DIY Halloween Garland – Cute and Funny Bats!

This DIY Halloween Garland is Cute an fun to make decor. Simple use the free PDF or SVG to make the bats for the garland.  This garland is a perfect not spooky Halloween decoration that is perfect for class rooms and other fun decor.  This garland’s colors can be easily switched out to suit your theme!

For this project you will need:

Fleece fun’s Free Files ( available at the end of the post)

Black Stiff Felt Sheets

Cricut Maker or Explore Air 2

Light grip mat

Fabric Grip Mat

Standard Grip Mat (should work with a fine point blade)

MiniPress

White Everyday Iron On

Large Felt Pom Poms in the colors of your choice (I like to get mine here – I liked using 4 large (1.25 inch balls) between each bat

Twine, embroidery floss, thin ribbon or thin yarn for the string

Large eyed needle for stringing

 

DIY Halloween Garland Instructions

Step 1 – Cut out the bats for the Garland

Load the bats SVG into Cricut Design Space.  Or you can use the PDF to cut them out by hand.

I opted to cut out the bats using  a fabric mat and rotary blade on my Cricut Maker.  But you can easily also cut out the bats using a fine point blade and the Cricut Explore Air 2.  The bats are 8.5 inches Wide and 3.5 inches tall.  I’ve set up am SVG file so you can cut the most out of a sheet possible ( it’s 7 bats).

I recommend cutting at least 2 sheets – but cut what works for you! Once the bats are cut set them aside.

Switch out to the finepoint blade.

Cut out the eyes from the vinyl.  Note: you don’t have to mirror the eyes – it just depends which way you want them looking.  Or if you’re making a lot mirroring some of the eyes is a nice way to get some variety.

Weed the Iron on.

Step 2 – Add the Eyes to the Bats

I’m going to break a rule and use HTV on acrylic felt.  There are a couple of things you can do to prevent melting.

1. Make sure that you use parchment as a buffer so no part of the EasyPress touches the felt directly (so it can’t melt on the iron) . 

2.Try a shorter amount of time than what is recommended ( I used about 10 seconds on setting 2 of my MiniPress). Play around with it and see what works for you.

Peel the transfer away and repeat with all of your bats.

Don’t they look awesome?

Step 3 – String up the Halloween Garland

Now it’s time to string the bats together.  To give them enough space between them I’m adding four 1.25 inch felt pom poms in between.  Take your twine or thread and cut it to the length you desire plus 2 feet ( just to give you some wiggle room).

Insert the needle in the center of the bat ear on one side and up through the center of the other ear to string the bat onto the garland.  String Pom Poms in between. Continue in a repeating pattern until you have filled your length of string! And that’s it you have cute DIY Halloween garland!

A couple of other ideas:

String the bats with invisible thread and hang them from the ceiling. 

Use them as table decorations – just place them flat on the table

Enjoy!

GET THE FREE PATTERN BELOW:

Adobe reader is the ONLY reader I recommend. By downloading  you are agreeing to pattern terms of use. Fill out the form below to get the pattern!

More Halloween Fun!

• Boo Mason Jars (FREE SVG)
• Adorable Bat Garland (FREE SVG)
• Giggles and Frights SVG Decor
• No Sew Mini Witch hat (3 template sizes!)
• Free Witch Hat Pattern
• Kawaii Halloween Softies ( so cute!)
• See all of my Halloween Projects here