Christmas is Coming!

The end of October signals a desire to begin planning for Christmas.  The leaves are falling; the air is colder.  Maybe you already have snow on the ground. In all parts of the world, people are gearing up for Christmas.

What do you need to plan for Christmas this year?  Who is getting what presents?  What are you getting for Christmas?  Real Christmas Tree or a Fake one?  What family will you be seeing?  There are plenty of plans to make to be ready.

Another important step in planning for Christmas is getting your Christmas Advent House.  You can buy a completed Advent House at a couple of small shops online, but they are spendy and you're unlikely to get your house this year.  You'll probably be on a waiting list and be lucky to get your house 2 years from now!

Save yourself the time and money and buy a Full Mansion Kit from us.  The kit is a fraction of the cost of a completed house, comes with everything you need to construct your own Family Christmas Advent House, and you can Buy It Today, and have it ready for Christmas This Year!

That's right, don't sit on a waiting list hoping to get your house sometime in a few years from now, buy the Full Mansion Kit, build it at home in a couple of weeks and have it ready before December 1st of this year!

If you are feeling particularly crafty, you can check out the other Kits we offer.  Save yourself some cutting time on those, but build the rest from the Advent House Plans that you can purchase.

Whatever your choice, planning for Christmas this year MUST include a plan to get a Christmas Advent House today as part of your decorations.  Build it from plans, or part kits, or from the Full Mansion Kit, but get your Advent House Today!

Christmas in July, 2013

It's late July. In our area there hasn't been a single flake of snow in what seems like forever.  Seems like a good time to get started on your Advent House!

So go check these out:

First, look at the Full Mansion Kit, This kit contains everything you need to build the Advent House, minus the finishes such as paint, texture, snow, icicles, etc.

Feeling a lot more adventurous?  Buy a set of the Advent House Plans.  The plans provide you with everything you need to cut and build your advent house.  Dimensions, layouts, design, etc.  You can do it all yourself by building every single piece yourself.

Maybe want to be somewhere in between the two?  You can purchase the Advent House Structure, all pre-cut and ready for assembly.  Or, buy the Window Kits (includes everything you need for a single window).  Perhaps you'd like to try your hand at the Atrium Kit?

It's Christmas in July!  Time to be thinking about Christmas!  Get started on your plans, parts and kits so that your Christmas Advent House will be ready to go on December 1st!

It's long after Christmas now ..... SALE!

It's long after Christmas 2011 now, so that must mean it's time to start preparing for Christmas 2012.  What better way to keep the Christmas Spirit all year long by working on building your very own Christmas Vacation Advent House!  And what better time is there to get started than right now, when the Full Mansion Advent House Kit is on sale!

For a limited time with a limited quantity, you can get your Full Mansion Advent House Kit for 20% off, at just $399.99.  But move fast because the deal is only good on the 'In-Stock' items.  Once they're out of stock - you're out of luck.

So move now, visit http://www.adventhouseplans.com to get started, or go straight to the Full Mansion Kit and buy now!

Have questions?  Visit the Advent House Plans Forums to get answers, or, Contact Us here.

Illustrated Window Build

Here it is - the Illustrated Window Build.  This is the step-by-step into building your windows for your Advent House.

The end goal looks like this:

So how do we get there?  We follow these instructions, as illustrated below:




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Beginning

We start the Window Build by painting.  Paint one side of each window frame and window light, making sure you get the edges too.  Whatever method you choose to paint, get everything painted up and dried well.  Hang the parts from a line, lay them on the ground, spray paint, craft paint.  Your choice. Keep in mind that the Keystones and Dormer Extensions will absorb paint differently than the frames and lights so you'll need to ensure they end up the same color by painting different amounts on the parts.

After painting and drying, you'll need to attach the Vellum to one side of the window lights.  To do this, reference the Tower Frame instructions.  In short, lay the window light on a protected surface and lightly spray with spray adhesive.  Then carefully lay the vellum on top.  After drying, use a sharp knife/exacto knife to trim all edges.  Do this to half of the window lights (the other half get glued to the back of these 'vellumed' lights).

In this image you can see I'm trimming the pieces out of the full sheet of vellum.

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 Mark Hinge Locations

Next we mark where the hinges will be.  Since the hinges (the little black nails) have depth, we need to trim a small amount of material out of the hinge location.  Stack two window lights and place them inside a single window frame. (this brings the window light with the vellum up to the same level as the window frame)

Mark or cut a line in the center of the window light and the corresponding location on the frame.  Make note on the frame of the bump-out where the hinge will be.

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Mark Top Location

Also mark the top location for the hinge.  Be sure the window light is totally centered in the window frame before marking.

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Trim Hinge Location

Now take the time to trim out the vellum and wood so that the hinge will sit in there and the two window lights will still fully contact each other.

