Spooky season is officially here, and I want to kick things off with an extra eerie papercraft! So, let’s get right to it. I hope you’ve got your wits about you, because you’re going to need them when you step inside Dracula’s castle!
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When I showed this project to my son, he asked, “Is it alive?” and that’s how I knew that this design was successful! As I sketched out my ideas, I knew I wanted to create a cool-looking castle, but I also wanted to make sure the “creepy vibe” could be felt in the architecture. So, that’s where the eyes, bats wings, fangs, and subtle “blood” accents came into play. I wasn’t sure how well it would come across in the end; but, overall, I think it is quite successful!
I hope you’re ready for a devilishly fun diversion! Though this project requires a fair amount of patience, the end result is well worth the effort.
Supplies
- Cardstock
- Vellum
- Hot Glue
- A Marker
- Foam Tape (optional)
- Bone Folder (optional)
- A Cutting Machine or X-ACTO knife
- My Free Template
How to Make It
1. Use your cutting machine or X-ACTO knife, along with my template, to cut out all of the pieces to your 3D Dracula’s castle.
Note: If you are using the SVG files that includes the score lines, don’t forget to set them as such in Cricut Design Space and attach them to their shapes before sending them through your cutting machine. I used a lime green color to mark the score lines, so hopefully that helps! If you’re having trouble with the score lines, check out this video.
Assembling the Large Tower Pieces
2. Gather up your rectangular tower pieces. Attach the vellum window pieces to the inside, and the windowpanes to the outside. Assemble each tower like so:
Black Towers: Fold each tower along the score lines. Glue the tab to the inside.
Center, Grey Tower: Fold all three pieces along the score lines. Glue the tabs to the inside. Attach the smaller, top part of the tower to the balcony piece using the tabs/slits provided. Then, glue the whole thing on top of the larger, bottom part of the tower.
Grey/Purple Side Towers: Fold each tower along the score lines, but don’t glue the tabs in place just yet. Using the tabs/slits provided, attach your batwing pieces to each of the grey tower walls. Then, attach the top of the bat wings to the base of the small, purple turrets. With those in place, finish gluing your tower pieces together.
Next, assemble the three purple tower roofs, the two grey ones, and the medium-sized black ones. Attach the black and yellow “eye” pieces to the front of your grey tower roof sections.
With those assembled, you can attach them to their corresponding towers.
Note: The purple roof pieces with holes go to the grey side towers. The hole will go on the side with the turret.
Assembling the Small Tower Pieces
3. Gather the pieces shown in the first picture below.
Start by assembling all the small, black and white pyramid pieces. Also assemble the skinny purple pieces, and the two small rectangular pieces that don’t have slits.
Next, fold the long, purple, rectangular tower pieces, but don’t glue the tabs to the inside just yet. Attach the decorative, red pieces to your towers using the tabs/slits provided. Attach the skinny purple pieces to the top of the towers as well. With those in place, finish gluing the towers.
Then, fold the other two small rectangular pieces. Before gluing the tabs down, attach the other end of each of the skinny purple pieces to them using the tabs/slits provided.
Finish assembling those little purple towers, and attach all of the pyramidal roof pieces like so.
Shape the wider, middle tower by assembling the short, black rectangle. Then attach it to the grey roof section using the tabs/slits provided. Finish assembling the grey roof, and attach the black and grey wing embellishments to the front.
Assembling the Castle
4. Gather up your castle wall pieces. Attach the vellum window pieces to the inside, and the windowpanes to the outside. Attach the gate, door frame, and batwing embellishments to the front piece.
Grab your black castle roof piece, and start placing each of the tower pieces, gluing the tabs to the inside. Start with the tall grey tower in the back, and work your way forward.
Then, attach each of the castle walls.
Finishing Up
5. Assemble the base piece using the tabs provided.
Line up the castle walls, and glue them into the base using the tabs/slits provided. Then, attach the two side towers to the base and castle roof.
Finally, attach the tombstones and hills using foam tape. And your scary château is complete!
A lot of time and effort went into this design, and I’m so excited to finally be able to share it with you! No matter how much time I spend sketching things out and making the project functional in Illustrator, I never know exactly how it will turn out when all the pieces come together. Luckily, Dracula’s castle turned out just as haunting and ominous as I had hoped.
