How to Make Tiny Wooden Houses Using Scrap Wood

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Square feature photo of finished tiny wooden houses painted and on on a wood shelf. There are three shelves shown. The houses are painted dusty gues, greens, white and ivory. Each with dark gray roofs sprinkled with white glitter for a snowy effect. Beside some houses is a cluster of bottle brush trees.

These tiny wooden houses are adorable and perfect for a small shelf or tiered tray!

I made a small village of snowy-capped houses to fill a wood shelf I picked up at the thrift store. I’ve had this shelf in my basement for quite a while and thought a snowy house scene would make a nice wall display in my antique booth for the Christmas season.

Below are all the details on how to make them and lots of pictures!

Photo of a full wood shelf that has 17 colorful, snowy roofed miniature houses. In between some are clusters of snowy looking miniature bottle brush trees to complete the scene.

Supplies

How To Make Tiny Wooden Houses – 4 Easy Steps

STEP 1:

Start by finding and marking the center of the 2×4. Draw a line below to mark the bottom of the roof. Draw two lines to the center point to make a triangle. Measure from the center 3″ down from the top and draw a line to mark the bottom of the house.

Marking a 2 x 4 by finding the center and marking there. Make a line for the bottom of the roof and angled lines to the center point. Last, measure down three inches from the top and mark a line for the bottom of your house. Now you're ready to cut with a circular saw.

Cut with a miter saw.

Note: I recommend working from the long end of your 2×4 and cutting each house as you go with a miter chop saw. Do not cut your wood block down into 3-inch pieces. You want a long stretch of wood board to work with so your fingers are not near the saw blade!

photo of raw wood 2x4s cut into house shapes and sitting of a wooden shelf ready for sanding and painting.

After cutting, use a sanding block to smooth any rough or splintered edges.

STEP 2:

Cut wooden chimneys and attach them to each house using wood glue. For the taller houses, I used two wooden craft sticks glued together and a square wood dowel for the others.

Tip: You can also use a nail for a chimney.

Photo of wooden craft sticks being glued together with wood glue. These will be used to make the chimneys for some of the tiny wooden houses.

For angled cuts, use the roof line of your house as a guide and mark with a pencil.

Using the roof line of a wooden house to mark the angle with a pencil to make a chimney. This is an easy way to match the angle of the roof without measuring.

Cut chimney pieces with a hacksaw.

Closeup photo of cutting a square wood dowel at an angle to make a chimney for one of the tiny wooden houses.

STEP 3:

Paint your house(s) and sketch where the doors and windows will go in pencil.

Holding a white painted tiny wooden house that has pencil marks to rough in the door and window placements.

Paint the doors and windows using a wide brush using long, single strokes.

Photo of painting a stroke of barn red using a wide paintbrush for the door.
Photo of a wooden house painted blue and adding wide paint strokes of a warm white. Shown are the paint colors that make up warm white for a glow in the windows by mixing light mocha and white chalk paint.

Use a small pointed paintbrush to make lines for the windows.

Photo of a small pointed paintbrush used to make gray line strokes in a cross fashion for windows.

STEP 4:

Paint tacky glue or Mod Podge onto the roof and sprinkle with glitter (optional).

Applying tacky glue to a dark gray painted roof on one of the tiny wooden houses that will sprinkled with fine, white glitter for a snowy look.
Vertical photo of five shelves filled with colorful and finished wooden houses. Between some of the houses is a cluster of miniature bottle brush trees. Pin this image to your Pinterest craft board to come back to this DIY project later!

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Photo of a wood tall table riser with cupcakes on it.

Learn how to make an inexpensive tall table riser using scrap wood and dollar store brackets!

Read More: Make A Tall Table Riser Using Dollar Store Brackets

MORE HOME DECOR IDEAS:

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Watch A Video

Link to the full tutorial here –> Wood Snowflake Decoration Made From Wood Shims

YouTube video

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