Make your own Halloween decorations: Miniature haunted houses

If you’re looking for DIY Halloween decorations—a chance to use your crafting powers for eeeeeeeeevil—may we suggest turning last summer’s fairy garden from whimsical to wicked? Think.Make.Share Blog Designer and all-around how-to genius Ashley H. is the brains behind our modern fairy garden workshop and the Hallmark kit it inspired. Just for fun, she invited her artist friends over to turn the same tiny template into miniature haunted houses.

Supplies for Miniature Haunted Houses: Simple clay house templates made of Crayola Model Magic, assorted plastic creepy crawly things, shiny stones, and moss.

Supplies for miniature haunted houses: Moss, glitter-covered spiders, paint, glue, craft knife

Supplies for miniature haunted house Halloween decorations

  • Tiny houses: Ashley made ours out of Crayola Model Magic. She rolled out a sheet, let it dry overnight, cut out house-shaped pieces, then hot-glued them together. Get ideas for your own here
  • Assorted scary things: Plastic frogs, snakes, spiders, bugs, skulls—whatever gives you nightmares.
  • Natural materials: Moss, sticks, pebbles
  • Black, gray, and orange paint, paper, glitter, beads, pom-poms, and other accessories
  • Some sort of foundation: Foam core board, plates or shallow bowls, tree-stump slices…anything kind of flat and pretty sturdy will do. 
  • Hot glue gun and a bunch of glue sticks
  • Scissors and craft knives
  • Other creepy things you find in your craft closet

Artist painting a miniature clay house black.

Charlie H. immediately goes to work painting his haunted house black.

Mini haunted house painted green with an orange roof sits on a foundation decorated with ghosts, surrounded by a wooden fence.

Tom P. adds a tower and chimney to his miniature haunted house and decorates it with twirling vines and swirling ghouls.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Artist adding moss to a tiny black house on a slice of tree-stump.

Sam L. focuses on landscaping, surrounding her tiny haunted house with different varieties of moss.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Artist adding a black cut paper decoration to a small white clay house.

Azusa O. takes an abstract, geometric approach to the project.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: White clay house with corrugated roof next to a stump with a tiny ax in it.

Tuesday S. seems to be creating an ordinary farmhouse scene. We’re not buying it.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Artist adding skeleton-inspired columns to a mini two-story clay house.

Sam constructs a second story and tries some skeletal-looking columns.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Artist adding moss and orange painted road to miniature black house.

Having given his house a coat of glitter and black pebble roof, Charlie starts on the surroundings.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Artist painting plastic spiders in glittery gold.

Azusa blings out her spiders with some gold glitter.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Two story clay house, painted black with moss masquerading as ivy and skeletal columns. Also includes paper tree with oversized orange leaves, moss and pebble lawn, and two skulls at the doorway.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Two story clay house, painted black with moss masquerading as ivy and skeletal columns. Also includes paper tree with oversized orange leaves, moss and pebble lawn, and two skulls at the doorway.

Sam’s finished house is full of color and texture.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: One-story house with black paint and pebbled roof. Landscape includes candy-corn-color trees, wooden fence, jack o'lantern garden, and woodpile with hidden skull.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: One-story house with black paint and pebbled roof. Landscape includes candy-corn-color trees, wooden fence, jack o'lantern garden, and woodpile with hidden skull.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: One-story house with black paint and pebbled roof. Landscape includes candy-corn-color trees, wooden fence, jack o'lantern garden, and woodpile with hidden skull. (Close up on woodpile.)

Charlie’s real estate includes a skull hidden behind the wood pile.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Two story green and orange house covered with painted vines; translucent ghost coming out of chimney.

A spirit escapes from Tom’s haunted chimney.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Abstract black and white house and matching pumpkin with gold glitter spiders crawling on top. Black paper bats and flowers popping out of window on wires.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Abstract black and white house and matching pumpkin with gold glitter spiders crawling on top. Black paper bats and flowers popping out of window on wires.

Hints of gold and a limited color palette give Azusa’s house its ghastly glam curb appeal.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Black tower with gold roof covered in triangle pattern, with a pom=pom owl perched on the weather vane on top. Two pop-pom bats hang from a tree, and cut-paper pumpkins and leaves are scattered in the yard.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Black tower with gold roof covered in triangle pattern, with a pom=pom owl perched on the weather vane on top. Two pop-pom bats hang from a tree, and cut-paper pumpkins and leaves are scattered in the yard.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Black tower with gold roof covered in triangle pattern, with a pom=pom owl perched on the weather vane on top. Two pop-pom bats hang from a tree, and cut-paper pumpkins and leaves are scattered in the yard.

You can see the mid century modern influence in Rie E-Z’s spooky tower. (Also, those bats are seriously adorable.)

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Completely ordinary white farmhouse with corrugated roof and wood-splitting stump. Also, it's being overrun by giant spiders and bats.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Completely ordinary white farmhouse with corrugated roof and wood-splitting stump. Also, it's being overrun by giant spiders and bats.

Miniature Haunted House Halloween decorations: Completely ordinary white farmhouse with corrugated roof and wood-splitting stump. Also, it's being overrun by giant spiders and bats.

Annnnnnnd there’s the Tuesday we know: The giant spiders have arrived.

WE CAN KEEP YOU CRAFTING EVERY WEEKEND IN OCTOBER. GET INSPIRED.

You absolutely have to go make one of these miniature haunted houses for this year’s Halloween decorations—they’re seriously the most fun. Then snap it and share it with us on Facebook or tag us on Instagram.

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  1. 10.6.17 | Reply
    Tuesday Spray wrote:

    So much fun to make!!! My kiddo is obsessed with these!

  2. 10.19.17 | Reply
    Márcia Carvalho wrote:

    So cute!!

  3. 9.8.19 | Reply
    Lucy wrote:

    Just found these little Halloween houses. What a great variety of creative details. I love Halloween and these houses are fun and inspiring.