Easy Halloween Craft: Bats and Bugs

I’ll be honest— I’m not really into all the blood, guts, and gore of Halloween. I do, however, love all the spooky creatures like bats, ravens, spiders, and more that get attention this time of year. I recently picked up some inexpensive plastic bats and a large Hercules stag beetle, but wasn’t sure what do with them, since I don’t have a lot of traditional Halloween decor. So I grabbed some gold spray paint and dressed them up a little, and now they have a whole new look! Here’s how I made these easy Halloween crafts.

Halloween Crafts Materials:

• Over-sized plastic stag beetle
• Plastic bats
• Gold metallic spray paint
• Gold frame (8″ x 10″)
• 8″ x 10″ piece of plywood
• Scrapbook paper in color/pattern of your choice
• Black twine, about 5′
• Hot glue
• White glue
• Scissors and ruler OR paper cutter

Halloween Crafts Instructions:

• Spray paint the beetle and bats gold. Use several light coats per side, and allow to dry thoroughly. (Always use spray paint in a well-ventilated area, and take all precautions listed on the container.)
• Trim the scrapbook paper to 8″ x 10″. Glue it to the piece of plywood. (Use a thin layer of white glue so the paper doesn’t bubble.) Allow to dry.
• Remove the glass and backing from the frame. Attach the frame to the piece of plywood using the hardware on the frame, or hot glue.
• Use a generous amount of hot glue to attach the beetle to the center of the framed paper.

• Tie the twine to the bats as shown. If your bats don’t have the same shape as these and tying isn’t possible, you can hot glue the bats to the twine instead.

Like inexpensive and fun Halloween crafts? Try this spiderweb planter idea!