Build these festive paper Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe houses that are cute enough for a medieval king's Christmas table! My paper houses are inspired by my love of the little wooden houses I've collected for years, and this particular set is further inspired by Medieval Christmas lore, which you can read about below.
 
These three holly, ivy, and mistletoe houses by Hannah England come in three different sizes for a total of nine possible variations. You can make them all the same size or all different; they look great either way! And while the front of the houses looks like – well, a house – the backs include lyrics from The Holly and The Ivy. They would make a perfect set anywhere in your home, even your desk or office.
 
Even better, there are extra instructions for variations of these houses: a gift box variation and a hangable ornament variation! I also included a link to a video that will walk you through the whole craft, so you can find some tips and craft along with me. 
 
You are purchasing a PRINTABLE DOWNLOAD ONLY.
 
NO A.I. WAS USED in the making of this craft.
 
 
LORE!
I learned something really cool about the history of the Christmas song The Holly and the Ivy, while I was making these! Medieval men and women used to sing – basically – diss tracks at each other during Yule, with holly representing the men and ivy representing the women. The mistletoe signified their reconciling their differences at the end of the night. As I was already wanting to include mistletoe as my third plant for this set, I was so pleased!
 
The Holly and the Ivy song took that same symbolism with ivy representing Mary and the holly representing Jesus. The lyrics on the back of the holly and ivy houses are straight from the song, but I made up a similar-sounding phrase for the back of the mistletoe house. To honor the Medieval origins, I looked for style and color inspiration from the Unicorn Tapestries. 
 
 
DETAILS:
This printable, downloadable PDF contains:
Paper house cut-out template in three sizes (small, medium, large)
Written instructions for the base house, ornament variation, and gift box variation
Link to video instructions
 
Supplies you'll need to gather elsewhere are:
a printer
cardstock
scissors
glue
yarn/ribbon (optional, for ornament variation)
hole punch (optional, for ornament variation)
ruler (optional, for helping score straight lines if needed)
 
Skills you'll use for this craft include:
Cutting paper
Scoring straight lines
Folding paper
Gluing small areas
A little patience