Haunted House How-To

Hi, my name is Tara and I'm addicted to...You thought I was going to say fluff didn't you? Well, you're right, but I was actually going to say ScrapbookSteals - yes, another addiction. If you are into any kind of scrapbooking, paper crafts, card making, ribbons, super cute embellishments, and nifty little tools, you should really check out ScrapbookSteals! They are part of a whole Steals network with KidSteals and BabySteals - both of those also rather addiction forming.

So, what does this have to do with a Haunted House How-To? Pretty much 95% of my craft supplies come from ScrapbookSteals and one of my little Haunted Houses was featured on their blog today!! Super excited about that!!

Anyway, I figured what better day to post my Haunted House How-To. So, here we go...

The easiest way to make the house is to start off with a milk carton and then download Template 2 for the window, moon, and roof.

If you don't have a milk carton, you can make the house base out of poster board by using Template 1 (Print two copies). Then go ahead and download Template 2 for everything else. There's no template for the door, but you can make that any shape and size you'd like.

Template 1 (Print 2)

Template 2

If you're using Template 1, make sure to add a couple tabs to the triangle part of the house. This will make it easier to attach the roof. I just drew mine on and then cut around them...

Attach the two copies of Template 1 so that it looks like this... 

Leave a little hangover on one of the side so you can attach it to the other side of the house. It's also a good idea to cut the roof out of posterboard.

Here's what the house should look like after it's cut and folded, but before it's glued together. To attach everything together, I used a combination of Glue Dots and Xyron Photo Mount Tape to create a strong bond.

After you have the house structure together (or a milk carton ready) it's time for the fun part - decorating!

Almost all of the papers and embellishments I used for these houses came from My Mind's Eye Boo to You and the Spider's Web Collections that I purchased from Scrapbook Steals.

The first house was made with a milk carton. Besides the MME Spider's Web papers, I also used a little bit of paper from the Teresa Collins Welcome Home collection. To hide the spout of the milk carton, I just wrapped a little piece of paper around it and created a chimney. Then I attached the moon cutout to the chimney using Glue Dots.

The pumpkins, tree, and cat were all cut out of the Spider's Web collection papers.

The second house I made using the template. Again, I mainly used the Spider's Web papers, but I also used some American Crafts Glitter Cardstock for the moon and window panes, glitter black foam for the window frame and door, and Doodlebugs embellishments and ribbon for the flowers and doorknob.

I used some Pebbles Chalk to distress the window, door, and roof. The flower stems were made by cutting the ribbon into strips and then fraying it just a little bit.

 

My XYRON 1.5" and 2.5" Create-a-Sticker machines worked great for attaching the little embellishments to the house.

I made the spooky welcome sign using the Teresa Collins Welcome Home paper again and then I used a baby handprints stamp and some red ink for the bloody handprints. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about using a baby stamp for bloody handprints...

If you cut open the door and window panes, these houses make great luminaries when you put them over a battery operated candle.

I also made a little kid-friendly haunted house for little man by using papers & embellishments from My Mind's Eye Boo to You Collection...

If you haven't already, you definitely should over to the ScrapbookSteals Facebook page. It really is like one big happy family over there. I've made some fabulous friends thanks to ScrapbookSteals and you are absolutely going to love the SS ladies! 


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Halloween Crafts

I'm not sure if it's the fact that I can dress however I want, or just the candy, but I love Halloween. I usually go all out decorating, but some of my decorations really aren't kid friendly and I don't want to traumatize my son quite yet. So, I raided my craft supplies and made a few decorations that still had a bit of creepiness to them without all the bells and whistles.

The spooky setup on our kitchen table...



The Luminaries...

A couple Haunted Houses...



The Halloween Basket...

Our new Welcome Sign... 

Of course, I had to make a Happy Haunted House for little man's room...



Make sure to visit the blog throughout the week for how-to's on some of these projects.

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Tuesday's Tutorial - Barn Window Message Center

Living on an old farm, I always have a great variety of old materials that I can use for crafting.

I found a whole stack of these windows just sitting in one of our old farm buildings a couple years ago. I dug them out, cleaned them up and I was planning on making some sort of cold frame or small green house with them. Turns out, old and extremely weathered windows don’t hold up to any sort of construction very well. I set them aside and moved on to my next projects, figuring that I’d find a use for them sooner or later…

I’ve wanted some sort of message center for our kitchen for awhile now and it hit me that this would be a great way to repurpose these windows. Because I still wanted to hold on to the weathered and distressed look of the windows, I didn’t bother using primer. By skipping that step, the paint really soaked into the wood showing off the grain and cracks. I used a bluish teal color for my base and then a thin coat of white on top. I finished it off by sanding the edges and adding a couple coats of polyurethane.

I used some fabric covered cork to replace the window panes. I just cut an old corkboard to the sizes I needed and then used some spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the cork. I used my hot glue gun to fasten the panels to the window.

I painted a hanging basket for our mail and used a couple thumbtacks to hold it on one of the panels.

On another panel I used my glue gun again to attach a magnet strip. Then I glued some fabric on one side of another magnet and we use this to hang small items like business cards.

I used some little screw-in hooks on the sides to hold keys and some bigger hooks and a dowel on the bottom for a towel rack and apron hanger.

I think it turned out pretty good! Even hubby likes it! I love the distressed look of the wood and the fabric is the perfect color. The only thing I might have changed would be to make a chalkboard panel using a thin piece of plywood or panel and chalkboard paint. There’s always next time. :)

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