DIY Halloween Village

My DIY Halloween Village came about because I found the cutest mini skeleton dogs on Amazon! I knew I had to have them but did not know how I would use them to decorate. When I stumbled upon these birdhouses, I knew I needed to build a spooky village for my skeleton pups!

Step 1: Spray the Birdhouses

To start, I gave my birdhouses a “greyscale” look. First, I sprayed one black and one white. Then, I sprayed the others different shades of grey.

I chose to use white and a lighter grey to keep my village from looking too spooky! I didn’t want to lock my village into being JUST a Halloween village – I plan to transition it into a Christmas after Halloween!

Step 2: Build & Spray the Base

Searching the shed, I found a piece of 1/4″ thick, 4 1/2″ wide board and knew it was perfect to be the base of my Halloween Village. I cut it to 30″ long and sprayed the board black to give the town a darker look overall. I am planning to make a new base for Christmas and will likely make the Christmas base white.

After I sprayed my board, I decided to use a 1/2″ dowel to add a trim to the base. This did two things. First, it raise the base a bit and second, it provided me with a space to put the battery packs of the string lights! I cut the piece with a Table Saw and attached them using my Brad Nailer. I left a small gap so the wires from my lights could come up into the village.

Step 3: Add Trees to Base

To make things easy for me I grabbed a few sticks I liked from my backyard and sprayed them black.

Then, I drilled small holes in the base board using a 5/32″ bit. I made sure to drill along the edge, so the hole went into the trim and did not go through the base board. Then, I simply stuck my trees into the holes. With creepy trees added, it was time to add the village!

Step 4: Assemble Houses on the Base

Since I plan to make a new base for Christmas, I did not want to attach the houses to the base. I do not intend to move my village, so I just set them on top. However, if you plan to move your base around, I recommend using Velcro to attach the houses!

Step 5: Decorate!

Here is where you can get creative! As I said earlier, the entire design for my Haunted Village came about to be a home for my mini skeleton dogs. I added mini pumpkins, which I actually plucked out of a Halloween potpourri. I then made little broomsticks using literal sticks and grass from my backyard! Next I made grave stones out of a foam floral block and ghosts out of an XL bandage! Finally, I added my lights and I was done. You can really add whatever accessories you want to your village.. just use your imagination!

Looking for more Halloween DIYs? Check out all of our Holiday How-To’s here!

Halloween Village Links

I purchased my birdhouses in store at Walmart and unfortunately they are not offered online for the same price (I paid $1/birdhouse) so I am linking similar options!