How to Make a 2-Story Miniature Haunted House

With some scraps and a few craft supplies, create your own miniature two-story haunted house for a Halloween decoration. If you've ever priced haunted house models at stores, you know they can be costly. For a fraction of the cost, you can design and make your own for the holidays in a Halloween diorama or set on your table as a centerpiece.

Things You'll Need

• 1/2 gallon milk carton
• Craft knife
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Acrylic craft paint
• Paintbrushes, assorted sizes
• 4 page fasteners
• Black card stock
• Craft glue
• Dollhouse or toy decorations

Instructions

1. Locate the back side of the milk carton, which has the nutritional information. Cut out that side with a craft knife. Set it aside.

2. Measure the height of the container. Mark halfway up the container with a horizontal line. Make the line on the inside and the outside using a pencil to separate your two floors.

3. Mark where you want windows and a door to go. Make them perfectly straight squares and rectangles or make them a little crooked if you prefer a rickety-looking house.

4. Cut out windows with a craft knife. Cut out the door on the top, bottom and right side only. When you push out the door flap, it'll bend back like a hinge.

5. Paint the inside house walls a base color. Acrylic paints requires three coats on a milk carton to fully cover. Allow 30 minutes to dry between coats.

6. Select a color for the outside of the house. Paint it three times with acrylic paint. Let it dry 30 minutes after each coat.

7. Brush paint on the scrap piece of carton. Paint one side the color you want the floor to be, and one side the color you want the ceiling to be. Give each side three coats, allowing 30 minutes for drying after each coat.

8. Create details on the outside of your house. Paint frames for doors and windows. Make spider webs with a fine liner brush or paint on shutters.

9. Measure the width of the carton. Cut the cardboard strip to be 1 inch wider than the carton. With the floor-colored side of the strip facing up, fold one-half inch of a flap down on the right and left side of the strip. Insert it with the folded flaps facing down into the open back of the house, midway up to separate the two stories.

10. Poke two small holes on the left side of the house so they go through the wall and the flap of the floor piece. Push a page fastener through each hole, going from the outside of the house inward. Spread the prongs on the inside of the house wall. Repeat the process on the right side of the house to secure the second floor in place.

11. Cut 1-inch-wide black card stock strips the width of the carton. Cut one edge of each strip into scallops for shingles. Glue one strip at a time on one side of your house's sloped roof, starting with the bottom and working your way toward the top. Overlap the strips slightly. Repeat with strips going up the opposite side, starting from the bottom of the roof and working your way up to the top point.

12. Make a final 2-inch strip and fold it in half, length-wise. Cut scallops on both sides of the strip. Glue it on the very top pointed tip of the roof. Decorate the inside of your haunted house, if desired, with dollhouse furniture or miniature monster toys.

Tips & Warnings

• Cover your workspace with newspapers or drop cloths before painting and wear old clothes. Acrylic paints are not washable.