Halloweenie Town #1 © 2020 Teri Hanson
This year I joined a new Facebook group which inspired me to create a mini haunted house using cardboard and paper. I had so much fun that I’ve decided to make an entire series of these houses and share them with you!
There will be six houses in the series as I can find time to design them all. Once each building is finished the SVG files will be uploaded to both my home and Etsy shops.
VISIT OUR SHOP (LINK ABOVE) TO GRAB THE PROJECT!
UPDATED: 10/8/2020 – look for the added Bat Borders file – extra download includes files for all machine types
WATCH THE VIDEO BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE PROJECT!
There are no written instructions for this house but feel free to contact me should you get stuck. On down the page I’ve listed some tips and my process for building.
NOTE . . .
The following images are from sources that I’m unable to share so they will not be in the SVG files. These are easily found images and I’ll leave that to you to choose what you prefer.
Print and cut people are from Artfully Musing – Strange People digital images.
- Cat – #M90AD4AC (cricut design space)
- Tree – #MF7C63C4 (cricut design space)
- Fence – #MD527785 (cricut design space)
KEY . . .
Sizes are shown below with each key/file. Check the size once uploaded to your cutting machine working canvas and adjust to the measurements shown below if needed.
Process . . .
- Before constructing the house, emboss the house brick walls and glue them in place onto each section
- Add windows, door, and trim. Don’t forget to add tissue or vellum to the backside of the windows. I’ve tinted the vellum with alcohol ink
- When the outside has been decorated, construct the walls by gluing the tabs together – tabs will e glued to the inside of the joining piece
- Add the corner trims
- I’ve used a dry brush method to color the bricks
- Construct the little room off the roof and set aside
- If you plan to have a hole in the roof, make the hole now and add vellum or tissue to the backside
- Attach the roof, attach the roof room, add the chimney, attach the shingles
- I’ve again used a dry brush method to distress and color the roof/shingles
The stonework was created by embossing cardstock using an embossing folder and Cuttlebug machine. I don’t believe this particular folder is available any longer but there are several stone and brick folders that would work. I cut the four pieces to be embossed first then placed the shapes into the embossing folder. It takes two passes: insert the bottom first then emboss a second time with the remainder of the shape in another pass.
Here’s a list of suggested materials based upon what I’ve used …..
- Cricut Kraft Board, thin cereal box cardboard or any thinner cardboard can be used to create the house structure.
- Medium weight chipboard in black was used for the base – 3 sheets that are 6” x 9”
- Cardstock in black and grey were used on the house.
- Ranger Distress Ink in Black Soot
- Ranger Distress Oxide ink in Vintage Photo
- Any white pigment ink
- Vellum for windows
- Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks in Butterscotch and/or Red Pepper for coloring the vellum.
SVG FILE KEY . . . double check the files sizes after uploading against those in the included PDF.
Finished size is 6″ x 9″ for the base. The house is 5″ wide by 5.50″ deep and 8.5″ high. Using the SVG files you can easily size it up or down as you like – just remember to select ALL of the images and size them at the same time!!!
I cut four of the tree images, scored most of the height of the trunk in half, folded it and then glued pieces together. Two images were cut normally and two images were mirrored so that branches would go in various directions. Lightly distress the tree images on both sides with white ink.
I’ve used two layers on the window frames for depth and stability. The cat image was glued inside the house to shine through the window.
The base is simply three 6×9 rectangles – cut from chipboard – and glued on top of each other. The fence is glued to the sides to cover up the base edges. As you can see above I cut three more pieces of chipboard and glued them together, then to the base. Cut them just a tad smaller than the house dimensions. Set your light in place and simply rest the house on top around the smaller base.
Anytime I use a fence in a project it will be cut from cardstock. I always cut two or three and sandwich them together. This will make the fence thicker and therefore stronger. One thickness just will not stand up well or last for long!
Trim is simply strips of cardstock cut to length and distressed. The same for the top of the chimney and siding on the upper room on the left side.
For the bat border, simply score the long strip section then glue one-half of that strip up under the eaves. A larger bat and triangle shape is attached to the top as seen below.
For once I decided to add a hole in the roof of a building!!! Once the roof was completed I just used a craft knife to cut a hole all the way through then used strips of cardstock as boards on top. Place a piece of vellum on the inside of the house where the hole is – to keep the light showing through the same!
UPDATE …..
I’ve added a little more color to the roof and a sign to the front of the house.
And here’s how I’ve displayed the house . . .
I think that covers it all but if you have questions please feel free to leave them in the comments section below this post!
Have a spooky time and thanks for stopping by!!!
Bilodeau says
Thank you for sharing the svg files so that we non cricut users can play too 🙂
thanson says
You are so welcome! Enjoy!!!