I have another designer that I would like to introduce you to. Recently, Teri Hanson of The Covered Chipboard shared her finished building and posted a link to her pattern for the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn to a Facebook group I belong to. I reached out to her about making and reviewing her pattern for my blog, only to find out that the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn is the the first of at least 6 buildings Teri intends to make for her Halloweenie Town! Like myself, Teri loves Halloween and could easily make Halloween houses all year long.
Teri is a long-time designer but is new to making smaller village buildings and SVG files. I had a few problems with the pattern and she has been wonderfully responsive in providing an update. And then she went even beyond that update to add an option just for people like me who have a smaller cutting area (like an aluminum can.) I look forward to making and sharing many more of Teri’s Halloweenie Town buildings. Here is Teri’s Dead Inn:
Join along with me as I make the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn. As usual I will be scaling the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn to fit with the Tim Holtz Village dies.
This Is How I Made the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn
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Halloweenie Town Dead Inn Materials
- Teri’s pattern for the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn from The Covered Chipboard website. (The pattern is free until 11/1/2020.) Teri allows you to sell items made with her pattern, but as a finished product only, not as a kit. You should never sell or share her pattern files. Instead, direct people to her website.
- Decorative Cardstock, Cardboard or Aluminum Cans – your choice! Teri made her house above from cardboard covered with cardstock. I made mine from aluminum cans. Please note that on Amazon the listing for the cardstock calls it a “Paper Pad”, but I have bought the pad and it is cardstock. And very lovely.
- Assorted colors of 65 lb cardstock to test the pattern. I rarely need more than 5 colors, but the Spectrum Assortment offers 25 different colors if you think you may need more.
- Orange Vellum Paper
- Double sided adhesive tape – 1/8″
- Glue – If using cardstock, I suggest Art Glitter Glue. For aluminum cans, I use Aleene’s The Ultimate Glue. For cardboard houses, I recommend Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue
- A Cutting Machine like a Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore or X-Acto knife or Cricut TrueControl Knife
- An Embossing Machine and folders. I used the Old Fashioned Bricks embossing folder, Sizzix embossing Notebook folder by Tim Holtz and the Crackle folder by Darice for the building. I used the the Crackle folder by Darice again for the base.
- Bone folder (optional – for cardstock and cardboard) A bone folder helps you make sharp folds when you are using cardstock or cardboard.
- Decorative Halloween papers (optional – for cardboard) or
- Solid-core cardstock and Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Black Soot and Vintage Photo (optional – for cardboard) Teri used both for the house she made.
Steps to Make the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn
- Download the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn pattern from The Covered Chipboard website
- Size the pattern
- Make any adjustments to the pattern
- Cut out the pattern – I use my Cricut Maker
- Texture the pieces (necessary if using aluminum cans.) I use my Sizzix Bigkick
- Glue on window frames, then attach vellum windows
- Assemble the building structure
- Make base and decorate as desired
How To Make The Halloweenie Town Dead Inn
Download the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn Pattern
First, download the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn pattern from The Covered Chipboard website. Don’t forget to unzip it. The pattern is available as a SVG (scalable vector graphics) but Teri also offers it as a PDF, a DXF, or a SCN file if you need them. If you are making the Inn out of cardstock, you will want to check out Teri’s blog and her list of suggested material.
If you are using a Cricut machine, you may need to change the solid scorelines in Cricut Design Space from cut to score and attach them to their shapes before sending them through your cutting machine. I have shared with Teri the new design technique to import attached score lines into Cricut Design Space, but it will take a while for her to fix all of her files. Here is a great tutorial from Jennifer Maker’s website on attaching score lines.
So why are there 3 different front files? The one on the top left is to cut the cardboard. The pieces below it are used to cut decorative paper or cardstock to glue onto the cardboard. The 3rd front Teri made for me! When I told her that I couldn’t cut the front and side as one piece as none of my cans were large enough and that I would need to add tabs to her individual front and side pieces she did it for me. How is that for a responsive designer!
Size The Pattern
As a first step I always make a pattern in the size provided by the designer out of multiple colors of 65 lb cardstock. Since the cardstock comes in 8.5″ x 11″, set the material size in Cricut Design space to letter before cutting.
As a next step I line up my model with several Tim Holtz village houses. Though the Tim Holtz houses themselves aren’t perfectly to scale, your eye will tell you right away if your building fits in or not. In this case, the building is too large.
If the building size is off, I take a picture of the model from the front, trying to be perfectly level. I import the picture into my photo editing software, delete the background, and set the picture to the same size as the building. I then start reducing (or increasing it), printing out the picture and propping it up between the Tim Holtz village cottages until I am happy with the size.
I forgot to take a picture when I reached the right size, but ultimately, I liked 71.4% of the original SVG files. This piece, which was originally 4.5 x 4.5, is now 3.213 x 3.213.
Sometimes you may want to adjust the height of the building without adjusting the width. In this case I wanted to scale them the same amount, but there were a few separate pieces I scaled slightly differently. I wanted the roof of the upper building (popout) to overlap the walls a little bit, so I made it slightly larger. I also scaled the windows frames so they were a little larger as I wanted as much window space as possible for the light to shine through. I put the window frames under the front and stretched it out so it fit.
