Creating Candy Cane Houses

Candy Cane House

When inspiration hits.

While making the small fall houses I accidentally left off the chimney

on one. I decided to make it into a Christmasy/winter version. I wanted the roof to be red with snow so I decided to used red and white stripes. Then I came up with the idea to use the candy cane theme. I added the peppermint charm to the front door hanger and painted on the candy cane by the door and under the windows. I love red and pink together so I added the pink front door and added the aquamint trees and other little details to match. I was pleased how it turned out so I decided I will be making more of these in the near future. I thought I would share the result of the candy cane house sample along with the other wintery/holiday themed pieces that I included in my shop restock last week. These have all been sold and shipped to their new homes. 

As soon as I finish the fall theme house I will be making the final version. While I know that the fall house is a little late for this fall and the candy cane house is a little late for Christmas this year, they will be ready to go for next year. And I think it would fit in nicely during Valentines Day, or all year! 

I have started a substack where I will be sharing more behind the scenes photos and stories. If you are interested in more, please follow me on Substack here: Beth Macre on Substack

Until next time, 

Beth

In the Studio - October

Finishing rainbow houses and letting go. 

I'm glazing the last batch of rainbow houses this week. I hope to get them all in the mail by the beginning of next week so I can move on to the next projects, my Fall House orders and preparing for my sample, seconds, and extras sale. 

What is a Sample, Seconds, and Extras sale? 

Samples: During the process of making large batches of themed houses and accessories to go with the houses, I create samples of my ideas. I always make sketches of my ideas and work out the details on paper. Then I make a sample to see how that idea works. Sometimes I decide that something doesn't look right so I make another sample and change up what I don't like. The original idea may be perfectly fine, but it's not the final version. So that ends up being a sample. Sometimes I keep samples but since my studio space is limited, I can't keep every sample. I have picked out some samples that I have

decided to part with. I will put those in my shop to clear out my studio to make room for new samples. 

Seconds: I always end up with pieces that have small flaws with the glaze, or small cracks, or maybe it just doesn't look like I expected it to. Those pieces are called seconds. Some seconds have major issues so I don't sell those. I keep them on my own display shelves in the studio or if it's really bad, I throw it away, which I hate to do. 

Extras: When making batches of houses or accessories, I usually make one or two extras just in case something breaks or turns into a Second. I usually put those extras on my shelves and enjoy them, or use them as props in photos. But after awhile, my studio starts to get overcrowded so I have to thin out. I really find it hard to do this but I have to remind myself to let others enjoy my work. 

In the photo you can see some of the items that I have picked out for the clearance sale. I plan to add more to the sale, but I need to go through my studio and make sure I gather everything that I can part with. And if any of these items do not get purchased in my sale, I will happily put them back on my display shelves to enjoy myself! If you see something that you would like to purchase, watch for an email in October with the exact date and time they will be available. 

Let me know what you think. 

Do you find it hard to let go of collections? 

Until next time, have a great weekend!

 

Fall is Coming!

Fall Themed House Coming Soon!

I’m still working on the last batch of rainbow houses and hope to ship the rest out by the beginning of October, but I wanted to give an update and answer a few questions I have gotten about the fall themed house.

First let’s chat about the tiny houses and how I've changed the way I take orders over the last year. I started creating these tiny houses in 2024. Before that I mostly made bigger houses (Hearthomes) with a different style roof. I decided that I wanted to create these smaller houses in an attempt to be able to make more houses so more of my customers had the opportunity to order. I also wanted each themed house to be a little different than the rest of the tiny houses to make them part of a collection. Many of you started ordering these in July of last year when I started taking pre-orders of ‘subscription’ boxes. The first set was the Halloween set. I didn’t even have a sample to show you all before I took orders, but you guys ordered anyway! Thank you for that if you ordered that first set! I appreciate your trust in me! Most of you had purchased my Hearthomes before, or followed me on Instagram, so you trusted me to make something without even seeing the final product! But I know it helps to see what you’re ordering before you spend your hard-earned money. So, after that I have been trying to create samples before I start taking pre-orders. 

