Halloween Bats and Spiders

I like to have a simple fast craft for Halloween Eve that doesn’t call for drying time for glue or paint. That’s why these bats are perfect for making with kids- we have a group that gathers at our house every year before going out to trick or treat.

Materials:

• Plastic Easter eggs (spray painted black or buy from Oriental Trading*)

• Googly eyes (small)

• Black felt

• Glue dot lines (like glue dots but 1” lines)

• White tape (electrical, masking or duct tape)

• Baker's twine/yarn/jute/Perle cotton

• Paper template for bat wings

*You can purchase chalkboard eggs (pack of 72 for $12.99) from Oriental Trading or use (evil) spray paint to paint the plastic Easter eggs.

Here are 2 crafty tips for making this craft:

Tip #1 About glue dots in general- DON’T pull the glue dot off the paper backing! Just press the thing you want to adhere to the glue dot on the paper and the glue dot will peel off and stay on the thing you are gluing OR tear a piece of the glue dot paper roll with the glue dot on it and press the dot (or line) onto the thing you are gluing to… then pull the paper backing away away. Stop trying to peel the dot off with your fingers! That's just futile and frustrating- you know who you are; the rest of you carry on.

Tip # 2 When you have to cut a LOT of tiny felt things, iron the shiny side of freezer paper to your felt (mat side up to the iron), then use a template to trace onto back of the freezer paper and cut the shapes out OR just glue (stick) what you’re cutting out onto the freezer paper backing and cut everything at once. Then peel off the freezer paper. Ta-dah! tiny felt things. So if you decide to make a dozen bats – it might be easier to cut the wings using the freezer paper method (because that’s 24 wings).

The “chalkboard “ eggs (top in photo) came with 2 holes in the top and at the bottom but if you’ve painted your plastic eggs you can use a pushpin to make the hole at the top bigger as well as make a second hole (and you might need to use a needle to get the string through). Or maybe your bats have purple and blue bodies? That's cool too.

Cut an 11” length of twine.

Open the egg.

Thread the string through the top of the plastic egg and tie it into a loop.

Close the egg.

Cut the wing shapes from the felt and attach them to the egg in the back on the sides using the line glue dots.

Add 2 googly eyes to a glue dot line and then cut them off together and put them on the bat.

Cut out 2 fangs from white tape (I used electrical tape).

I realized while I was making the bats there are several other Halloween themed things that could be made from the black eggs- like a spider! made here with 4 chenille pipe cleaners cut in half and twisted together or... owls, cats, witches, monsters…more? I'd love to see yours if you make them.