To scale the building pieces, roof, shingles and trim pieces, you can scale each of them separately, or instead drag them all together and highlight all of the items you want to change. When you want to scale both the height and width the same amount, make sure the little lock between the width and height bars is locked. Then multiply one of the measurements by the percentage you want to change. In this case I multiplied the width of 12.431 by .714 to get 8.875. I changed the amount in the width bar to 8.875 to change the scale. Notice that the height will change by the same percentage.
Once you think you have the sizing right, cut out the building again at this new size using the 65 lb cardstock. Test once again against your existing buildings.
Make Any Adjustments To The Pattern
Traditional Putz houses were popular in the late 1920s and 30s. To light them from inside, the backs usually had a large hole in them so that a light bulb could be inserted. Teri sort of followed that design with the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn. She has a solid back out of which you could cut a hole. I, on the other hand, started my collection with the Tim Holz Village Dies, where the light is inserted from the bottom. I wanted a back that would look like a real building instead of one with a large hole, so I just duplicated the front and flipped it.
The only other change I made was to weld tabs to the top of the building sides to help hold the roof. When you are gluing cardboard or cardstock and are using fast drying glues, you don’t necessarily need tabs as the glue dries and catches quickly. Unfortunately, the glue I use with the aluminum cans, Aleene’s The Ultimate Glue, doesn’t dry as quickly, so I have to hold the pieces together for 5+ minutes. I find it easier to hold the pieces together when there are tabs.
Cut Out the Pattern
Cut out all of your cardstock, cardboard or aluminum can pieces using the pattern. If you are using cardboard and don’t intend to paint it, use the pieces Teri provided to cut decorative Halloween paper or cardstock which you can glue to the cardboard. Teri shows pictures of each of the pieces that need to be cut on her blog.
Texture The Pieces
I textured the four main body pieces with the Old Fashioned Bricks embossing folder, which gives them a rough stone look. For the upper room popout I used the Sizzix Notebook embossing folder by Tim Holtz. I also used this embossing folder on the doors.
I used the Crackle embossing folder by Darice to texture the window frames. Then I ran them through a second time sandwiched between two cutting pads. This flattens the impression made by the embossing folder but still leaves enough of an impression that it makes the window frames look aged. I used a Cricut Cuttlebug embossing folder to texture the roof shingles, but unfortunately can’t remember the name of this one and a search on Google didn’t yield it, so I expect it has been discontinued. It has a woven look. I ran the roof pieces through just once so they had a lot of texture.
Lastly, I used the Old Fashioned Bricks embossing folder for the chimney.
Glue On Window Frames, Then Attach Vellum Windows
Glue on all of the window frames and shutters (if desired) and attach the doors. I glue two door pieces together with a strip of metallic tape sticking out from between them that I then tape to the inside of the building as a hinge. You can add all of these after you put the building together, but it is much easier to add while the walls are flat.
Use the 1/8″ double sided adhesive tape to attach the vellum window pieces to the inside of the building pieces. Once again, this is much easier while the walls are flat. Before you add the vellum, add any desired decorations to the windows that need to be attached from the inside of the building.
Assemble The Building Structure
Fold along the score lines. Glue the tabs on the front and back pieces of the house together. Teri cut long strips for trim on the corners and across the front and back, but did not include those pieces in her pattern. I liked this and did the same.
Glue the shingles onto the the roof piece before attaching it to the building sides, starting at the bottom of each roof side and overlapping upwards. On the flat side of the roof you may want to cut out a jagged “hole” in the roof. On the curved side, cut out a little hole in the roof where you are going to glue on the upper room popout. This will allow light to shine through the upper window.
Glue the flat side of the roof onto the building, then when it is dry, glue down the curved side. You will need to carefully curve that side of the roof to fit. Teri provided a file with shingles with her update, but I had already cut out shingles using the Tim Holtz Village Rooftops so I used those.
Cut out the bat trim for around the edge of the roof. I covered my aluminum can trim pieces with glitter tape to add some extra sparkle. Glue on the trim. You will probably want to cut off some of the bats near the peak of the roof. As of when I am writing this, the bat trim is not included with the rest of the building files, but can be found as a separate download on Teri’s “TCC Freebies” page. Though I like the rest of the building, it was the bat trim that really appealed to me. It is really easy to attach the bats to the flat roof edges, but more difficult on the curved portion of the roof. Prepare to fuss with it.
I also added a bottom insert piece into the bottom of the building as it squares and stiffens up the walls. I just made a square with a circle cut out of it for the tealight.
Lastly, glue a short fence on top of the upper room popout as a widow’s walk, and then glue on the chimney.
Make Base and Decorate As Desired
For the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn I started with a rectangle of aluminum 4 3/4 inches wide by 6 1/2 inches deep. I cut a small circle under where the Inn will sit, then textured the base the Crackle folder by Darice, and turned under 1/4 inch on each side. This allows me to string fairy lights under the bases of the different buildings in my village. I then used various cutting dies with my BIGKick to decorate the base. Teri references several Cricut Design Space images she used to decorate hers on her blog, including the fence she used. I used a different fence cutting die I own.
I add glitter tape to many of my Halloween embellishments to add extra sparkle. I made my own sign inside Cricut Design Space.
Enjoy making the Halloweenie Town Dead Inn! I would love to see your finished design. Please share a photo of it with me by emailing me at Jackie@acottageintheforest.com. I really enjoyed making the Dead Inn, and it looks great next to my other Halloween Houses. I can’t wait to make the rest of Teri’s buildings!
