Frightfully Fun Bat & Vampire Crafts for Halloween

Add homemade Halloween throw pillows to your couch for a dose of witchy whimsey. Our DIY Halloween tutorials provide a simple upgrade for inexpensive canvas pillows, and the patterns are completely free to use. Just cut the flying bats and wide-eyed cat from leftover fabric scraps, and you’ll soon have a budget-friendly decoration for your living room.

This Halloween mantle decoration is ready to take flight! To make your own paper craft, cut bats from our free Halloween pattern, then string them together along twine or nearly invisible wire. To add an extra touch of creativity, string black wooden beads between each paper bat. Secure to the mantle, and accessorize with pumpkins neatly arranged nearby.

Cover your mantle with swarms of Halloween bats and crows for an eerie yet simple decoration. These all-black Halloween crafts combined with metallic candlesticks will set a minimalistic mood for the season.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky—and this family of monsters is also delicious. Make pretzel rods into creative Halloween creatures with this easy party recipe. Just dip pretzel sticks into colored chocolate, then decorate the dessert sticks with an assortment of candies to form eyes and accessories. For a spooky theme, feature classic Halloween monsters like Dracula, witches, and ghosts.

Design a Halloween photo booth that will delight kids at your trick-or-treat gathering. Use a tension rod (a simple shower curtain rod will do the trick) to hang orange and white curtains, tie them off, then adorn the display with a black patterned banner. To complete the photo-ready look, add paper bats to the backdrop and add party props.

Send your Halloween trick-or-treaters off with a spooky DIY bat box filled with a small gift or candy. Download our paper bat favor-box template, available below, and print onto white cardstock. Fold the top of the box and interlock the bat wings in the slits to complete this Halloween gift.

Why spend a lot of money on a Halloween doormat to welcome trick-or-treaters when you can make this one quickly and inexpensively? Just embellish a coir coco doormat using tape and spray paint for this easy-to-make craft.

Spooky silhouettes are illuminated by flickering candlelight in these haunting Halloween lanterns. Embellish glass lanterns with shadowy silhouette patterns, available below. To make, create Halloween-themed silhouettes, like flying bats or a moon and stars. Trace your spooky patterns onto the backside of vinyl or self-adhesive shelf liner. Cut out the shapes and adhere to the lanterns.

Haunt your house -- or at least your windows -- with kid-friendly paper bats flying every which way. Cut several sizes of Halloween 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.

This shelf bracket-turned-sconce will shed new light on your Halloween decor. A poster-board bat, supported by a dowel and candle holder, takes flight. Dim the lights, and let the candlelight glow set a moody vibe. Use this Halloween craft idea to inspire easy bat decorations all around your home.

Add creepy, winged creatures to your Halloween table with this easy project. Make over small white pumpkins by attaching paper bats with floral wire, then arrange them in the center of your table for a Halloween decoration that will span the whole season.

This grinning Dracula isn't out for blood -- he's standing ready to dispense Halloween candy. If you need a quick-and-easy Halloween party game, ask guests to guess the number of chocolates in the containers. Take as many pieces as you want, he's not counting.

Create a surprising Halloween scene—like this batty craft idea—by transforming a traditional orange pumpkin into an unexpected jack-o'-lantern. This Halloween craft will be the “bell” of your front porch display.

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

Wrap pint-size boxes full of Halloween candy with copies of old letters and journals. This Halloween paper craft will look as if they were just pulled from the depths of a dusty attic. Add black bats for an even spookier 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 Halloween party by attaching black paper bats (made from our free pattern) to an inexpensive clear glass candle holder with double-stick tape. Then cover the entire unit with orange glassine. The spooky Halloween bats appear to be flying right at you!

Add a bat-themed paper medallion to your Halloween party to set a spooky scene. This Halloween craft is ideal as a festive wall display or as the eye-catching center of your bobbing-for-apples bucket. Ask kids to make multiple paper Halloween crafts, then hang them around the house for a crinkled decoration.

For a simple way to serve party treats to your Halloween guests, add bat wings to an orange plastic pumpkin bucket. This Halloween decoration adds a creative touch for kids’ to complete in the hours before your party!

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

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

The wings on this vampire bat treat holder open to reveal a spooky Halloween greeting. If you need a clever message idea, try wishing guests a “Fangtastic Halloween” in this simple DIY craft.

This hanging bat adds an extra creep factor to a plain Halloween pumpkin. Trick or treaters will wonder if this pumpkin carving is asleep or simply waiting to fly.

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

Perch these poster-board bats on the backs of chairs. If you're hosting a party, use the paper Halloween crafts 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.