Craft soap box cottages for Christmas

        To make these sweet little soap box cottages, you will need to collect the following supplies: pine cones, pliers, recycled soap boxes, a bag of cotton balls, white school glue, scrap cardboard, acrylic paints, green chenille stem (just one), tiny red beads,masking tape, transparent glitter, hot glue and gun, and white felt for the bottoms of the cottages.

Above are the finished soap box cottages wrapped in cotton batting. The roof tops are also covered in snow and glitter.

       First, you will need to pull the scales from the pin cones and snip of any split ends. These will be hot glued on the roof tops eventually. Second, cover the empty soap box with masking tape. Then shape a simple triangular roof by folding a triangle of cardboard in half and attaching this with hot glue on one end of the soap box. Use masking tape to secure this roof feature even more to the box. Cover the roof with masking tape. Close the ends of the roof with more cardboard and tape. Now hot glue the scales onto the roof top to act like roofing tiles. (see pictures)

Left, are pine cones. Center, pliers. Right removed scales from the pine cones with split, damaged tips cut off.

        Cut a flat chimney piece to adhere to one of the sides of the cottage, cover it with masking tape. Glue on a felt rectangle to the bottom of the cottage to prevent it from scratching furniture. Unravel the cotton balls to prep these for use. Apply generous amounts of white school glue between layers of cotton batting to form the outside walls of the cottage. Allow the cotton walls to dry.

The cottages have been prepared for details.

       Take the hot glue gun in hand and squeeze lumps onto the cardboard chimney to form a "rocky" looking surface. Let this hot glue dry and apply a coat of brown, black or dark grey. Then dry brush paler colors of the same to give the rocks depth.

Detail photos of chimney, door, window and bottom of the box covered with felt.

        Cut small details of the door, window etc... from cardboard and glue these on the cottage as you like. I also bent a tiny wreath for the door using a green chenille stem and added red beads for berries. Now the cottage is ready for additional snow. Glue in cotton lumps between the roof tiles and scattered randomly across the top. Smear white school glue on places around the roof tiles and chimney to adhere sprinkling of transparent glitter as you like. Let it all dry overnight and display the little Irish Cottages wherever these are needed.