DIY Halloween Paper Bat Chandelier

Learn how to make this spooky paper bat chandelier with a free printable to top off your Halloween decor this year!

Sometimes, the easiest projects can be the most effective. Take this chandelier of bats. The cost is minimal, and you might even be able to use things you already have on hand (I did). But a swarm of bats is always freaky.

Take this summer in Houston with my nephews. “Did you know they have bats here?” I asked them both. Flat out, I was called a liar. “You just wait until it gets dark, and you’ll see.”

DIY Halloween Paper Bat Chandelier

Now I knew there were bats because I’m terrified of the darn things. For years and years, every summer I went “home,” my mom and I would walk in the evenings with me screaming and wigging out at the bats dive-bombing at us. I was informed they were seeking bugs in the air that was above our heads, but I’m sure I made quite a picture freaking out and shrieking and waving my arms around my head. On the plus side, it was excellent cardio.

So we walked and headed down the driveway, and we waited by the street until I deemed it time to get our bat-hunting party on. We hadn’t stepped but two feet off of that driveway before one swooped right down on us. And there was screaming because bats are freaky as all get out.

Items Needed for DIY Halloween Paper Bat Chandelier

• Wood embroidery hoops
• Black paint (craft acrylic will work fine, so will spray paint)
• Black string (mine is crochet thread)
• Black zip ties
• Black cardstock (FYI – you can buy a book of just black cardstock at Walmart for $5)
• Silhouette cut file for small bats and big bats or image to use as a template

How to Make DIY Halloween Paper Bat Chandelier

Here are my three different-sized embroidery hoops. I think I have a 10″, 8″, and 5″. In the middle size, I’m missing the smooth hoop bit and just have the part with the tightener thingie, but it will work fine.

Get your bad boys nice and painted…

…and when dry place your two largest together with four zip ties underneath them like shown above.

Slowly cinch the zip ties shut until the two pieces are firmly held together and flat.

Repeat for the smallest hoop, and when you’re done, you’ll have something like this!

Cut out your bats either by hand or with a Silhouette machine. The Silhouette cut file has holes already ready to go, but if you cut by hand, a hole punch will come in quite handy!

String them up one by one and set them aside.

I’m going to be honest; this takes some care. Tie your bats one at a time to the inner hoop, placing all of the bats inside that circle.

Next, add more bats to the middle hoop, keeping those bats within the space between the inner and middle hoops and underneath the zip ties. DO NOT pick up anything, slide the bats around until you get them in the correct position.

Keep the bats on the outer ring outside of everything.

You can use the sizes however you please, but I used the smallest one on the inner hoop and the larger one on the middle and outer hoops.

Tie strings onto the zip ties and tie a loop at the end to hang. When ready, pick the entire mobile STRAIGHT UP!

Now, I tried, but this was the only way I didn’t have junk like this go wrong.

Seriously, pick that bad boy straight up!

Even in a slightly windy area, my bats are doing well and not getting too tangled up.

And it’s a great little bit of Halloween decor because it’s not gory—bats are crazy creepy!

Allison

A crafter since her earliest years, Allison spends a little time every day making something. She crafts, sews, paints, glues things onto other things, and is a firm believer that a life spent creating is a life worth living. Visit Allison’s blog, Dream {a Little} BIGGER.