Make Budget-Friendly Bat Halloween Decor With Felt and a Branch From Your Yard

Going a little batty? Create a colony of cool, colorful creatures of the night to hang out with.

Felt Bat Decoration Hanging Above Halloween Decor

Cool and Colorful Bats

Learn how to create these cool and colorful bats with step-by-step instructions on HGTV's Handmade.

Photo by: Crafty Lumberjacks

Crafty Lumberjacks

By: The Crafty Lumberjacks: Andrew Boza and Dennis Setteducati

Show: HGTV Handmade

Related To:

You've heard about cool cats, but what about cool bats? Add some color and whimsy to your Halloween decor with these colorful cuties made with felt, a branch foraged from your backyard and other simple craft accessories.

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Easy Felt Bats for Halloween

04:11

The Crafty Lumberjacks make quirky bat decor with felt and toothpick fangs.

Materials + Tools

felt
chalk
scissors
toothpicks
wire cutters
white acrylic paint

miniature sunglasses
miniature animal noses
felt glue
low-temp hot glue gun
branch
baker's twine

Create Bat Stencil

Search for a clip-art drawing of a bat online or sketch a bat freehand. Choose or sketch an image with simple shapes and without a lot of detail. Print or draw onto a piece of card stock and cut out the image carefully to use as a template.

Search for a simple free bat image online. Print onto a piece of cardstock and carefully cut out the image to use as a template. Keep it simple with easy shapes. TIP: Choose an image without a lot of detail or sketch a bat from freehand!

Crafty Lumberjacks

Print and cut out bat clip art

Search for a simple free bat image online. Print onto a piece of cardstock and carefully cut out the image to use as a template. Keep it simple with easy shapes. TIP: Choose an image without a lot of detail or sketch a bat from freehand!

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Trace and Cut Out Bats

Use a piece of chalk to trace the template onto a black piece of felt (Image 1). Cut along the traced lines (Image 2), then dust off any chalk that’s left on the felt. Tip: No chalk? No problem: Trace with a permanent marker or pen and flip over your image so there are no trace lines.

Repeat the process on another piece of felt in a bright color of your choice — we're using orange (Image 3). We'll glue this second cut-out to the back of the black bat to give it a 3D effect later.

Use a piece of chalk to trace the template onto a black piece of felt. TIP: No chalk, no problem! Trace with a Sharpie or pen and flip over your image so there are no trace lines.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Cut along the traced line and dust off any chalk that’s left on the felt. Repeat on an orange piece of felt. TIP: No chalk, no problem! Trace with a Sharpie or pen and flip over your image so there’s no trace lines.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Trace bat

Use a piece of chalk to trace the template onto a black piece of felt. TIP: No chalk, no problem! Trace with a Sharpie or pen and flip over your image so there are no trace lines.

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Cut out bats

Cut along the traced line and dust off any chalk that’s left on the felt. Repeat on an orange piece of felt. TIP: No chalk, no problem! Trace with a Sharpie or pen and flip over your image so there’s no trace lines.

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Cut out bats

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Make the Fangs

Paint the points of two toothpicks with white acrylic paint for the teeth. Once dry, snip off the tips using a pair of wire cutters.

Paint the ends of two toothpicks with white acrylic paint for the teeth. Once dry, snip off the tip using a pair of wire cutters.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Paint toothpicks

Paint the ends of two toothpicks with white acrylic paint for the teeth. Once dry, snip off the tip using a pair of wire cutters.

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Add Glasses and Nose

With a pair of wire cutters, cut off the backside of a pair of miniature sunglasses so they will lie flat (Image 1). Use a low-temp hot glue gun to adhere the sunglasses on the center of the face of the black felt bat. Hot glue the nose directly underneath the glasses (Image 2).

Have fun with accessorizing your bats! If you don't have mini sunglasses, you can use two beads instead. If you don't have an animal nose, you can use a small button or glue on an upside-down triangle out of felt.

With a pair of wire cutters, cut off the backside of the miniature sunglass button so they will lie flat. Glue the glasses on the center of the face of the black felt bat with a hot glue gun. Hot glue the nose directly underneath the glasses. TIP: No mini sunglasses? Use two beads instead. No animal nose? Use a button or cut an upside-down triangle out of felt.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Glue sunglasses and nose

With a pair of wire cutters, cut off the backside of the miniature sunglass button so they will lie flat. Glue the glasses on the center of the face of the black felt bat with a hot glue gun. Hot glue the nose directly underneath the glasses. TIP: No mini sunglasses? Use two beads instead. No animal nose? Use a button or cut an upside-down triangle out of felt.

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Glue glasses and nose

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Glue on Fangs

Add a small dab of felt glue on a piece of scrap paper or paper plate. Grab each fang with the wire cutters and lightly dip them into the glue before adhering them to your bat's face, centered just underneath the bat's nose.

Add a small dab of felt glue on a piece of scrap paper. Grab each fang with the wirecutter and lightly dip into the glue. Glue them in place splitting center underneath the nose.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Glue on Fangs

Add a small dab of felt glue on a piece of scrap paper. Grab each fang with the wirecutter and lightly dip into the glue. Glue them in place splitting center underneath the nose.

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Glue Bats Together

Use a paintbrush to add a light coating of felt glue to the back of the black felt bat. Slightly overlap the black felt bat with the orange bat so the color peeks out from behind.

Use a paintbrush to add a light coating of felt glue to the back of the black felt bat. Slightly overlap the black felt bat with the orange bat allowing a little pop of color to peek out.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Glue bats together

Use a paintbrush to add a light coating of felt glue to the back of the black felt bat. Slightly overlap the black felt bat with the orange bat allowing a little pop of color to peek out.

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Glue Bat to Branch

Find a fallen branch and trim down to fit your space. Use a low-temp hot glue gun to adhere the bat (upside-down) onto the branch.

Find a fallen branch and trim down to fit your space. Glue the bats upside down on the branch with a hot glue gun.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Glue bats to a branch

Find a fallen branch and trim down to fit your space. Glue the bats upside down on the branch with a hot glue gun.

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Make More Bats

Repeat the process and create other bats with different pops of color to fill up your branch.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Make more bats

Repeat the process and create other bats with different pops of color to fill up your branch!

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks

Hang and Enjoy

Tie colorful baker's twine on one end of the branch, leaving about 1 inch of slack before tying it off on the other end of the branch (Image 1). Use what you have or whatever matches your decor best to make the hanger — yarn, ribbon or even wire.

Tie colorful bakers twine to one end of the branch, add about a foot of slack and tie it off on the other end of the branch. TIP: Use whatever matches your decor best - yarn, ribbon or even wire.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Learn how to create these cool and colorful bats with step-by-step instructions on HGTV's Handmade.

Crafty Lumberjacks

Add twine to hang

Tie colorful bakers twine to one end of the branch, add about a foot of slack and tie it off on the other end of the branch. TIP: Use whatever matches your decor best - yarn, ribbon or even wire.

Photo By: Crafty Lumberjacks