Halloween Tutorial- Bat Chandelier

When I was flipping through my Pottery Barn Kids catalog, I saw this great bat chandelier but there was no way I was paying that much for a seasonal decoration.....I am just funny like that.

It looked easy enough to reconstruct so that is what I did.

Supplies needed:

3 embroidery hoops, various sizes
black acrylic paint
tacky glue
black embroidery thread
large hand sewing needle
black pom-poms
black cardstock or felt (stiff felt preferred)

Instructions:

First Step was taking the inside hoops and painting them black
Next I cut out about 31 bats. I used black cardstock because I can cut 4 at a time versus one at a time with felt. Since this was an experiment, I didn't want to invest too much extra time. I just created my own bat stencil/template but if you'd like to use it, just email me at debye@cberryfamily.com and I'll send it to you.

Then I tied strips of the black embroidery thread approx 9" long around the hoop eyeballing them about 2 and 1/2 to 3" apart like this: After all the strings were attached, I took tacky glue and applied a little to the ends to make it stiff and much easier to thread. Then I put a small amount on each knot (around the embroidery hoop) to make it more secure.

To add the bats and pom poms, I threaded each strand (one at a time) on a needle and then I strung the bat and two pom poms. I tied a thick knot at the bottom so they wouldn't slide off over time and trimmed any excess. You can really play with the length of each strand to get the effect you want.

For the top and bottom tiers I used the pattern above, for the middle tier I did an alternating pattern of one bat and on pom pom with the other stand being two pom poms.

Once all the tiers were finished, I attached them with the embroidery thread and added glue to each knot again for extra security. Viola, your own bat chandelier for under $10!