Christmas Church from Steve Good

Dan · November 6, 2025

It's been a while since I did any just plain scrolling so I picked Steve Goods' church pattern. I think it's easy enough for my grandkids to try, well, mostly easy for them.

I made it from 1/4" and 1/8" Baltic birch ply. I stained the church a light cherry, the door and window frame dark walnut, and the trees, wreath and ribbon are dyed with General Finishes. The steps are painted with acrylic paint made to look like stone slabs.

I did change things a bit. I didn't add the star banner over the door. I just thought it was too much. I didn't care for the icicles on the tower being cut in so I cut them from 1/8" and applied it. Not sure if I got the effect I was looking for. Also, the pattern called for all 1/4" but I thought the window frames and icicles would look better from 1/8" ply. I like it better. Seem to add more dimension since it's right next to the trees. I didn't want the round base as it may not fit where I want to put it so I cut something a little smaller from cedar and left the natural edge on the front.

The pattern has a tab on the bottom of the backer which is 1/4" thick. The pattern for the base has a cutout almost 1/2" thick which wouldn't fit the tab, so I resized it to fit snuggly. I didn't glue the tab to the base so it can be taken apart and stored easier.

I think this would look great with some lighting to glow through the windows.

Comments welcome.