I have a confession: I love miniatures.  I always have.  My nana had a cool dollhouse at her place when I was a little kid, and that’s where my love of little things started.  Sadly, when she moved from her house to an apartment, the dollhouse was moved, suffered water damage, and had to go.

Cue the Sarah McLachlan music and sad puppy eyes.

But I rallied.  I coped.  I turned to Polly Pockets for comfort and never looked back.  Except I did.  I was lying in bed one night – as a full-grown adult, I might add – and for some reason, thoughts of my old dollhouse popped in my head. I thought to myself, “I really miss all the mini things. It sucks that my dollhouse was ruined.”  Then, I asked myself, “Who says I can’t have one now?”

Not a damn soul.

I really didn’t care that I was 25 and wanted a dollhouse. You don’t have to be a kid to have toys.  Growing up is for suckers, anyway.

Since you’re reading this blog, you probably know my dollhouse didn’t turn out all cutesy with gingham curtains, floral-patterned wallpaper, and antique furniture.  A haunted dollhouse was what I wanted – one with ghosts, blood, pumpkins, madNESS, MAYHEM, HUMAN SACRIFICE, DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER! MASS HYSTERIA!

What can I say?  I was excited.

My haunted dollhouse journey began with a plan.  I found the kit I wanted from Hobby Lobby (where else?).

Ain’t it pretty?  I liked that this one had three stories and an extra attic because what’s scarier than an attic?

Yeah, a basement.  I know.  Don’t be a smartass.

Anyway, I was bored one Sunday and wanted to create a plan of action, so I converted the pictures to coloring book format and had a little forgotten fun with my markers and crayons.  These pics aren’t in color, but I didn’t have access to a color scanner at the time, so just use your imagination.

I planned on putting the whole thing on plywood because a cemetery seemed like a necessity.  The inside was a little harder to plan out on paper because I knew it was going to be more of a make-it-up-as-I-go thing.  The planning stage was a lot of fun but not as much as actually building the house.  But we’ll go into that next time.

Tune in on the next DIY Wednesday for the next installment of “The Tale of the Haunted Dollhouse.”  You’ll be glad you did.