How to Make a Bat Mobile Craft

Mobiles are perhaps best known for keeping infants occupied when in their cribs. But they also make nice decorations for all sorts of occasions. For spring, garden-themed mobiles are nice. In the winter, a mobile featuring snowmen is festive. And for Halloween, how about a mobile that includes a flock of bats?

Making a bat mobile is easy enough that young children can do it with some assistance. But it looks so great that even adults might be tempted to create one to add to their Halloween décor.


Here Is What You Need:

* Wire clothes hanger
* Construction paper or card stock in black, gray, purple, dark blue and yellow
* Pencil
* Scissors
* Glow-in-the-dark paint
* Craft glue or glue stick
* Googly eyes
* Fiberfill
* String or fishing line
* Tape
* Glue gun and glue sticks


Instructions

1. Draw a moon shape on the yellow card stock or construction paper. Cut out. Outline or paint the whole thing with glow-in-the-dark paint.

2. Draw a bat shape on a piece of card stock or construction paper, and cut out. To make it symmetrical, fold the paper in half and draw half a bat starting from the fold, then cut out.

3. Trace your original bat onto card stock in different colors, and cut out those bats. Make two bat shapes in each color.

4. Decorate the bats. Make accents with the glow-in-the-dark paint, and add googly eyes if you like. Be sure to only make a face on one bat of each color. Outline each bat with the paint as well, so they will be visible in the dark. Let the paint dry.

5. Cut pieces of string or fishing line in varied lengths. Lay the bats with faces face-down, and place a piece of string in the middle. Secure with craft glue.

6. Glue the other bat of the same color to the back of each bat with a face. Let glue dry.

7. Lay the clothes hanger on the table. Tie the bats to the hanger so that they hang at various lengths.

8. Using the hot glue gun, attach the fiberfill to the hanger. Cover it as well as possible, but make sure that the hook sticks out so that you can hang your mobile. When you're finished, it should look like a puffy cloud.

9. Glue the moon to the cloud. Let dry, and hang your bat mobile for all to see.

Insider Crafting Tips:

* For best results, use a hanger with a cardboard sleeve on the bottom. The bats will stay in place much better.

* If you prefer, you could decorate the moon and bats with glitter glue instead of glow-in-the-dark paint.

Watch this video for some more neat ideas!  Happy Halloween!