When designing Halloween crafts, sometimes you get sick of the old orange and black. This Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos craft is the exception to that rule. This playhouse is made with just two pieces of cardboard slotted together, so the construction couldn’t be easier. Plus, if you want to put it away and save it for next year, it’s easy to flatten and store.

All of the little details are what make it super special from the spool tissue paper flowers to the sugar skull art on the wall! See below for how we made this for Parents Magazine.

1.Cut out two 12×16-in. pieces of cardboard. Then cut a long side of each rectangle into a house shape so that the sides are 10 in. tall and the center peak is 12 in. tall, as shown.

2. Paint the cardboard pieces on both sides in bright colors. Let dry.

3. Starting at the bottom of one piece, cut a 10-in. slit up the center. Then starting at the top of the other piece, cut a 2-in. slit down the center. (These pieces will slot together to form an X.)

4. Draw door shapes onto the walls and cut them out. (Optional: Leave one side of door attached, and bend it for a functioning door.)

5. Slide the two pieces of cardboard together to form the house.

6. Create a duct-tape border (optional). Along the top edges, adhere pieces of duct tape, sticky sides together, with about a 3/4-in. overhang. Trim the overhang into scallop shapes (it doesn’t need to be perfect!) and punch a hole in the center of each scallop. Then wrap a piece of duct tape around each vertical outside edge, as shown.

7. Add accessories to the rooms like sugar-skull art on the wall (made from paper and stickers), a cardstock-and-string garland, mini tissue-paper flowers, paper-straw candles, and a colorful felt rug.

Photo by Dane Tashima, Styled by Pam Morris.

September 25, 2019| Early Elementary, Halloween, Holidays, Older Elementary, Tween to Teen, Upcycled