
*Heavy Cardboard (work area, trailer base)
*Light Cardboard (trailer & roof top)
*Transfer Paper (or carbon paper or make your own)
*Hot Glue
*Craft Glue
*Scissors
*Xacto Knife
*Paint
*Tissue Paper (or vellum)
*Felt (enough to cover house base & to add to top of roof)
*Electric Tea Light (battery powered)
*Decorations
*Glitter
Difficulty Level: Hard - It doesn't look very difficult, but it was, rather. Lots of cutting.
Time: Took me 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Took my friend & The Sister about 3 - 3 1/2 hours.
Directions:
01. Print out the patterns (images below - direct link to download at Retro Renovation below that).
02. Lay the carbon paper onto the plain side of the lightweight cardboard (such as a cereal box you've cut open). Lay the printed out pattern on top of the carbon paper. Using a pencil or pen, trace the entire pattern (all lines, window openings, door, circle for door knob, & the tabs).
*I have carbon paper already, so it's what I used. You can use another type of transfer paper, or you can make your own, as shown by Retro Renovation. Use charcoal or a pencil to colour in & sheet of plain paper. Use the charcoal/pencil side facing the cardboard & the pattern on top of this.
03. Next you'll cut out the pattern that is now on the lightweight cardboard. Be sure to have heavy weight cardboard underneath all of this on your work surface. (You'll use it for Xacto-ing, painting, glittering, & hot gluing. You'll also need a portion to use as your house base.)
First Page: The first portion is the back half of the trailer with three windows. The section below that is the front half of the trailer with two windows & a door (trace, but don't cut out the door. Cut out the windows. The wheels are the circles to the right & the rectangular pieces will glue down where those sections are shaded on the body.
Second Page: The long portion is the top of the trailer with two windows (the circle and square are the back; they're the taillights & license plate). The dotted lines are to show where you will fold. The shorter rectangle is the undercarriage (the bottom). The dotted lines are where you will fold, the large share is to be cut out & is where the tea light will go. The smaller rectangle that will fold in the middle? I'm not sure. Perhaps if you trace it three times that will give you everything; the bar between the airflyte "wings", the outstretch, as well as the stand for the trailer hitch. No one (there were three of us making this one) did this step, because it wasn't explained, & I wasn't sure, & it seemed unimportant. I've used a miniature present to prop my trailer up on the back front corner, The Sister used a toy car in front of it, "pulling" it. Our friend just said 'Whatever'. Haha.
I would suggest tracing it at least twice & bending to a point for the hitch, which attaches to the front of the trailer, & folding & gluing together the second, so that it's the stand of the hitch.
First Page: The first portion is the back half of the trailer with three windows. The section below that is the front half of the trailer with two windows & a door (trace, but don't cut out the door. Cut out the windows. The wheels are the circles to the right & the rectangular pieces will glue down where those sections are shaded on the body.
Second Page: The long portion is the top of the trailer with two windows (the circle and square are the back; they're the taillights & license plate). The dotted lines are to show where you will fold. The shorter rectangle is the undercarriage (the bottom). The dotted lines are where you will fold, the large share is to be cut out & is where the tea light will go. The smaller rectangle that will fold in the middle? I'm not sure. Perhaps if you trace it three times that will give you everything; the bar between the airflyte "wings", the outstretch, as well as the stand for the trailer hitch. No one (there were three of us making this one) did this step, because it wasn't explained, & I wasn't sure, & it seemed unimportant. I've used a miniature present to prop my trailer up on the back front corner, The Sister used a toy car in front of it, "pulling" it. Our friend just said 'Whatever'. Haha.
I would suggest tracing it at least twice & bending to a point for the hitch, which attaches to the front of the trailer, & folding & gluing together the second, so that it's the stand of the hitch.
04. From here you can fold all the tabs and lines that put the house into shape & hold both the front & back up (together). This will give you an idea of about how large to cut the base for your house. Do you want to add trees? Do you want no space really? I suggest a 1/2" - 1" space in the back. 1/2" - 3" for the sides. 1" - 4" for the front yard. You should also keep in mind where you will display these & if your desired size base will fit?
05. Now you can paint your house. Above are the original house from Retro Renovation on the left & my creation on the right. I followed the same basic principles, but I mixed a little glitter with my orange body paint, cut four windows in the door, & attached an awning.
If you want windows in the door, just cut them into the cardboard after you've traced your image there. If you'd like to add an awning, I used lightweight cardboard. It's about 2" - 3" in width & the length was from one curved corner of the trailer to the other. 1" is for the awning top, 1/2" - 1" is for the tab (running the entire length) that is glued to the trailer above the windows, the other 1/2" - 1" is for the scalloped overhang. I painted mine orange & white stripe to match my colour choice of trailer. Be sure to pain the underside. I did not, you can see some blue peaking through from underneath. It's fine & you can't really notice, but I still wish I'd thought to paint it before it was all assembled.
Paint the roof/top of trailer. If you are using "snow" felt on your roof you only have to paint the top part of the roof that will not be covered by snow. Same goes for the awning, if you'll be making that.
Any paint will do, even cheap dollar store kids craft paint. It doesn't have to be fancy. Allow all paint to dry completely (about 15 - 30 minutes). We did have silver metallic paint, if you don't have this, Retro Renovation suggests using aluminum foil for the chrome bits. Smart. Be sure to paint/foil both sides of the flyte "wings" (or at least the back part that will be showing).
