Bat Bracelets

Last night we had some free time in between dinner and Thursday Night Football so I thought we'd have a little Halloween fun.  We've already done the pumpkin carving thing, which, even though the pumpkins turned out alright, was nowhere near fun.  So we decided to try something new...Hand Crafted Bat Bracelets.

Here's what you'll need:

Black Construction Paper
Scissors
Rubber Band/Hair Tie
Pen/Pencil
Glitter/Decorations (I wish we had Googly Eyes)
Stapler
Glue/Glue Stick
2-3 Beers (Seasonal)



The first thing you'll want to do is cut out a bat template.  You can use the pattern below or create your own.

You may have to adjust the size before printing.

Before printing your image, you may want to reverse the black/white colors so you don't waste a lot of ink.  It will also make tracing your template easier when you lay it over black construction paper.  Once you've printed out your template, cut it out.

Lay your template over the black construction paper and trace three bats.

I recommend tracing the first bat and then waiting for someone to offer help.  When they do, tell them you need help tracing the template.  Now let yourself enjoy a seasonal brew.

Sam Adams Octoberfest is a nice choice. As a matter of fact, I'm drinking one right now. I don't care if it's two in the afternoon.

If they catch on that you're not doing any of the work, now would be a great time to sucker one of your kids into doing it.

She's almost done, better chug that beer.

With all of your bats traced, it's time to cut them out.  If you're not done with that beer, let the kids cut.  If you are done, grab another one and let the kids cut.

You need three bats to make one bracelet.  Once they're cut out it's time to decorate.  We had glitter and pom-poms at our disposal.  Sadly, all of our googly eyes were used in a previous Paper Bag Puppet fiasco, so we had to do without.  Our daughter is all about glitter, so all she wanted to do was lay down some glue and pour an entire bottle of glitter on each bat.

Lay a nice glue foundation....

...then empty the entire contents of your glitter tube.  Once you have depleted your glitter resources, set those bats out to dry.  When they're dry stack all three of them and staple them together.

After the first staple is in you're ready to make the bracelet.  You can use a rubberband, but I recommend a hair tie instead.  It won't break like a rubber band will and it's easier on the skin.

Spread out the bat wings and you're ready for some trick or treating.

Be sure to have your kids clean that mess up while you enjoy another drink.