I designed a paper house template a few years ago and have had lots of fun modifying it into various things from postage stamp holders to haunted house luminaries. Most recently, I used the design to craft a multiple house glowing mobile. It’s a sweet display lit for evening company, as a housewarming gift or other fun event. Because each house will need to be manually opened and every flameless tealight turned on one at a time, this display lends itself to more of a special occasion decorating piece. However, unlit, it is really sweet as everyday decor.
To make the houses like I did for this project, trim one-sided patterned scrapbook paper into letter-size sheets to feed through your desktop printer. I chose papers from DCWV, The Garden Tea Party Stack I purchased at Michaels with my 40%-Off app coupon. I happen to be pretty fond of the DCWV design crew, so I love using their papers whenever possible.
Download the FREE Paper House Luminary PDF file and print to the back of each trimmed sheet. My tutorial house shows the printed template lines in black, however, the lines in the actual file will print much lighter so as not to show up in your finished project.
Once printed, trim out each template along the solid line.
Score along each dashed line using a scoring board, or place the paper on a cutting mat and draw along the lines using a straight edge and ballpoint pen, stylist, or other rounded tip implement such as a crochet hook. Scoring will make this project much easier to do and keep your folds accurate so each house folds together correctly.
Don’t forget to cut out the little windows. You can do this at any point, before or after scoring & folding. I used a craft knife and cutting mat.
Cut out, score and fold all of your houses in assembly line. This is a great coffee table project while watching a TV movie.
Fold the panels of the house template along the score lines. The eaves of the house fold back at the ceiling line, in at the roof line, and back again at the roof peaks
Use paper glue to attach the flap on the left side of the house wall to the inside of the house wall on the right. My paper craft adhesive of choice for this project is Beacon 3-IN-1 Craft Glue. Adhere the narrow eaves sections together on the roof flaps (see finished house photos for reference of how the roof eaves are glued.)
Fold the two matching bottom flaps inward. Add a bit of glue to the folded section of the largest bottom flap then tuck and fold it up into the bottom of the house. 
You now have houses that open at the top for dropping in battery operated flameless tealights and are secure enough at the bottom to hold each light.
You can close up your houses with or without small metal binder clips and place the houses about your shelves, with or without flameless tealights.
To make the Paper House Luminary Mobile, I constructed one dozen houses. I used the inside wooden ring of an 8-inch embroidery hoop, some fishing line and small 1/2-inch binder clips for attaching houses to the mobile.
To make a similar mobile with twelve houses, tie and knot four equal lengths of fishing line to four equal sections of the hoop as the hanging string. Pull the four lines up together and tie into a knot keeping the hoop perfectly horizontal. Tie the line above the knot into a loop for hanging the finished mobile from a hook.
Tie and knot three lengths of fishing line to the wooden hoop positioned between each hanging string for a total of twelve hanging house lines.
Loop the end of each fishing line through both folded-back wings of a binder clip then tie and knot each in place. Stagger your houses randomly or equally to allow all to hang nicely and avoiding side-by-side flaring out from being too overcrowded. If you prefer all your houses hanging at the same length, either use a larger hoop or reduce the amount of houses.
Trim away any unnecessary extra fishing line ends.
Turn each flameless tealight’s switch to the on position and drop one into the top opening of each house. Press roof peaks together and hang each house a binder clip attached to the roof’s peak. Then…give your mobile a little spin.
The flameless tealights I found flicker and the effect is really lovely.
Cathe! This is just darling. Perfect. Happy New Year!
Love these! thanks so much – now, off to find 12 matching scrapbook papers …..
What a terrific idea! I love what you did with the houses! Thanks for showing us how.
Cathe – this is amazing!! Thank you so much for sharing. This is a must make and I hope you didn’t mind me putting it on my Pinterest page.
A beautiful project Cathe and so unusual.
It’s gorgeous!
Happy New Year!
So beautiful!
Happy New Year from Finland!
