Make a Haunted House for Halloween Candy
- Papier-mache two-story house with removable roof (available at crafts stores)
- Black acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
- Patterned papers: large black-and-white polka dot, small black-and-white polka dot, mottled lime green, mottled yellow, mottled orange
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Black rubber-stamp ink
- Sponge
- Crafts glue
- Crimping tool
- Cardstock: gray
- Scrap of green cardstock
- Repositionable double-sided tape
- Crimping tool
- Ruler
- Black brad for doorknob
- Number stickers
- Scalloped-edge scissors
- Tape
- Square scalloped-edge paper punch
- Crafts sticks (for fence)
- Hot-glue gun and hotmelt adhesive
- Small hole punch
- 6 inches of black wire
- Black marker
- Spray varnish
- Paint the outside and the inside of the house black.
- Lay each piece of the house (removable roof and base) facedown on large black-and-white polka-dot paper. Trace around each side and dormer, marking openings for window panes and the door; cut out the pieces. Cut out the openings for the window panes and the door.
- Ink the edges of each piece with black ink using a sponge. Use crafts glue to adhere the cut-out pieces to the house.
- Cut strips from small black-and-white polka-dot paper for shutters. Crimp the strips, and glue them haphazardly to the sides of the windows (as shown in the finished photograph).
- Measure the size of the windows and cut squares from yellow paper 1 inch larger than the window sides measurements. Glue a yellow square behind each window on the inside of the house. Repeat for the door, using orange paper. Add a black brad to the door for a doorknob.
- For the house numbers, adhere number stickers to the green paper; cut a rectangle around the numbers using scalloped-edge scissors. Ink the edges with black ink using a sponge. Adhere the numbers above the door with tape.
- For the roof: Punch squares from the lime-green paper using the paper punch. Ink the edges of each square with the black ink using a sponge. Glue the square onto the roof like shingles, overlapping pieces and trimming squares to fit tight areas if needed.
- For the fence: Cut crafts sticks at varying lengths for the fence posts. Trace the sticks onto gray cardstock; cut out. Use crafts glue to glue the paper to the sticks. Ink the stick edges and fronts with black ink using a sponge. Hot-glue the sticks to the base edge to make the fence.
- To make the sign, write the word "vacancy" on green cardstock and cut into a rectangle. Punch two small holes along the top edge. Cut a 6-inch length of black wire and coil it around a pencil. Fasten the ends to the sign and hang over the fence.
- To finish: Use a black marker to color any unfinished areas of the box, such as window and doorway edges. Outline each dormer and the chimney. Spray the house with varnish.
