Tea Light Village - Lobster Shack and Picnic Table Tutorial

Project Description: 

Tea Light Village is a series of tiny buildings designed specifically to fit over small LED Tea Lights so readily available these days.  The lights provide a warm glow which brings life to the village display. You can also use string fairy lights.

This tutorial is for the Lobster Shack and picnic table which was added to the collection in 2020.

There is also a base system for tea light village so they can be adapted to string fairy lights. Go here for more information on the hexagon and pentagon base system.

Link for this cutting file is here.

Warning: Only use LED Lights. DO NOT use regular candle tea lights.

This specific tutorial is for the assembly of Lobstar Shack

There are many tutorials for the Tea Light series including:

• Tea Light Village American Gothic House and Wishing Well • 2019

• Tea Light Village Basic Buildings

• Tea Light Village Barber Shop

• Tea Light Village Covered Bridge and Sleigh

• Tea Light Village Church, School, Gambrel House, Salt Box

• Tea Light Village Clock Tower 2017

• Tea Light Village Dormer House

• Tea Light Village Gazebo

• Tea Light Village Grocery Store and Apple Cart • 2019

• Tea Light Village Hexagon and Pentagon Bases 2017- updated 2020

• Tea Light Village Lighthouse with Keeper’s Cottage • 2020

• Tea Light Village Lobster Shack with Picnic Table • 2020

• Tea Light Village Meeting Hall

• Tea Light Village Rose Arbor

• Tea Light Village Tree

• Tea Light Village Tudor House 2017

Supplies Needed:

• Cutting Files here - Available at https://3dcuts.com/tea-light-village/2020-additions

• Art Glitter Glue or ScorTape 1/8" and 1/4"

• Card Stock - 1— - 8.5 x11”

• Wax paper - Tracing paper works as well.

• Scissors

Parts Sizes- See orientation in diagram to right.

• All Pieces Grouped - 7.7056” w x 9.4958” h

• There are many tiny pieces. Keep them grouped together if you want to re-size.

• Measurements maybe needed if using dxf files.

Order supplies from Amazon:

• Order from Amazon: Neenah Exact Index Card Stock 110lbs. 250 sheets (Affiliate Link) (Note Index Card 100 is equivalent to 65 lb card stock. I find the index cuts better.)

• Order from Amazon: Art Glitter Glue with metal tip (Affiliate Link)

• Order from Amazon: (Precision Tip Applicator Bottle)

• Order from Amazon: Scor-Tape 1/4" X 27yds (5 Rolls) (Affiliate Link)

• Order from Amazon Fairy Lights 2 sets 50 lights with remote in warm white (Affiliate Link)

• Order From Amazon LED Tea Lights (24 Pack) (Affiliate Link)

• Order from Amazon: Premium Silhouette Blade (Affiliate Link)

• Order from Amazon:  Nicapa Cutting Mat (Affiliate Link)

Steps for completing the Tea Light Village Lobster Shack and picnic tables assembly:

Special Note: I update the instructions online. Check here for adjustments and additional information.

1. Download the cutting files for your cutting machine here from the 3dcuts.com store. https://3dcuts.com/tea-light-village/2020-additions . For those of you that are reading this as a pdf I recommend viewing it online at my tutorials page at this url - https://3dcuts.com/tea-light-village-lobster-shack-tutorial . There all the links will be live.

2. Load the files into your cutting software following the steps for your cutting machine.

3. Prepare the files:.

• For the Silhouette:

• SIL Files from upload SVG purchased from 3dcuts.com:

  • The SVG files may need to be turned into cutting files. Click here for detailed steps on how to use SVG files on your Silhouette. http://www.3dcuts.com/tutorial-upload-svg-silhouette

  • DXF files can be opened in the basic edition of Silhouette Design Studio but often require modifications. I recommend using the Designer Edition and using svg files. DXF files do not always maintain file sizes and you may need to adjust according to sizes noted above.

• For Cricut Explore: Here is a guide for importing into Cricut Design Space. http://www.3dcuts.com/tutorial-adding-3dcuts-files-to-cricut. Remember to ATTACH files before cutting in Cricut.

• For Brother ScanNCut: The svg files will need to be transferred to files for your particular machine. You can change SVG files to FCM files at http://www.canvasworkspace.com/ or Google "How to import SVG files into a ScanNCut" for links to tutorials. Some models of Brother Scan N Cut can directly import the SVG files.

4.  Cut the files.

• It is best to have good quality card stock and a good blade and clean, sticky mat. I use the Premium blade and the Nicapa mat. These files do have intricate cuts and you need to know which settings your machine works best with.

5. Special Notes about this file:

• This structure is shorter than many others in Tea Light Village. If you are using the hexagon or pentagon bases with fairy lights you will need to make a custom stand to support the lights. You just fold it so it is lower.

Assembly Video:

Below is a YouTube Video of the Assembly process. https://youtu.be/Ds_mn9C1grY

Making the village…..

This building is part of Tea Light Village. Each year I add some new designs to the Village. All are available here.

There are many wonderful ways to display your village. I have been collecting photos sent to me by different crafters from around the world sharing their displays. I share these under the Ideas menu on the 3dcuts web page. Go here to see the Tea Light Villages.

http://3dcuts.com/tea-light-village-ideas

Although these houses were originally designed to be placed over individual tea lights we learned that they become a bother to turn on and off. To solve that problem I designed the hexagon tea light village bases available here.

http://3dcuts.com/tea-light-village/hexagon-platform-bases

These bases allow you to use the remote control LED fairy lights that can all be turned on and off with on remote switch. It is designed especially for wiring with string lights.

In 2020 I added a series of pentagon bases that nest with the hexagon bases. These bases allow you to create arrangements that are narrower to fit better on mantles or shelves. The two sets can be used separately or together. Here is a link to that file. https://3dcuts.com/tea-light-village/penta-platform-bases