DIY Paper Bats

Paper bats are a quick and easy last-minute Halloween decor idea that can be made with or without a cutting machine. It’s a perfect DIY for the kids!

Admit it. You slacked.

While the neighbors were planting witch legs and filling their Halloween Apothecary Shops, you were relaxing on your porch with a glass of sweet tea and a sizzling bodice-ripper.

“I’ll put up the decorations tomorrow,” you told yourself.

But tomorrow became today, and another tomorrow took its place and the decorations remained in their boxes.

Hey, it’s okay! I’m not judging!

I’m the Sultan of Slack…

The Prince of Procrastination…

The King of Can’t-it-Wait-‘Til-Tomorrow!

I know what it’s like to feel that last-minute pinch.

So here’s an easy decor project that you can make and put up, lickety-split. These paper bats are a perfect project for your Cricut cutting machine, but they can also be made with scissors or an X-Acto knife. It does take a little longer, but if you have a few little helping hands, it’ll go much faster.

Oh, and these paper bats are cheap! Our entire display cost less than $3 to make.

Let’s see how it’s done.

DIY Paper Bats

Making paper bats with Cricut

Okay, look – when Handan first informed me I’d be making paper bats and sticking them all over the wall, my first reaction was something akin to my reaction when she told me I’d be crafting with embroidery hoops.

Do you remember? I told you guys I’d be going Full Gertrude for that post. I felt a little something like this:

Well, it looks like I’ll be going Full Kindergarten for this post, since my babes told me I’ll be making some bats with scissors.

What’s next?

Macaroni art?

I may as well sit in the corner, drink Juicy Juice and eat paste.

Anyway back to the bats…

I grabbed a sheet of poster board and a light-grip Cricut mat.

Then I cut the poster board to fit within the 12 x 12 confines of the Cricut mat.

For the record, that is grease on my shirt. I was eating leftover buffalo wings just before making these paper bats, and of course, I dropped one on myself. Just keepin’ it real over here, ladies. I told you I was going Full Kindergarten for this post!

By the way, I’ve perfected the Buffalo wing. I know, I know, that’s a pretty bold claim, but it’s true. If you love wings, you’re gonna want to try Greg’s dirty buffalo wings!

I loaded the bats into Cricut Design Space.

Then set the dial as indicated in the picture below.

Thank god for this Cricut machine. I knew kindergarten hell still awaited me, but at least some of these paper bats would be cut by a non-judgmental robot.

Cricut makes it so damn easy!

My first round of paper bats.

Here are two rounds of Cricut bats and the adhesive dots I used to hang them.

Making paper bats with scissors

Just as I was getting into the bat groove with Cricut, my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Navage told me to turn it off and pick up my scissors. She said it was time for me to start cutting paper bats with scissors.

Like I said. Full Kindergarten.

I was instructed to fold a piece of poster board in half.

Then I was told to fold the bat pattern printouts in half.

Teacher then told me to cut one of the bats from the sheet.

I put the folded printout on top of the folded poster board, taped them together and cut out my paper bat while teacher looked over my shoulder and offered helpful criticisms of my scissoring technique.

Ta-da! A perfect bat! I dare any 5-year-old to do better!

If all this scissors gobbledygook is too much, you can also use an X-Acto knife to cut the bats. Simply lay the printout on the poster board and trace with the knife. Don’t forget to use a cutting mat!

No matter which method you choose, just keep making bats until you have enough to fill your wall space. We used two sheets of poster board.

Before sticking them on the wall, fold the wings a bit, and then stick on an adhesive dot.

Press it on the wall and repeat with the remaining bats.

I got this far and realized it didn’t look very good, so we changed the shape of the flock (a group of bats is actually called a colony, not a flock, but for clarity’s sake, I’m calling it a flock).

There, that’s better!

As kindergarten crafts go, I have to admit this one looks really good!

Do you feel like you’re being watched?

Or is it just me?

Okay, that’s if for the Halloween crafts this year, but we will be sharing a little outdoor Halloween tour as we get closer to the big day! Stay tuned for some fall crafts, and then we kick it into high gear for Christmas!

DIY Paper Bats

As usual, here is some information on the printables: we designed these free bat patterns in two formats: PDF and SVG. As you know, PDF is not scalable, but the SVGs can be scaled up or down as necessary. If you need help with scaling these vintage Christmas banners, then make sure you check out Handan’s “How To Easily Resize Pictures” post.

Now it’s time to click on the button below to download today’s free printable bat patterns – they are all in the “Halloween” and “SVGs-Stencils” sections of The VIP Patch.

If you’re not a Navage Patch VIP, you won’t be able to access our Freebies Library. But that can be easily fixed! Subscribe for free on the form below and become a Navage Patch VIP. Once you subscribe, a password will be sent to you in our Welcome email, and that will give you access to The VIP Patch [Freebies Library].