Spooky Haunted House Village (Tutorial)

Hey, Cauldron Crafters!

Have you guys ever seen those Department 56 Villages? They're REALLY cool. There is a Christmas store local to me that has a ton of the Christmas ones, and a whole section of Halloween ones. I remember having them around the house - both my mom's and my grandmother's - when I was a kid, and playing with the figurines. One of my favorite parts of the holidays is those little villages!

But.. uh.. they're freakin' expensive.

And I'm freakin' cheap.

And I have a 3 year old. And I'm positive I would cry if he broke something on a little teensy $40 house, let alone a $125 one. But I want him to be able to play with them.. that's what I did!

So what's a crafty girl to do?

Make her own!!

Supplies:
Bird Houses. Find 'em at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or if you're lucky, the dollar store.
Black Acrylic paint or Spray Paint.
Craft Paint brushes. Nothing too big.
Black Glitter. I used Martha Stewart's Onyx.

I started with two birdhouses. I bought mine at Michael's - they range in price from about $2.99 - $9.99, and you can use coupons. (Hint.. they take Joann's coupons.). I chose two that were a little more ornate, two stories, and had some gothic-esque features to them. They were $4.99 each. I paid just over $8 after the 40% off one item coupon.
They had an outhouse shaped birdhouse. My husband wanted me to get it, but the idea of a haunted toilet scared the heck out of me, haha!

Okay, are you ready for the most simple tutorial ever written?
Step one:
Paint the birdhouses black. I used acrylic craft paint. Spraying would probably be less time consuming. Do however many coats you want until you are satisfied with the coverage. I only did one coat.

Some wood still peeks through. That's okay.

Step two:

Paint one more coat. As you paint this coat on, shake glitter over the wet paint. If you get the brilliant idea to mix the glitter into the paint to save time... well, it just gets clumpy and gross and not glittery, so don't bother. :)



Step Three:

There is no step three. You're done. See, told you it was the most simple tutorial ever written!

I plan to add more houses to the collection each year, so I eventually have a whole village. I also plan to make peg dolls like this set on Etsy so that my village has little people. Perfect play set that can withstand a 3 year old and still look quirky and cute as decor!

And you know I'm totally doing a Christmas village later on!