So cute! The houses do remind me of the paper houses once used in Christmas gardens. Bits of yellow cellophane covered the windows for a cheerful glow. This is such a fun craft, thank you so much for sharing, Cathe. I had not seen this paper collection but how perfect for spring.
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Cathe, you are so awesome with your creativity! You never cease to amaze me. Thank you for all that you come up with for your readers.
The mobile is so lovely, thanks for sharing the template. Happy New Year!
Thank you for the great idea & templates! Have a wonderful and prosperous New Year.
I have used your template to make your sweet houses for several different occasions….and now I have another reason to play again. Cathe, thanks so much for all you give to us, your readers. I do so apprecite your giving spirit. Oma Linda
OMG…what a fabulous tute! and what a useful little template…my mind is soaring, thinking of all sorts of uses for this ….such as a gingerbread ‘village’ or ….?
Anyway, thanks for this, a wonderful gift for the season♥
Too, too cute Cathe – thanks for sharing this darling project!
Hi – These are just lovely! You’re so generous in giving templates, tutorials and genius inspiration!! Have a wonderful and happy New Year!!!
Nelly
What a great project! This year I found tea lights with built-in timers at the grocery store. When you turn them on, they will stay lit for 5 hours, and then will turn themselves off for 19 hours. The next day, they will turn on again at the time you originally turned them on. To change the timing, you manually turn them off, then wait to turn them on at the new starting time you’ve chosen. They could be set to turn on every evening, for example.
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Wow! Those are so beautiful! The flameless candles are so convenient
Eeek! I just bought a big package of the battery tealights…I am so making these cute houses! Thanks Cathe!
Joyce
Love them. Thanks for sharing with us
Cathe, it’s absolutely gorgeous.
These are too cute! Thank you for sharing.
Happy New Year!
BEAUTIFUL AND AWESOME CREATION. LOVE THEM.
HUGS AND THANKS
BOBBI
This is gorgeous!! I love it! Happy New Year!!
Lovely display, thanks for the pattern & instructions.
Happy New Year!
Silverbutterfly
Catherine, this is simply a fun and beautiful project, thank you for the wonderful directions and file. I bet this is really neat at a house warming party! I want to give it a shot for my mantel.
You really out did yourself on this one! Happy Paper Crafting in the New Year!!
This is adorable! It would be really cute as birdhouses too. I have so many ideas now, Thanks
Dear Miss Holden,
At first I would like to give you best wishes for 2013.
I really love te paperhouses, but my laptop refuse to download the file (he is naughty sometimes). Is there a possibillity you mail it to me, that really would make my day!!
With kind regards from the Netherlands, Miranda
Is this precious or what? I wish I would have had the pattern for Christmas. Well, I guess I’ll just have to see what I have on hand in Valentine papers. Thank you so much for sharing with all of us. I really can’t wait to make some houses.
Thank you!
I imagine this could be a fun project for (somewhat older) kids, too – they could color in their own house and with the flameless tealight have their own secure night lamp…
Love it!
Oh, I love this!! My Sister, Karen, just sent me this link and… How neat! I do want to thank YOU very much for sharing this with us. THANK YOU!
Take Care,
Judyth
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Wonderfully inspirational! Thanks!
Love this. Thanks for linking to your older template and for all the inspiration!
Thank you so much for sharing this is amazing, I can see this as a wonderful Christmas tree base addition.
amei essa luminaria acho que fica bem em qualquer ambiente.
muitissimo parabens
I loved the boxes of mobile will do, that will be here in Brazil against the sails of batteries? I thought I will try your idea on facebook recycling, gardening and decorating.
God be with you,
Luciana
Me agrado la idea,me gustaría poder ver más manualidades
Oh my this is beautiful. I plan on making it this week!
This is so cute I have made lots of little houses like this and some bigger ones too. But this is the cutest thing I have seen. I just might have to try it. Thanks for the inspiration.
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