Halloween! The festival of trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, playing pranks and of course, dressing up as scary creatures is here. But as much as I love the holiday, I have a personal vendetta against all trashy, throwaway decorations that come with it. So this time I came up with my own: simple, stylish and recyclable D.I.Y. halloween decoration.
Being from Scandinavia where Halloween is not traditionally celebrated I’ve always been secretly jealous for other kids getting to celebrate the holiday. Of course we’ve had the usual dress-up parties, but other than that, it’s only been part of my yearly holiday calendar since moving abroad. And now I’m taking full advantage of it! One of the best things about Halloween is the decorations: pumpkins, ghosts, bats, skeletons and other grizzly creatures. But more often than not the ones you can buy are trashy and cheap looking, so this year I wanted to make something that fits my own style: graphic, minimal and stylish but simple to make. And even if I say so myself, it turned out better than I thought. The bat mobile (haha, love the name) is a perfect center piece to hang over our halloween themed dinner this weekend.
I absolutely love a good D.I.Y., especially when it does not involve finding dozens on special items of crafts supplies to do it. And the only things you’ll need:
A branch, Black paper in 120gsm, a needle and a thread.
What you’ll do:
1. Find a branch that has fallen from a tree, do not cut it yourself. Make sure to get one that is the size you want, wether you’re making a larger or a smaller mobile, so you don’t need to start cutting it inside and avoid unnecessary mess.
2. Cut two dozen bats out of black paper. The easiest way to do this is to fold the paper in half, and in half again. Then draw out one side of the silhouette of the bat wings, cut them and open. You got yourself a bat!
3. By using a needle, attach a piece of thread to each bat by injecting the needle through the wings (see below), this way the bat will stay in a “flying” position. White thread is the most invisible.
4. Attach the bats to the branch in different ways and levels. Enjoy your bat mobile!