Last year I used the Halloween theme so this year I decided to make it a fall theme with the tiny pumpkin sign. I also made a tiny heart as an option to add on. I made this one a taller house and made the ‘front door’ on the narrow end to create a row house style of house/shop.

I’ve been working on sketches in the evenings and working on the current rainbow houses during the day. In my last blog post I shared the sketch of my idea. Last week I created my ‘first draft sample’. This past weekend I was able to fire and glaze the sample. I called it a draft because I usually change some details after I see what it looks like after it’s fired in the kiln but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! 

So, this is my fall themed sample! I plan to make a couple more samples using a different color roof and give you roof color options when/if you place an order. I also added a little hanging pumpkin (or heart) by the door, to make it look like a tiny pumpkin shop sign (which gives me ideas for future tiny shops).

I created a fall option last year for my customers who did not want Halloween house. The majority of the orders were for the Halloween option.  

I had 2 options for the winter box. The red roof or the aquamint roof. I also added the option of adding the set of tree and a snowman. I love the accessories, but honestly, those are the things that take me so much longer! 

Let me know in the comments what you think about new fall house design! It fits in well with the rest of the tiny house collection. 

I’ve had a few questions about the tiny house pre-orders so I thought I would answer those questions here plus a few of questions that I thought some may have.

 Let me know if you have any additional questions! 

Q & A

Question:  Will you be taking pre-orders?

Answer:  Yes, I will be taking pre-orders for the Fall House from my website, but I will wait until I'm mostly finished with the rainbow houses. Hopefully by early October.  (Date TBD) 

 

Question: Will this be a subscription box pre-order?

No. This will be a one-time purchase. 

After I started working on orders for my first subscription box, I quickly realized fulfilling subscription boxes monthly, bi-monthly, and even quarterly would be difficult. It can take me awhile to finish orders. Especially when life gets busy! And my life became very busy about the time I took orders for that second box! But I love that many of you have continued to order these tiny houses and continue to add to your collections! I thought I would continue creating seasonally themed tiny houses, so you (my customers) have something different each time. 

Question: How will I know when/how to order?

Answer:  I will send out my newsletter to my email list with the date and time.

Sign up for my newsletter if you are interested in getting these updates. 

Question: Where can I place my Pre-Order?

Answer: Pre-orders will be taken from my website. 

There is a link at the top of this page. BethSMacre.com

 

Question: How long does it take to make and ship? 

Answer: 6-8 Weeks approximately. Maybe less. 

The pre-orders take me awhile to make but it depends how many orders I get. I usually make the houses in batches of 10-15 houses. (The clay starts to dry out too much if I try to make too many in a batch.) When I get a batch finished, I start shipping orders starting with the first orders. Then I make another batch, ship, then start the next batch, until I work my way down my list. 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thank you for following along with me! 

Ceramic Rainbow Themed Houses

What I’m working on…

This month I took pre-orders for my tiny Rainbow themed houses. I made several samples to try out different details so I had some examples to show my email subscribers.

Here are photos of the samples that I made. Each one is a little different but I selected one style to make for the pre-orders. In the second photo, you can see the style I chose and the progress I’ve made so far. 

I am going on a trip with some friends this month so I will take a short break then start glazing these and begin another batch. I work in small batches because the clay starts to get a little hard if I let them sit (in an airtight container) too long. 

This batch has a dozen houses. I need to make the tiny hearts that hang from the chimneys but the houses are finished and drying. 

I am currently using a white earthenware clay. This clay is gray while in its greenware stage. After it dries completely it will be fired in my little kiln and will turn white. It will then be ready to glaze and be fired again. I will post more photos when I get to that stage. 

