Haunted House Shutters

This is a fairly quick and effective way to create realistic, old shutters to your haunted house display.

Step 1: Assemble Materials and Tools

You will need:
- Big sheet of cardboard (I sourced this from my local microbrewery,)
- Razor knife
- Drywall square
- Tape measure
- Spray adhesive
- Black spray adhesive
- Framing square
- Pencil

Step 2: Cut to Size

Cut the cardboard sheet to your desired shutter size. Make sure they are the same height as the window they will hang from to create the illusion of a real shutter.

Step 3: Plan Your Cuts

Measure once, plan twice.
I made the outside borders and middle support piece all two inches wide. My shutter slats are 1.5" wide and 0.5" apart: use your tape measure. The framing square made the measuring go quickly.

Step 4: Straight Lines = Straight Cuts

Use the drywall square to make your pencil lines straight. Now you can really start to see your layout coming to life.

Step 5: Cutty Cut Cut!

Let the slicing begin! Be careful with your razor as you remove the cardboard material from between the slats. I found that if you put a piece of cardboard under your shutter, it helps the razor make a cleaner cut.

Step 6: Add Depth

Cut "extra" border pieces to give the illusion of depth. Use the spray adhesive to quickly secure these pieces to the shutter.

Step 7: Depth Added

Step 8: Paint!

Paint your shutter. I suggest black spray paint but you could use any color you want your haunted house shutters to be. Don't paint the shutters with too heavy of a coat; you will want some of the brown cardboard color to come through to give the illusion of age.
NOW GO HANG THESE SUCKERS ON YOUR HAUNTED HOUSE!