I use Adobe Illustrator for all of my designs, and a Cricut Maker to bring my creations to life. For tips on creating fun paper cuts like this one, see the FAQ section on my website. Also, be sure to check out the other fun freebies available on my blog!
Enjoy putting my 3D Dracula’s castle together. And don’t forget to share your spine-chilling finished project with me on Instagram!
*This post contains affiliate links. By clicking through my links to make a purchase, you are supporting this blog and the hard work that goes into providing free, quality designs.
Mandee is a professional graphic designer, amateur bird watcher, and rollercoaster enthusiast. She is a wife to hardworking high school teacher and mommy to three adorable little humans. She fell in love with graphic design when she started working on a comedy website with a guy she met her freshman year of college. Design wasn’t the only thing she fell in love with, and they were married a year and a half later. She created Designs By Miss Mandee to be a place where she could merge her passion for design with her lifelong love of crafting. 21 Comments on Dracula’s Castle – 3D Halloween Cut Files
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Marianne Wrenn
October 7, 2021 at 8:04 am (3 years ago)Love it. Can you do Disney haunted mansion?
christine
October 7, 2021 at 8:11 am (3 years ago)This is awesome. I can’t wait to put it together. Can you please tell me about how high it is when completed?
Mandee
October 7, 2021 at 10:06 am (3 years ago)Have so much fun! It comes out to be 10″ tall at its tallest point. 😊
auntie em
October 7, 2021 at 10:31 am (3 years ago)This is amazing! I love the details and creativity you have put into this!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Miriam
October 7, 2021 at 10:55 am (3 years ago)todos tus trabajos me ENCANTAN, muchisimas gracias por tan bellos detallas, saludos desde PANAMA…
Mandee
October 7, 2021 at 8:10 pm (3 years ago)Thank you so much Miriam!! I’m so glad you enjoy my designs. 😊
Michele
October 7, 2021 at 1:57 pm (3 years ago)This is fantastic! Thank you.
Petrina
October 7, 2021 at 5:29 pm (3 years ago)Your works and videos are super.
Amelia
October 7, 2021 at 10:13 pm (3 years ago)Wuao! Que excelente trabajo, me encanta cada mínimo detalle. Enamorada 😍😍 Saludos desde Venezuela
Mandee
October 11, 2021 at 11:00 am (3 years ago)Thank you Amelia! I’m so glad you like it. 😊
Pam Garrett
October 8, 2021 at 12:45 am (3 years ago)Oh! I love the eyes and fangs!
Mandee
October 11, 2021 at 11:01 am (3 years ago)I’m so glad they are noticeable as eyes and fangs!! I wasn’t sure if they would come across that way when I was initially doing the design.
emily
October 12, 2021 at 4:26 pm (3 years ago)hermoso! me encantan tus trabajos! Gracias …
Mandee
October 13, 2021 at 11:41 am (3 years ago)You are very welcome!!
Chrissie
October 18, 2021 at 11:09 am (3 years ago)Love these but no matter which I try says unsupported files 😢 so I can’t download any of them
Mandee
October 18, 2021 at 11:31 am (3 years ago)Hi Chrissie! Sorry you’re having trouble. Check out my FAQ page for detailed downloading instructions and troubleshooting tips.
Kathy
October 29, 2021 at 9:48 am (3 years ago)Yikes, where have I been? I completely missed this post and it is super cute and extremely detailed. Your talent is tops! Thank you so much for sharing your hard work.
Mandee
October 31, 2021 at 11:53 am (3 years ago)I’m so glad you like it!! 🧛🏻♂️
Jennifer L Cooley
September 29, 2022 at 5:27 pm (2 years ago)I know I’m a year late for this one haha but wondering if you had a video of you making this? I cut it and try to follow the directions and got frustrated and put the pieces in a ziplock for a later time.
Mandee
September 30, 2022 at 10:52 am (2 years ago)Hi Jennifer. Unfortunately, I don’t have a video tutorial for this one currently—just the photo tutorial.
Jennifer
October 1, 2022 at 12:26 am (2 years ago)Ok, thanks. I will save it for when I get more practice! Maybe by next Halloween haha