I have a brand new, errily enchanting project to share with you today! For this papercraft, I invite you to go for a spine-chilling spin. Keep your corpse inside the ride at all times, and light up your night with this haunted carousel luminary.
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This spooky design was picked by my wonderful patrons! Each month, my Patreon subscribers help me choose a couple of the projects I create, and this design was one of the top picks for the month of September.
If you enjoy my work, and would like to help choose future projects/freebies, consider becoming a patron of Designs By Miss Mandee!
Watch a short video of me putting this project together on Instagram.
Supplies
- Cardstock
- Vellum
- Hot Glue
- Precision Craft Glue or a Glue Stick
- A Lollipop Stick
- Decorative Ribbon/Gems (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 of the haunted carousel luminary.
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 Bat Layer
2. Start by gluing your two, decorative bat pieces together. Then, wrap the whole thing around to form a cylinder and attach it.
Then, use the inner slits on the base ring, and the four bottom tabs, to attach the whole thing to the base.
Assembling the Outer Carousel Layer
3. Glue your two carousel pole sections together. Then, wrap the whole thing around to form a cylinder and attach it.
Next, line the whole thing with vellum.
Use the outer slits on the base ring, and the four bottom tabs, to attach the whole thing to the base.
Finishing the Main Structure
4. Take two of the blue, rectangular strips and attach them together. Fold all of the little tabs inward and attach them around the perimeter of the base.
Attach the upper ring. The slits are meant to align with the tabs on the outer cylinder, and the little tabs on the top of the inner (bat) cylinder can attach to the inside edge. Then, glue two more rectangular strips around the outside (as you did with the base).
With those in place, attach the black ring (with tabs around the outside), gluing the tabs to the inside of the rectangular strips you just attached.
Assembling the Horse Layer
5. Fold your hores piece along the score lines. Attach the ends to form a hexagon shape.
Glue the bottom tabs to the hexagon piece (with a hole in the middle).
Take your round piece and attach the whole thing to it using the tabs/slits provided.
Assembling the Roof
6. Form the silver roof piece into a cone and glue the tab to the inside.
Attach the vellum liner.
Thread your lollipop stick through the hole in the top, as well as the hole in the top of the horse piece.
Note: I added a couple of decorative beads to the top of mine. I did this by attaching them first to a toothpick; then I cut the toothpick down and attaching it to the lollipop stick using a generous amount of hot glue.
Finish attaching your roof by gluing the tabs around the perimeter of the black circle.
Final Assembly
7. Finish the project by rolling some paper roses and adding any other decorative ribbon and gems you desire!
This was definitely one of those projects that popped into my head and sounded cool…but, in reality, I had no idea how to execute it. I knew that I wanted skeleton horses, that a light would need to be able to go inside, and that it would be nice to be able to actually make the horses spin. In the end, it ended up being trickier than I expected to make all of those things happen, but (thanks, in part, to a few late nights of work and some much-needed caffeine) I was able to pull it off!
I use Adobe Illustrator for all 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 Halloween freebies available on my blog!
Enjoy making this haunted carousel luminary papercraft! And, as always, be sure to share your frightful results 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. 7 Comments on Haunted Carousel Luminary – Halloween Cut Files
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Diane
September 8, 2022 at 7:15 pm (7 months ago)I like to read your description of your project before looking at the picture. I am always surprised by how wonderful your designs are. Thank you for sharing these with us. I do have a question on how you made the inside of your carousel blue. Did you have a blue tealight? If so, where did you get it? My monitor must be off because you used a patterned blue cardstock, but I can’t tell its blue when I look at it on screen. Where did you get this cardstock from, or what is the name of it? I hope I made sense with my questions. Thanks again for all the great designs you share with us.
Mandee
September 11, 2022 at 4:34 pm (7 months ago)Thanks Diane! I do have some color-changing tealights that I go at Dollar Tree. But, none of my regular tealights were quite strong enough for the effect to show up in photographs, so I actually ended up using a little flashlight for these pictures.
Because of how dark the room was when taking these photos, you can’t really see the patterned blue cardstock as well as I’d hoped. If I did it again I might have used a lighter color paper. The cardstock I used was part of a pack I got at Michaels, though. I typically get my patterned papers in packs in order to save money. 😊
Hope that answers your questions!
Claudia Brawley
September 8, 2022 at 9:37 pm (7 months ago)This will be a perfect addition to my spooky village!
Mandee
September 11, 2022 at 4:34 pm (7 months ago)Have fun putting it together!!
Linda Lee
September 11, 2022 at 5:25 am (7 months ago)Hi Mandee
I am trying to make this great lantern but when I get to step 2 the slits are not in the base ring don’t exist. I can see them when I start the canvas but they are not there when I make it.
What am I doing wrong, please help.
Linda
Mandee
September 11, 2022 at 4:36 pm (7 months ago)Hi Linda! The slits will be indicated with hot pink lines. I order to make use of them, you will need to attach them to the ring piece before you send it to cut. Unlike with score lines (green), you don’t need to change any of the settings beforehand—just attach them to their shape. 🙂
Linda
September 11, 2022 at 6:44 pm (7 months ago)Thank you for the help. I’m still learning how to use my new toy,