A Proper Haunted Dollhouse

Ok, I am feeling like a child again right now as I reveal my haunted dollhouse to you this week. It took a little over a week to complete {about an hour or two a day}... but it was totally worth it! 

In my previous posts, I told you that I bought the dollhouse puzzle kit at Michael's, and the paint I used was from DecoArt.

As far as the interior and exterior decorations, I used stickers from Michael's and rubber stamps from my own line of 'Lady Lucas' designs carried by Craffiti Direct.

The miniatures were collected for many years by me from various stores. The cute little crystal ball I made myself from a marble and some polymer clay!

A.C. Moore, Michael's and Hobby Lobby all have great minis that would look fabulous in your own haunted dollhouse... small gift retailers also have awesome additions this time of year.

As far as the ghosts... I'll be posting a little 'how to' for you here next week!

I bought these tiny lights at a store in downtown Lancaster and they work perfectly to light my spooky space up at night.

I had a blast creating this Halloween house for my readers! If you enjoyed it, please consider following this blog by email {check out the box in the upper right column} and don't forget to like my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!

xo Ashley

Haunted House | Part II

A week ago I excitedly put together my haunted 'dollhouse' and now I'm happy to share the completed house painted. I used paints mainly from DecoArt and enjoyed how the neon colors came out. Mixed with grey accents, they really make the whole thing pop!

The interior was lots of fun as well. Just comment below if you'd like to know the particular name of any of the colors...

Stay tuned for next week's post which will reveal the entire house decorated for Halloween!

xo Ashley

Haunted House Project | Part I

I am on a quest this fall to make a really awesome haunted house. Not the kind you can buy in a pre-made kit with foam walls. Not even the kind you can buy already assembled at a retail store. I'm talking about the real deal! A wooden dollhouse painted with awesome creatures living inside!

Today I purchased this kit from Michael's craft store. Unbelievably, this dollhouse is only $8, which I think is a real deal relating to little kids ;) Of course my uses are a little more seasonally oriented, but I will no doubt have as much fun with this as a kid on Christmas!

Stay tuned for Part II which will be the painting!

xo Ashley

Handmade Haunted House

Try this adorable craft as a last minute Halloween craft this week! My students loved it, but adults get just excited so don't feel bad if you're running now for the glue gun!

To make this awesome little home you will need:

a paper lunch bag {white is best!}

a folded piece of paper for the roof

old newspaper

markers & crayons

hot glue & a stapler

recycled pieced of cardboard

optional : dried moss, cheesecloth, Halloween miniatures

1. Lay the lunch bag out flat and decorate with markers first. Add a door, windows, spiders and lots of ghosts and ghouls! Color in with crayons in desired.

2. Decorate the folded piece of paper that will be the roof with markers... shingles are cute or even words like 'Boo' and 'Spooky'.

3. Stuff the bag house with crumpled newspaper and staple the paper roof on top.

4. Hot glue the house to a cardboard base and decorate with Halloween miniatures, moss and if you wish... cheesecloth ghosts! All I did was cut squares of cheesecloth and poked my finger through the middle to make a ghost shape. Use thread or a pipe cleaner to secure the head shape.

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and Facebook for daily craft ideas!

xo Ashley