Make a Miniature Halloween Camper

Join me in making a miniature Halloween Camper. We’ll craft this adorable miniature travel trailer with a sturdy cardstock base and add colorful Halloween details. This charming little camper is the perfect display piece—and just the right size for your Cricut Cuties (or other small dolls) to call home! While some parts are a tiny bit tricky, the end result is well worth it as I think you will see.

Just subscribe to my newsletter to get the password to the FREE Paper Glitter Glue library. The Halloween camper is Design No. 192 in the free library.

What do you need to make the Halloween Camper?

Heavy weight cardstock (110#) or watercolor paper (140# or 300 gsm)
Colorful decorative paper 
Foil cardstock for trim
Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue
Bearly Art Glue
Painter's tape
Cutting machine (I used my Maker, it also works with the Cricut Explore Machines and the Cricut Joy Extra.)
Fine Point blade
Standard cutting mat
Scoring Tool or Scoring wheel
Foil Tool if using a Cricut Joy Extra

Assemble the Main Structure of the Halloween Camper:

3. To assemble the Camper, start with the 3 structural pieces - the main front piece with tabs, the open back piece with tabs and the camper base support piece.
4. Glue the decorative paper to the inside pieces now.
5. Adhere the open back piece to the side of the support piece base.
6. Next, glue the main front piece (the piece with the door and the window) to the base support.
7. Gently curve the structural side pieces to fit them on the camper structure.
8. Apply glue to the tabs on one side of the camper.
9. Insert one side piece within the camper structure. Ensure it is flat against the bottom of the base support piece. 
10. Work your way up from the bottom adhere the tabs to the side piece.
11. Do the same thing on the other side. Then attach the other side piece to the trailer in the same manner.

Decorate Your Camper Exterior:

12. These two side pieces overlap by about 1 inch on the top of the trailer. Make sure that section is glued down well.
13. Next decorate your camper with the decorative paper of your choice, then windows and doors.

Finish the Base of the Camper:

14. Fold the wheels on the camper base support downward and glue the wheel supports underneath the trailer. These are the wheels with the score lines on them.
15. Now finish the base of the trailer by gluing 2 pieces of the camper base with tow bar together. Then glue the tow bar base underneath the base of the camper. Make sure the tow bar section is in the front.
16. Glue the layers of the wheels together and align them to the wheel section on the base support piece.
17. Make the small front support piece that goes underneath the trailer.

Add the final decorative details:

18. Glue the wheel well covers on the outside of the wheels.
19. Glue the awning in place.
20. Add the wings to the back of the camper.

For more specific details and photos about constructing the Halloween Camper trail, read below.

1. Cut out the pieces for the Halloween Camper

First, download the file for the Miniature Halloween Camper - Design No. 192 in the free Paper Glitter Glue library. If you haven't already, sign up for my newsletter and you will get the password to the library immediately.

Upload to your cutting machine then cut

Here's a photo of the entire project as it is first uploaded to Cricut Design Space.

The pieces to the left are structural pieces for the Halloween camper while most of the rest of them are decorative.

The file uploads at 43.78 x 16.97 inches.

There are several pieces with score lines. Those pieces require you to select the score lines, go to the operations menu and choose score. Then you must select the score lines and the piece it belongs to and ATTACH them so that your cutting machine knows that they below together.

The two side pieces - one with an open area and one with cutouts for a window and a door - both have score lines around the tabs outside to form the curved shape of the camper.

Other score lines are on the base piece of the camper, the wheels, the awning, and the support piece underneath the camper.

Since I use heavy cardstock for the main structure of the camper, I use the heavy cardstock setting within Cricut Design Space. Also I prefer to use the scoring stylus because it's easier for me rather than changing out the scoring wheel.

If you use one-sided decorative paper, make sure you cut it in the correct orientation. For example, make sure the inside pieces are the mirror image of the outside pieces.

2. Assemble the Main Structure of the Miniature Halloween Camper Travel Trailer

To assemble the miniature Halloween Camper, start with the 3 main structural pieces - the main front piece with tabs, the open back piece with tabs and the camper base support piece.

Remember to add the decorative paper to the inside before assembly

Line up your decorative paper that goes on the inside in the correct orientation on your main side pieces. Glue in place BEFORE assembly.

Next glue the Main Front Piece to the Base Support

Next, glue the main front piece (the piece with the door and the window cutouts) to the base support. Again, make sure the small circular cut out on the front piece lines up with the location of the wheel on the base support piece. In other words, the wheel cut out needs to be towards the back of the camper.

Once the main structure is dry and before you glue the side pieces in place, gently curve them so they conform to the circular curves of the camper. You can just slightly dampened the pieces so they curve easier. 

Apply glue to the inside surface of the tabs on one side of the camper. It is easiest to start with the open back side first. Another option is to use double-sided tape applied to the side pieces.

Insert the first side piece within the camper base. Make sure it is flat against the bottom flap of the base support piece. 

Work your way up from the bottom apply the tabs to the side piece. Use small pieces of painter's tape to hold the tabs in place if they won't stick down easily. That is not a problem when you use the double-sided tape.

Repeat on the other side

Do the same thing on the other side.

These two side pieces overlap by about 1 inch on the top of the trailer. Make sure these sections are glued down well at the overlap on the top.

Now you have the main structure of the camper completed.

4. Finish the Base of the Halloween Camper

Fold the wheels on the camper base support downward and glue the wheel supports underneath the trailer. These are the wheels with the score lines on them. They prevent the wheels from splaying outward.

Now finish the base of the trailer by gluing 2 pieces of the camper base with tow bar together then gluing that to the base of the camper. The tow bar section should be in the front of the trailer.

Glue the layers of the wheels together and align them to the wheel section on the base support piece.

Finally, make the small front support piece. Fold along the score lines on the front support piece and glue along the glue tab. Fold the flaps at the top outward and glue to the front of the trailer.

5. Final Decorative Pieces

Next, glue the wheel well covers on the outside of the wheels.

Glue the awning in place.

And finally, add the wings to the back of the camper. Unfortunately, I found that if I glued metallic paper to both sides of the wings, they did not adhere to the camper well and kept popping off. So I recommend only adding the metallic paper to the outside surface of the camper wings.