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DIY Bat Art for Mantel

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I needed a centerpiece for my mantel so I created this DIY bat art. I wanted something that was large and somewhat unique.

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For my mantel this year, I wanted to do something special and different, but I didn’t want to spend any money. So I got to work creating everything I might need.

We have a bunch of scrap plywood from random projects that we’ve done in the garage, so I decided to utilize some of the scrap wood for an art piece for the mantel.

I was cruising Pinterest for some ideas for my mantel this year, and came across some artwork of bats flying. It was perfect and I wanted to do my own spin on it.

DIY Bat Art for Mantel

I had John cut the plywood for me at 16″ by 20″. We could have gone a little bit bigger. I kind of wish we had as it’s a little smaller than I was hoping.

I spray painted the plywood black and then went to go print out bats while the spray paint dried. First, I went into photoshop to create the layout that I liked for the bats.

Then I printed out all the different sized bats, cut them out, and taped them onto the black plywood. This is where I messed up. The bats weren’t taped down well enough.

So when I spray painted the white spray paint, it went under the bats in some places. The white also didn’t fully cover the black plywood, but I didn’t want to spray paint too much and ruin the bats.

I carefully pulled the bats off, let it dry, and then came back out with some black acrylic paint and touched up the bats.

Then I realized I loved the way the white looked over the black. It looked like the bats were flying through the night sky!

Yield: 1

DIY Bat Art

DIY Bat Art

How to make unique bat art perfect for Halloween wall art.

Active Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $10

Instructions

  1. Spray paint the 16"x20" plywood black.
  2. While spray paint is drying, cut out bats in all different sizes.
  3. Tape bats onto the black plywood, once dry.
  4. Spray paint the white spray paint over bats.
  5. Peel up bats while spray paint is still wet.
  6. Touch up bats with black acrylic paint if necessary.

I put the bat art on my mantel and love it so much!

My theme for my mantel this year is spooky decor with things I already have at home. I made these poison bottles, bat art, spell books, pumpkin jars, and a music book.

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