DIY Bat Hanging Branch – A Super Simple Halloween Decoration

By Brittney Smart | Published on Oct 24, 2016

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DIY Bat Hanging Branch

DIY Bat Hanging Branch front of Window

DIY Bat Hanging Branch for Halloween

DIY Bat Hanging Branch Drawing

DIY Bat Hanging Branch Cutting

DIY Bat Branch - silhouette

DIY Bat Branch - many bats

DIY Bat Branch - Project

DIY Bat Branch - prepare for hang

DIY Bat Branch - hanging on the ceiling also

DIY Bat Branch - Repeat the fishing line attachments

Grab two screw - To hang the branch

DIY Bat Branch - decide where you want to hang

DIY Bat Branch - screw the hooks

Make sure your second screw hook placement

DIY Bat Branch- large and small loop

At various lengths

Slide these bat line loops onto your branch

DIY Bat Hanging Branch

DIY Bat Branch - spread bats

DIY Bat Branch - Project for Halloween

DIY Bat Branch - transparent

DIY Bat Branch - Kids Project

DIY Bat Branch - various angles

DIY Bat Branch - For Halloween

DIY Bat Branch - Craft Project for Halloween

DIY Bat Hanging Branch – A Super Simple Halloween Decoration

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DIY Bat Branch - hanging on the ceiling also

DIY Bat Branch - Repeat the fishing line attachments

DIY Bat Branch - decide where you want to hang

Make sure your second screw hook placement

Slide these bat line loops onto your branch

DIY Bat Branch - Craft Project for Halloween

Halloween is approaching! Are you ready? This tutorial is for a very simple, kid-friendly DIY Halloween decoration called a bat branch. You may have heard of bat trees, where branches are decorated with hanging bats a la Christmas tree ornament style? This is similar but just different enough to make your décor unique. It will take about 20 minutes to make, which sometimes is just what the DIY doctor ordered. Let’s do it.

DIY Level: Beginner/Kids

Materials Needed:

Two (2) pieces of black cardstock
Scissors
Fishing line
A branch/stick/wooden dowel
Two (2) small screw hooks

Begin by drawing or printing out some bat silhouettes. You can just google “bat outline” or something similar to find the silhouette you like best.

Cut out the bat.

Make sure it’s the silhouette you like. If it is, cut out the rest of them. This example got four bats per page of cardstock.

Cut out as many bats as you want or have space for. This example uses eight bat cut-outs.

Use the very tip of your scissors to create a tiny hole, just large enough for the fishing line to thread through, in the center of your bat head. (Note: Alternatively, you could use a hole punch for this, but the bat will have a large hole in its head if you do.)

Thread the fishing line through, then tie the end off in a loop. Take care to not pull the fishing line tight against the cardstock to keep it from ripping or tearing.

Cut your fishing line to be about 18”-24” long from where you tied it to the bat. You can trim this later, depending on your space.

Repeat the fishing line attachments for the rest of the bats.

Grab two screw hooks.

Determine where you want to hang the bats. This example will be hanging them from a cutout section of wall near the front door.

Screw in your hooks into the ceiling where you want your bat branch to hang. (Note: Alternatively, you can screw the hooks into a wall and hang the branch from there.)

Make sure your second screw hook placement creates a width that’s slightly narrower than your branch length.

Cut two small (8”-10”) sections of fishing line and tie two loops, one small and one large, on the ends.

Place the small loops on your screw hooks.

At various lengths, tie off loops on your bat fishing lines that are big enough to slide easily over your branch. Trim the excess fishing line.

Slide these bat line loops onto your branch. Don’t worry about positioning the bats yet; you’ll do that after you hang the branch itself.

Once all your bats are hanging from the branch, it’s time to mount it onto your screw hook fishing line loops.

Slide each end of the branch into the larger loops hanging from your screw hooks.

Spread the bats apart from each other however you want.

Center the stick in its place. Viola. Finis.

It looks festive, don’t you think?

This kind of project works well in an empty space, or on a rather blank wall.

I like the various angles of the bats “in flight,” and their varied heights.

You can paint or stain your branch/dowel if you want. I liked the lighter, more natural look for this vignette.

Happy (DIY) Halloween!