Simple Bat Halloween Display Tutorial

I'm on a craft rampage! Join me! I'm pretty excited because I thought of this one all on my own.

you will need:

Cardboard

Yarn

Cotton balls

Paper lunch sacks

Sparkly gems for eyes (or something like that)

Black spray paint

Mod podge

Glue gun

for optional mounting board:

a long, skinny cabinet door (or something like that)

Fake spider webs

small blocks of foam(or some material like that) to mount the bats onto the board

1. Cut out bat shape from cardboard. My bats ended up being about a foot and a half long. Tip: fold a piece of paper or cardboard in half, draw one side of your bat, and cut the paper so you can fold our a symmetrical bat. You can use this as a pattern if you'd like. I wanted each of my bats to be different, so I cut them out one-by-one.

2. Hot glue a cotton ball to the belly of your bat. Glue the yarn onto the wings to create the looks of a skeletal structure.

Your bat might look something like this...

3. Crinkle up a paper lunch sack until its texture is soft and evenly rippled. Cover the front of your bat liberally with Mod Podge, taking care to get all the corners in between the yarn.

4. Press the lunch sack firmly onto the front of your bat and use your fingers to smooth out the paper.

5. Trim excess paper from around the bat and fold the edges of the paper, using Mod Podge to secure them to the back. Yours may look something like this...

6. Spray-paint the bat black. I chose to spray somewhat unevenly, leaving some of the brown visible in places, to give the bats a more realistic look.

7. Hot glue eyes in place. And there you have it! A SPOOKY...

CREEPY...

but RIDICULOUSLY GOOD LOOKING bat.

You can certainly stop there and use the bats as you would like... In a wreath... along your fence posts... the possibilities are endless!

I mounted them on an old cabinet door we had lying around. To do the same...

1. Spray paint the door black

2. Spray paint a small block of foam (or anything, really) black for each bat you have. The foam blacks I used were about 2x2x1 inch. Hot glue one block on the back of each bat. Then glue the other side of the block onto the door. This gives the display depth, so the bats pop out a bit.

3. Use fake spider webs as a finishing touch.

And there you go!!!

Top 5 things I love about early fall:

Halloween crafts

Hot chocolate parties, late at night

Snuggles with my boys

Cold, dewy mornings

My church's general conference, which, after attending, inspires me to be a better me.

Enjoy the splendor of the season.