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Halloween is our absolute favourite holiday of the year. There is nothing like it. Personally, I think it should be a day off. Because how the heck are you to get into full costume, get all the rigs and automations just right, be ready to hand out candy and scare kids when you’re stuck in traffic on the way home from work?
As the theme has been this entire year for us, we’re caught unprepared again with a holiday coming up fast upon us. Like…tonight. This is the very first year where I did not put too much planning into my favourite holiday. It’s kind of sad, but it is what it is! So far, #lifewithkids seems to be one of reaction to whatever gets thrown our way. I’m sure it won’t be like this for long…tell me I’m right!
Anyways, it would be complete blasphemy if I did not do anything to decorate for Halloween. It’s just unheard of in this household. I have a pretty solid stockpile of decor and costumes in the basement storage room (obviously) but we rarely put the same decor up every year. So I’m stuck here on the day before Halloween feeling too lazy and time-crunched to create something spectacular.
So if you’re like me and feeling time-crunched to pull something off, keep reading for the how-tos on quick ways to bring a little bit of Halloween spirit to Trick-or-Treaters this year!
Black Paper Bats
This is the quickest and simplest thing, and I bet you’ve seen it being used by all the influencers this year. I suppose that means it’s on trend?? I’m simply doing it because it’s easy to pull off last minute and it’s an ingenious way to add some punch.
What you need:
- 8-1/2″ x 11″ black cardstock
- Silhouette or Cricut cutting machine (or good ol’ scissors and extra patience)
- tacky putty
If you own a cutting machine, this is the easiest and most cost efficient thing you can do to add decor on short notice. If you’re in the market for a machine, I love my Silhouette Cameo and of course the Cricut is top of the line. Both of these can be purchased on Amazon or from your local craft store.
If you don’t own a cutting machine and don’t want one…well, you’re in for some cramped hands and one full day of cutting paper with scissors. Actually, I really wouldn’t recommend you try this idea without a cutting machine. To achieve the proper look, my opinion is you need a lot of bats. I cut about 120 bats this morning. Imagine cutting all these by hand!
What to do:
Download these two SVG files and open them with your cutting machine’s program.
Place your black cardstock on the cutting machine’s mat, load into your machine and send the file to cut.
Once all the bats are cut out, lightly fold their wings forward and curl them with your finger to create more dimension.
Wipe the surface which you are placing your bats on with a dry cloth. Don’t make the same mistake I did and use a damp cloth if you’re putting these up outside. Because the weather is cooler, the surfaces remained moist and did not allow the tacky putty to stick. I had to go over them again with a dry cloth.
Pull off a piece of tacky putty and work it between your fingers until soft. Stick the putty to the back of the paper bat’s body and attach to your surface.
DONE!
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