Make sure you trim both sides equally so the window light is centered in the window frame.

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PreFit Window Lights

After placing the hinges in the window light and gluing the two faces together (you'll use spray adhesive on the non-vellum window light then press the two together.)  You will have the hinge in place.

Now lay the window light assembly into the window frame and trim the window frame to have the hinge fit there as well.

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Semi-Completed

After ensuring the hinges fit well, glue the two frames together, sandwiching the window lights and hinges in between.  You'll probably want to keep pressure on this assembly while the adhesive dries.

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At this point, the window assembly can go several directions.  First, if you plan on using this as a 'wall' window (not on the roof), then you're almost done with the assembly.  You'll need to add the keystone, the keystone backer (optional), determine the orientation of the opening, add the window image on the back and put on the window handle.

To determine the direction of the window opening, consider where all of the window will be on the house.  If the window is on the right-hand side, you'll want the window handle to be on the left of the hinge and vice versa on the other side.  If it's a middle window, it's your choice.



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Additional Details on completing the Windows are pending.

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Cyber Monday 2001!

Take advantage today by using the Coupon Code: CyberMon11 to get 10% off your entire order.  But make note that there are only 10 total uses available!  Buy now and use the code to save you money today only!

Not buying the full kit? Check this...

If you are feeling more adventurous and don't plan on buying the full mansion kit, then you may be wondering which of the parts you should plan on buying and which ones you will plan on cutting yourself.  Here is a simple list with my suggestion of parts that are in order from most difficult to cut to easiest to cut.

1 - Window Frames - These window frames are cut from 1/8" basswood.  This means a simple Xacto Knife would leave quite a challenge to get these cut out.  They make Xacto Knives with serrated edges, and that might help a little, but it's still going to be a challenge to get all the window frames cut out.  Keep in mind there are 2 frames per window.  That's 48 window frames!  Trust me.  If you are looking to cut time and effort, buy these window frames first.

2 - Window Lights - The window lights are cut from 1/16" basswood so cutting becomes much easier.  But the issue with these is all the small squares that need to be cut out, and - there are still 48 window lights!  Yes, 2 window lights per window.  That's a LOT of cutting.  After the Window Frames, my suggestion would be to buy the window lights.

3 - Atrium Faces - While the windows are cool on this Advent House, and they are the ones getting used, it's really the Atrium that 'shines'.  (literally).  So ensuring proper cuts on the Atrium faces is essential for a great display.  The atrium faces are cut from 1/16" basswood, so it's totally doable with an Exacto Knife, but  the many, many cuts, the precision curves, and the size of each face all contribute to a challenge in itself.  A great step in saving time and effort, we suggest buying the Atrium Faces. (or just get the entire Atrium Kit)

4 - The Door - In the plans, I provide instructions on how to build a door.  But, really, we're talking about hours and hours of work in that process, and just hoping for it to work properly.  Just trust me and go with The Door.

5 - The Structure - The woodworker in you is saying, 'What? that's the easy part!  I have a table saw!'.  And indeed, a well stocked woodworking shop will have everything you need to cut the main structure pieces.  But the Structure is in the top 5 because of several factors.

1. There are LOTS of windows and they each need to be cut by hand, or with a scroll saw, or a fine-tip router.  There is a lot of time involved there.  And one slip of machinery and you'll be re-cutting that part again.
2. Each piece needs to be close to perfect.  With 1/4" thick material, there isn't a lot of fastening surface so each piece needs to be nearly perfect to provide sufficient surface area.  A slip of the table saw blade will create a void where the glue may not work as well.  
3. There are a lot of structure pieces.  From the floor to the walls to the bracing and the roof, there are some 50+ different pieces that are used in the structure.  That's a lot of cutting.

Those are the real challenges of the cutting portion of building this great Advent House.  There are other parts that will present their own challenges, such as the Tower Faces and Tower Frame that are part of the Tower Kit, but they aren't in the top 5 because there are just a couple of those (compared with the 48 of window stuff).  The fencing kit isn't difficult to cut (all straight lines), but there are a lot of cuts.  The Corbels are tiny and can be a finger-grabber, so buying those might make since too.

In the end, I've developed these plans so that anyone can cut and build their own Advent House, but you may want to save yourself the time and effort by just buying the parts and pieces.  Or - go all out and just get the whole Mansion Kit.

Merry Christmas!

Shipping Kits!

We're shipping out several kits to people who are getting a start on building their own Advent House.  You should be getting yours too.  We have almost all parts in stock now so the lead time on this Mansion Style Advent House is going to come down lots!  Order your kit today so that you can get started building.  With some focus and time, you can have your Advent House done before Christmas Morning!

Just imagine how beautiful it will be sitting on your side table!