DIY: Paper House Luminaries

Enchanting DIY mini paper houses with LED tea lights! Easy paper crafts for Christmas village & year round decorations on a table or shelf!

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Can you sense how giddy I am to share with you these tiny houses illuminated with LED tea lights? They would be pretty on a table setting, or as little surprises in nooks or the corner of a shelf. How about as Christmas ornaments?

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Once upon a time there was a magical kingdom of gnomes and fairies. They lived in pretty little houses, and they lived happily ever after….

Materials and tools to make little paper houses

*Some resources in article are affiliate links. Full disclosure here.

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All you need are some white cardstock , a craft knife, and some glue.

To start, download the free patterns (Link at the end!)

Step 1: print and cut paper house templates

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These are easy enough to cut by hand, so I used pdf files  and print the 2 pages out on cardstock – this  Neenah Exact Index Cardstock is one of my favorite paper to use – nice quality, acid free, about 215 gsm thick, and so versatile!

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Cut around the outline and cut out those window openings. Score along the edges of walls and tabs that fold over.

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Step 2: glue and add LED tea light

Make the folds, then glue the little house together. The little house will have an open bottom – no floor – so we can put it over a LED tea light candle.

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Don’t you wish building a house is this easy??

LED tea light candles are great, no worries about anything burning!

Free printable Paper House Luminaries! | A piece of rainbow blog

I had so much fun taking photos of these paper houses in the garden, it almost feels like some little fairies are going to jump out behind the bushes!

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If you love paper luminaries, check out these DIY dimensional lanterns –

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or this easy 3D paper shadow box inspired by birch forest –

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Love 3d paper crafts? Try these DIY 3D Giant Snowflake pendants!

Make giant lighted snowflake pendants from paper bags or white paper. Easy tutorial with free templates. Beautiful decor for holidays and year round! - A Piece of Rainbow

Oh, another set is coming soon so you can create a little villagefor Christmas or any time of the year! Stay tuned! 🙂

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80 Comments

  1. I am not able to find the download for these adorable paper house luminaries. I scrolled all over this page several times. Please help

  2. Hi, just wanted to let you know I could not get the Dandelion Paper Lanterns or the 3D Flower Paper Lanterns to download. Thanks

    • hi Sandra! it’s a zip file, so when you click download, it’s either automatically saved to a folder on you computer(check the download folder), or blocked by browser like firefox, which you have to click “allow pop-up” 🙂

  3. I’ve been searching 30 mates, even clicked on the link. Not getting to templates for houses luminaries. Please email to me. Thanks very much. Your link must be broken or outdated.

    • hi Virginnia! if you click the red button in a weekly newsletter, you will get to all the downloads, and these houses are towards the bottom of that page! 🙂

  4. Hi Ananda, I love all the templates you have to download and Thank you. I was just wondering about the calendars that are dated for 2017. Are they Xmas ornaments also? Would love to have some in this style for 2023. Thanks

  5. I love your site but I can’t get the downloads to work. I go to the fir load page but it just goes to the main description page. Please make this easier 😫

  6. Hello,

    I’ve subscribed to your page and I still cannot find the luminaries template. I’ve scrolled up and down plenty of times.

  10. Hi, I am having problems getting to the link that downloads the little luminary houses. I click and go right back to the top of the page but no link to print the houses. I could download the birds which I cut out over the weekend. Just need to hang those.

    I had to forward the link to my work email as my printer at home is on strike.

    Love the houses and the birds. I think my grandson will enjoy those on his little Christmas tree.

    Thank you!

    • hi ellen! i clicked on the downloads for both sets of mini houses and they open up to pdf pages you can print and download! maybe it’s a browser issue and perhaps try firefox or safari? happy holidays! 🙂

    • HI, I am in the website right now on a computer with WIndows Update and searching through Google. The link still does not appear on my home pc or my work pc. I was able to get to it through the Mac at work. So I wonder if there is a disconnect between the systems. My ipad also does not show it. I pasted in the website I am using.

      Thank you,

  11. I cannot find the link to download the patterns. I have subscribed twice and link to the blog from the email sent. I do not see any way to log on to the blog. What am I missing?

  12. Hi Ananda,

    I just found your page and love these little houses.
    When I downloaded number 1,2 and 3, the first and the third link were the same houses.
    Maybe you can help with this.

    Greetings from Germany 🙂

  13. I love it!! I am making them now 🙂
    Set 3 I believe it was did not work, though. It opens the same as the first set.
    These little houses are fascinating!!!! 😀

  14. Hi! I’m having trouble downloading this which is a pity because I really love this idea! I’ve already signed up for my email, but every time I try I still am not getting an email for it. Please help!

  15. Hello there! For some reason I can’t download the template. I click the link and I am redirected to the same page again.

  16. im so sorry if this has shown up multiple times but i haven’t been able to see my comment so i wasnt sure if it went through! i haven’t seen any emails though. thank you so much for helping with this!

  17. hello! i was hoping to download these to make them with my nephews for the holidays, but whenever i click on the link to download it just takes me right back to the top of the page? ive asked friends to help and they’ve had the same problem :c

  18. I’m having some trouble with the template download so when I click the link I am redirected to the same page again
    Can anyone tell me what I should do

  19. Thank you for these beautiful little houses!
    I just shared them on my blog as part of a 30 Days of Pretty Christmas Printables series.
    Take care!

  20. The houses are adorable:) I’ve already downloaded the first set and would love to do the same for the second set, however I can’t find the link to download. I can see where it’s suppose to be, but the link/button isn’t there. Help would be appreciated!

  21. Beautiful! I can’t seem to download the files? Do you have a cut file that can be used with the Cricut Explore? Thank you very much for sharing your talents.

    • hi shawna, the downloads works! send the link to some friends so they can email the file to you! i don’t use cricut, perhaps the pdf can be converted?

  32. These are so cute! We used to make little Christmas villages like this when we were younger. Instead of having an advent calendar, we would make a house a day and fill them with little lights! Beautiful.

    Katie <3

  37. These are so cute! They are similar to some that my mother-in-law used to make for us and now makes for our kids! I love the idea of putting a flame-less tea light in them! 🙂

  38. Your little houses and the fairy tale setting took me back to my childhood:) These are such little treasures and your photos make them look magical. If I ever find the time, I’d like to use your idea to create Diwali decorations for next year. Thank you Ananada. xx

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