Frightfully Fun Bat & Vampire Crafts for Halloween

Why spend a lot of money on a Halloween doormat when you can make this one quickly and inexpensively? Just embellish a plain cocoa mat using tape and spray paint.

This grinning Dracula isn't out for blood -- he's standing ready to dispense candy. Take as many pieces as you want, he's not counting.

Add creepy, winged creatures to your Halloween table with this easy project.

Serve ghoulish drinks with our easy-to-make black bat picks. Simply download our free pattern, trace onto black cardstock, cut out, and use a dab of tacky glue to adhere to the tops of a clear cocktail stir sticks.

This shelf bracket-turned-sconce will shed new light on your Halloween decor. A poster-board bat, supported by a dowel and candleholer, takes flight. Dim the lights, and let the candlelight glow set a moody vibe.

The wings on this vampire bat treat holder open to reveal a Halloween greeting.

No time to carve a Halloween pumpkin? Dress up a white or orange (or both!) with paper bat cutouts. Simply download our free pattern, trace several onto black cardstock, cut out, and use tacky glue to adhere them to a pumpkin.

Create a surprising scene, like this batty one, on a standard orange pumpkin for an unexpected jack-o'-lantern.

Wrap pint-size boxes full of Halloween candy with color copies of old letters and journals; they'll look as if they were just pulled from the depths of a dusty attic. Add black bats for a spooky touch. Just download the bat wing pattern, trace onto black paper, cut out, and glue to the sides of the boxes.

Add a warm glow to your party by attaching black paper bats (made from our free pattern) to an inexpensive clear glass candleholder with double-stick tape. Then cover the entire unit with orange glassine. The bats appear to be flying right at you!

This vampire bat has a hankering for candy, not blood. Craft these treat cones to present as favors for your next Halloween party.

This year, present favorite Halloween candy (candy corn, black licorice, lollipops, etc.) in spooky buckets. Wash and dry galvanized buckets. Wrap the outside of the buckets with Halloween-theme scrapbooking paper and secure with adhesive. Attach black bat die cuts to the handles, or use the bat pattern below to create your own.

Haunt your house -- or at least your windows -- with paper bats flying every which way. Cut several sizes of bats from black poster board or cardstock. Tape fishing line at different spots on the backs and heads; hang the lines from a curtain rod or cup hooks.

For a cute, simple way to serve party treats to your Halloween guests, add bat wings to an orange plastic pumpkin bucket.

Perch these poster-board bats on the backs of chairs. If you're hosting a party, use them as place cards and write each guest's name on a bat with a silver metallic marker. If you have extra bats, attach them to a stair railing.

Tell your friends "Happy Halloween" with a sparkly vampire bat card. This project also makes a spooky invitation. Type (or write) your party details on light-color cardstock and adhere to the bat body.

This hanging bat adds an extra creep factor to a plain pumpkin. Intruders will wonder if he's asleep or waiting to fly.

The goodies inside these treat bags will help distract little guests from getting spooked by the sight of bats and ghosts hanging in tree branches.

Disguise a lollipop in a vampire costume and dress up a few creepy friends to accompany him as trick-or-treat handouts or Halloween party favors.