The weather is finally starting to feel like fall. Leaves are beginning to drop and I am so ready for the chillier weather. For me, this also means starting to decorate for spooky season! This bat and ghost garland craft is easy, quick, and affordable to make. this is one of my first DIY crafts of the season and I love how it turned out.
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What You’ll Need
Originally I thought I’d use craft glue, but once I started working I realized I wanted something that would dry quicker, so I switched to a hot glue gun.
The Process
I knew what I had in mind for this garland but I wasn’t quite sure when I went to the craft store what I would use for the materials. I ended up keeping it simple and choosing black felt for the bats, white felt for the ghosts, and wood beads to add a little something extra to break up the ghost and bat pattern. I decided this would be on natural twine.
Step 1
For the first step, I began with the bats and had to draw the outlines on the felt. I used chalk to draw the outlines and was able to fit six bats onto one sheet of felt. I eyeballed the first outline after looking up some inspiration online and then used the first one I cut out to do the rest of the patterns. I then cut out the bats. This was a little tough – it was a bit time-consuming because I was using kids’ scissors, so if you have fabric scissors it would probably speed up the process for you.
Step 2
I repeated the same process on the white felt with the ghost patterns. I kept the ghost pattern simple and also fit six onto the one sheet of white felt. I didn’t end up using all six ghosts for my garland, but that’s how many I cut out. I’ll have to find a use for them in another craft!
Step 3
Once all of my bats and ghosts were cut out, I was able to move on to the next step which was to begin putting together the garland. I cut a piece of twine about four feet in length. I chose four feet for mine because the two spaces I am planning to hang the garland don’t require much length.
Step 4
After cutting the twine, I knotted the ends into two small loops so I could hook the ends to something while I hung it.
Step 5
I began placing the wood beads on the twine. Since I was going to be gluing the bats and ghosts onto the twine I did not need to be too methodical with the beads. The beads are free to move on either side of the bats and ghosts and stay put because the bats and ghosts are glued in place preventing the beads from moving past them. I used 8 wood beads on my garland – I started and ended the garland with beads and had them placed between each bat and ghost.
Step 6
Once the beads were on the twine, I began placing the bats and ghosts on the twine to visualize them before gluing. I did a bat-ghost-bat pattern, starting and ending with bats.
Step 7
At this point, I was ready to glue the bats and ghosts onto the twine. I used a hot glue gun and glued directly onto the twine and placed the bats and ghosts in place over the glue.
All done! This craft is quick, easy, and affordable, especially if you already have some of the items (like the scissors and hot glue gun) at home! All in all, this craft took me about an hour to make with the longest portion being drawing the patterns onto the felt and cutting them out.
Let me know if you try this craft!