06. When the paint is dry, you'll add the windows. This is where the tissue paper or vellum comes in. Just flip your unbuilt trailer front, back, & top over so you're working with the backside (the interior). You'll cut your pieces so there is enough excess to glue around the windows onto the cardboard. It doesn't have to be exact, or perfect, or a large piece. Glue around the edge of window with Elmer's type glue & then stick the tissue paper to this. Allow to dry completely (about 5 - 20 minutes).
07. Now it's time to assemble, which means warming up the hot glue gun. First items I'd recommend are covering the house base in felt. You can use white for snow (or The Sister created one using tan for sand). Just have a colour you want your yard to be. Grass? Choose a green. Dirt? Choose brown. Snow? Choose white. They even make white felt with glitter in it, so that's pretty.
Then you'll hot glue a piece of felt to the roof for snow, if you're going with a snowy theme. Next attach the wheels to the inside of the front & back sections of the trailer. Glue the front top potion of the wheel to the inside of that curve on both the front & back of the trailer.
Next attach the front & back panels to the undercarriage with tabs. In my work photo above, you'll notice the rectangular chrome piece with a big square & a dip in it. That's the undercarriage. The dip is the exterior and should line up with the wheels.
Now, you'll slowly start adding the top to the sides. Start at the back (the taillights & license plate are the back of the top. On the undercarriage, the tea light hole is the front, dip for wheels is the back on undercarriage). The Sister & my friend, kept undoing their glue & restarting. Retro Renovation says to take it slow, but that glitter will hide a multitude of sins. I worked slow, but if there were gaps, which there were, I piped a bit of hot glue in that spot & threw some glitter on it. You can't tell unless your examining the life out of it. So, keep that in mind. These houses aren't a race, they don't have to be picture show room perfect, & above all, they're supposed to be fun. So, just breathe & have fun.
09. Now it's time to decorate. This is where you affix bottle brush trees or pieces of felt as a walk way, a wreath you made or purchased, presents under the tree, large pieces of glitter or pom poms as snow flakes, twinkle lights, or simply festive decoration. This can be things you wish to purchase, things you make or have yourself. You don't even have to decorate if you don't wish to.
10. Turn the tea light on & place it underneath the hole in the trailer. Ah... it's so pretty!
If you want windows in the door, just cut them into the cardboard after you've traced your image there. If you'd like to add an awning, I used lightweight cardboard. It's about 2" - 3" in width & the length was from one curved corner of the trailer to the other. 1" is for the awning top, 1/2" - 1" is for the tab (running the entire length) that is glued to the trailer above the windows, the other 1/2" - 1" is for the scalloped overhang. I painted mine orange & white stripe to match my colour choice of trailer. Be sure to pain the underside. I did not, you can see some blue peaking through from underneath. It's fine & you can't really notice, but I still wish I'd thought to paint it before it was all assembled.
Paint the roof/top of trailer. If you are using "snow" felt on your roof you only have to paint the top part of the roof that will not be covered by snow. Same goes for the awning, if you'll be making that.
Any paint will do, even cheap dollar store kids craft paint. It doesn't have to be fancy. Allow all paint to dry completely (about 15 - 30 minutes). We did have silver metallic paint, if you don't have this, Retro Renovation suggests using aluminum foil for the chrome bits. Smart. Be sure to paint/foil both sides of the flyte "wings" (or at least the back part that will be showing).
06. When the paint is dry, you'll add the windows. This is where the tissue paper or vellum comes in. Just flip your unbuilt trailer front, back, & top over so you're working with the backside (the interior). You'll cut your pieces so there is enough excess to glue around the windows onto the cardboard. It doesn't have to be exact, or perfect, or a large piece. Glue around the edge of window with Elmer's type glue & then stick the tissue paper to this. Allow to dry completely (about 5 - 20 minutes).
07. Now it's time to assemble, which means warming up the hot glue gun. First items I'd recommend are covering the house base in felt. You can use white for snow (or The Sister created one using tan for sand). Just have a colour you want your yard to be. Grass? Choose a green. Dirt? Choose brown. Snow? Choose white. They even make white felt with glitter in it, so that's pretty.
Then you'll hot glue a piece of felt to the roof for snow, if you're going with a snowy theme. Next attach the wheels to the inside of the front & back sections of the trailer. Glue the front top potion of the wheel to the inside of that curve on both the front & back of the trailer.
Next attach the front & back panels to the undercarriage with tabs. In my work photo above, you'll notice the rectangular chrome piece with a big square & a dip in it. That's the undercarriage. The dip is the exterior and should line up with the wheels.
Now, you'll slowly start adding the top to the sides. Start at the back (the taillights & license plate are the back of the top. On the undercarriage, the tea light hole is the front, dip for wheels is the back on undercarriage). The Sister & my friend, kept undoing their glue & restarting. Retro Renovation says to take it slow, but that glitter will hide a multitude of sins. I worked slow, but if there were gaps, which there were, I piped a bit of hot glue in that spot & threw some glitter on it. You can't tell unless your examining the life out of it. So, keep that in mind. These houses aren't a race, they don't have to be picture show room perfect, & above all, they're supposed to be fun. So, just breathe & have fun.
09. Now it's time to decorate. This is where you affix bottle brush trees or pieces of felt as a walk way, a wreath you made or purchased, presents under the tree, large pieces of glitter or pom poms as snow flakes, twinkle lights, or simply festive decoration. This can be things you wish to purchase, things you make or have yourself. You don't even have to decorate if you don't wish to.
10. Turn the tea light on & place it underneath the hole in the trailer. Ah... it's so pretty!