In my quest for a white-ish, neutral holiday color theme, I got the crazy idea of making some of my own putz houses. Now, you need to understand that I really am not adept with paper crafts, and I’m demonstrably terrible with a glue gun. I rarely use one.

But in googling putz houses, I found some svg files on Etsy that seemed like something I would like to do. You can find files to purchase all over. Just google putz house svg files. My first inclination was to print them out and then cut them out by hand.

Silly me.

I couldn’t see how to print the files. I did, however, locate accompanying pdf’s. So that at least gave me some vague instructions.

Undeterred, I remembered that my local library has a “maker” lab. I stopped in and asked if I could use their Cricut. Now, I have never touched a Cricut. I have never even known anyone who owns one. Still, I am endowed with a brain that consistently says, “I can figure it out.”

Whether I can or not is debatable.

Luckily, the attendant at the maker lab, was very sweet in explaining that no one is allowed to touch the equipment unless one of the experts is on hand to guide you. ( I think that is an excellent policy). So I set up an appointment for a couple of days later. I was eager to start my holiday decorating. And now these putz houses had become an obsession.

When I arrived, a very nice lady sat me down at the computer and taught me Cricut’s software. I should say she told me what buttons to push to do what I wanted. I am in no way versed in the software.

The next problem we ran into is that I brought 8 x 10 card stock, and a Cricut really likes 12 X 12. In addition, the files were designed to fit easily onto 12 x 12 and not necessarily 8 x 10.

So back to the drawing board, the software, and we resized everything to make it fit on my 8 x 10 card stock. Fortunately, only the church needed the larger sheet. By changing landscape to portrait for some of the houses, I was able to get most to fit. But some did need to be re-sized. The woman at the lab let me use a 12 x 12 sheet she had on hand and that got me through the hurdle.

Once I got them all cut, then I bundled up my sheets of card stock and went home for the assembly. As you can see in the photo at the top of this post, it was not pretty. I definitely put the smaller church together wrong, with the steeple at the back. But I got the hang of it with the larger size and that one is correct.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about them, but in the end I think they were exactly what I was hoping for.

Simple, white structures that I could use on top of the mantle.

I like them.

I don’t think I could have asked for anything better. It’s precisely what I had in mind. Festive, but soft-spoken.

The tree is curated with only the light, white, neutral ornaments, and I supplemented with some ribbon that I got half-price at Joann’s.

Now, when I go out and see all the holiday decorations and the Christkindlmarkets and open houses, I have a singular goal: Do they have any white-ish ornaments I can’t live without?

This experiment in a low-key decorating project has been a success. I have a friend who cherishes every ornament and hangs it with the memories of when she purchased it. I love that.

But I also love NOT that. Those ornaments will still be there next year and every year until I’m gone. Sometimes, you just want to keep it simple.

And I think the only rule about decorating for the holidays is: What makes you happy?

And after that, rule #2 is: Don’t make extra work for yourself.

That second rule is cultivated over time. When your kids are young and you have boundless energy and you are visiting multiple houses and different families…well, bless your heart.

Age and time tend to mellow our holiday ambitions, at least to a reasonable degree.

Wishing you and yours all the best this holiday season. May your decorating (and your stitching!) make you happy.