DIY Penguin Christmas Village: House

These are the main buildings in my Penguin Christmas Village.  I try to only make things that I can build and bake in one go, so I don't do a lot of buildings because they are tricky to make (the soft clay doesn't support itself well).  However, that same factor also gives them a nice, slightly gingerbread look, so it works out well.



See all the Penguin Christmas Village articles here!

How to make a Penguin Christmas Village House: 

First, start with a large roll of brown clay.  This should be at least five or six inches long.  Flatten this out, and make it as rectangular as possible, about an inch to an inch and a half tall.  Then, fold into a square.  These are the walls of your house.  Don't worry if they are not perfectly straight up and down (they won't be).  Pinch the corners to make them stay, and pinch the clay together where the walls over-lap.  This is the hardest part of the entire building! Once you have this done, the rest is easy.

 Now that you have your structure, make a small thin rectangle for the door, and add an even small ball of clay (flattened as well) as a door handle

 Next make a semi-circle out of green, then add two dots of red to make a wreathe.  For windows, start with a square of yellow on each side of the house.

Add a white trim border around the yellow square window, then a white cross-hatch.  The roof starts out as a large red rectangle, similar to how you made the original walls, but not as long. 

You can add a small chimney to the roof before putting it on the house.  Make a small fold in the middle of the roof to give it some slope, then place it on the building.  Add a rope of green clay for a garland. 

 Finish off the garland with some red dots, and you're done!

Bake at 275F for about 15 minutes to harden.