Tim Holtz Vintage Dwelling altered into a Halloween House

How to Make the Sizzix Village Dwelling into a Spooky Halloween House

Want to make a fun, easy Halloween house from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Village Dwelling die? Here is my first Halloween house made with this die.

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Tim Holtz Village Dwelling Halloween House

I finally received my Tim Holtz Village Dwelling die which I pre-ordered in July, I think. It's a nice die that actually makes a sturdy little house. I always alter things because, as you know, I am a rule-breaker.

Here are some photos from my first attempt with this die making a Halloween house, of course.

The photo above shows the die on the book base with polymer clay pumpkins, a polymer skeleton hand made from a Martha Stewart silicone mold, and a Tim Holtz spooky branch tree.

You can see the little clay ghost that I made on this side - made using a small cookie cutter. Roll polymer clay to between ⅛ and ¼ inch thick and cut out the ghost with the cookie cutter. Easy.

I also altered the Tim Holtz branch tree (retired, unfortunately) a little bit to make the bottom flat so it will stand up ok on the side of the book base.

This view shows the green tinted windows and the Tim Holtz scary cat on the side.

Halloween Details on the Little Halloween Cardboard House

I used a Tim Holtz Idea-ology skull and crossbones above the front door. The skeletal hand is from an old Martha Stewart mold. It makes a pretty creepy looking hand, don't you think?

Ok, so here is how I altered this house to make it a little more Halloween-like.

The roof on the house die doesn't have much of an overhang. To fix that, I adhered the roof that came with the die and overlaid it with a sheet of black card stock that had been embossed with the Tim Holtz "Batground" embossing folder. This piece of card stock overhangs the house by about ½ inch on each side. I think the overhang makes every house look a little more complete.

In addition, I extended the gable roof to make it deeper. Then I omitted the porch on the vintage dwelling. Those are the main alterations on structure of the house.

Book Base for the Halloween Village Dwelling

The book cover is made from a tapestry embossing folder. The tapestry design makes it look like old leather. Next, I distressed it with Picket Fence Distress Paint.

To construct the book base, I covered 2 pieces of cardboard for the front and back of the book with cardstock.  Then glued them to a stack of smaller pieces of cardboard which were covered with scored tea-stained paper to look like the side of pages. To make the spine of the book, just cover cardboard with paper matching the book cover.

This article has more detail on making a book base for your little houses.

Links to other houses made with Sizzix dies:

• Haunted Village Manor
• Halloween Village Dwellings for Haunted Holtzville
• Metallic Halloween Manor - Shimmer and Shine

How to make a Book Base for Your Little House:

• Making Books for Craft Projects