Supplies used: 

Low fire earthenware clay, Nichrome 20 gauge wire, Mayco Stroke&coat glazes.

Affiliate Link

Nichrome wire : https://amzn.to/40svyno

My Kiln

My Little Kiln

She is small but mighty. She gets the job done. 

The size of my kiln does limit what I can create, but I get a lot of use out of it. When I purchased this kiln, I planned to use it to fire my little clay houses and other accessories. So she has plenty of space for that plus more. I also use it to fire small bowls, ornaments, and other small items that I sell from my online shop. You can see how big it is inside in the photo below.

 There are many times that I wish that I had a larger kiln so I could fire larger things and fit more layers, but I can fill it with a variety of houses and accessories, as well as ornaments and bowls. If I am careful, I can get quite a few things in there and fire a load overnight. And because it is a small kiln, it really doesn't use a lot of electricity. A little larger one would be great to have, but this one works for me.

What I love the most about my little kiln is the automatic timer. After having this feature I could never go back to having to change the temperature manually. Well, I could, but I wouldn't want to! It is so easy to just set it in the evening and unload the kiln the next morning.

Type of Kiln

I use a Paragon Xpress with a kiln sitter.

I keep my little kiln in the garage. It only a requires 120V plug that we had an electrician add next to our electric panel in the garage.


Next Size Up:
I recently did a search for my model and apparently, this exact model is not available anymore. If you are in the market for a little kiln, look for ones that are 120V. But if I were going to purchase a new one, I would get the next size up. 

I just did a search for Paragon Kilns and the website where I purchased mine does not sell Paragon Brand any longer. But I did find one similar to mine on this website:

Paragon Kiln Xpress 66-3

I have no affiliation with this company. I'm just sharing where to locate this style/size kiln. 

It is 240V, so you would need to have the proper wiring installed.
Obviously, you would want to do your research on the different sizes that are available, based on your needs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Beth♥

Garden Markers for the Creative Gardener

Ceramic Plant Markers

Plant markers are a fun way to decorate your garden and to
mark your new or existing garden plants.
I've seen many different creative and fun styles of markers out of different materials. Some I've seen are made of stamped silver spoons, wooden spoons, and even tongue depressors! As an artist, I believe in decorating any space. Gardens are no exception!


I am a 'wannabe'  gardener, but since I work with clay I decided to make some plant markers for the garden I dream of.

My gardening has mostly involved flowers over the years, but herb and vegetable gardens are perfect little gardens for the pretty plant markers.

Veggies? Herbs? Flowers? Potted Plants?

Any herb, vegetable, or flower can be stamped into these plant markers. I have received orders for plants that I have never heard of, so it has been a learning experience for me! What are your favorite plants?

Update: I am not currently taking orders for the plant markers. 

Happy Spring Planting! 
Beth

Creating Ceramic Houses

Little Clay Houses
Just thought I would post a photo of some of the clay houses I've been working on the past week. There are many more on the drying shelf.  These are just a few that I picked out to photograph. They are little larger than the ones that I've been selling.  These range from about 3" to 5" tall.   Most of the ones before ranged from 2" to 3 1/2" tall.  I will still be making those, but I'm also adding this larger size to the 'collection'.   The taller one, with the cut out windows, will have an opening in the bottom for a candle.  I plan to make a series of those as well.

I am also trying to learn how to do some things on photoshop. I need a new banner on my Etsy shop, so I am trying out some new designs, but I need help with the Photoshop Elements. I have been looking on You Tube for tutorials.  There are alot to weed through, but there are some pretty helpful ones.  So I've been working on that when I have a little computer time.  But I really wish it were easier to use! We didn't have computer classes when I was in college...or at least anything that I can use now!  If you know what data punched cards are, then you know what I'm talking about.  It seems so ancient, but it was ony about 30 years ago! But that is a whole new post to fill up with 'technology' of the 80's!
So enjoy your PCs and your laptops! They've come a long way!
~Beth