Row of houses on DIY wooden panel

The back wall sign and the houses are completely homemade here! The decorative picture looks extremely sophisticated, but you can also create it yourself. Find out how to do it here!

For the picture, first make the houses and then the back wall. This way you can make sure that they are exactly the right size for your creation

Modelling the houses

You will need a natural-coloured and a terracotta-coloured soft clay for the houses. Knead it well and roll it out. Make sure that your clay slab is approx. 1 cm thick. Cut out the house shapes using a modelling knife or a knife.

Cut the window and door shapes out of another slightly thinner sheet of soft clay. Position these on the houses. If you moisten them slightly, they will stick well. Use a modelling tool to join the edges and corners of the window and door surfaces to the house panels. This will give you a smooth transition.

Smooth out your modelling moulds and dab over the houses with a slightly damp sponge. This will give you an even surface structure. Leave everything to dry at room temperature for approx. 24 hours.

Soft clay can also be moulded later in combination with water. Therefore, coat your houses with clay sealant in the next step. This seals the surface and makes it water-repellent.

House design with driftwood and markers

Glue on driftwood as roofs. Make sure that the backs of the houses and roofs are flush on the back so that you can stick them onto the wooden back wall later.

Use a marker to emphasise the contours of the windows and doors.

Making a wooden back panel

Place your modelling houses next to each other. They will now tell you how many blocks to glue together so that you have a sufficiently large wooden surface. Glue them together accordingly. For a 3D effect, glue additional wooden blocks behind some of the houses, slightly offset in height.

Next, glue your row of houses to the DIY wooden panel. Decorate the clay image at the bottom with more driftwood. These create a further structure. If you brush them lightly with white and black paint, the look will appear "finished". They could represent part of the road or a bank stabilisation.

The row of houses is ideal as a table decoration. Or you can use it to create an eye-catching feature on your wall by screwing picture frame loops onto your artwork.

Have fun designing!