Halloween Is Soon

A natural twig wreath and a gazing ball transform an ordinary birdbath into a crystal ball on a stand. But to get a glimpse into the future, guests first have to look past simple construction-paper bats perched on twisted strands of black and orange chenille stems.

• Computer and printer
• Three 8-1/2-x-11-inch sheets of orange paper
• Double-stick tape
• 10-inch-diameter white gazing ball
• 5 sheets of clear laminating paper
• Pinking shears
• Tracing paper
• Black construction paper
• Chenille stems: 2 each of black and orange
• Glue gun and hotmelt adhesive
• Natural wreath sized to fit the birdbath and gazing ball
• Spray adhesive
• White glitter
• Birdbath

Bat Pattern

1. Type a poem or phrase in a font of your choice on a computer, adjusting the font size so the words are about 1 inch tall. Format the text so each line of the poem or phrase is centered on a page; adjust the print orientation to landscape. Print each line onto a sheet of orange paper.
2. From the printed sheets, cut three 1-3/4-x-11-inch strips with a line of the poem or phrase centered on each strip, and, from the scraps, cut 8 additional 1-3/4-x-11-inch blank orange strips. Make one long strip with the blank strips, using double-stick tape to slightly overlap the short ends. Wrap the long strip three times around the gazing ball.
3. Plan the positions of the poem or phrase lines and mark the locations on the wrapped strip. Remove the strip from the gazing ball and secure the lines to the long strip with double-stick tape.
4. Laminate the entire strip, following the manufacturer's instructions. Trim the long edges with a pinking shears. Reposition the laminated strip on the gazing ball and secure with double-stick tape.
5. Trace the bat pattern onto tracing paper; cut out the pattern. Draw around the pattern three times on black construction paper; cut out. Laminate the bats and cut out the laminated shapes. Twist together the orange and black chenille stems in pairs. Hot-glue one end of a twisted chenille stem pair to the center back of each bat, allowing most of the stem to extend below the bat.
6. Spray the top side of the wreath with adhesive. Immediately sprinkle glitter over the adhesive; let dry. Place the wreath in the birdbath, top side up, and center the gazing ball on the wreath.
7. Stick the chenille stems with attached bats into the wreath. Tape a third bat to the top of the ball.