I am having a Halloween party and wanted to create some creepy and interesting focal points throughout our house. This project took about three hours and the cost was very low, I think in the end it turned out very cool. My intention is to put it on a shelf with some candle light and maybe a skull. I hope this tutorial is helpful and at the least inspiring. Enjoy!

Step 1: Getting Ready to Create- Materials

To start you will need a few materials. I used a cheap rubber bat, a duck dynasty beard (fur), a hot glue gun, acrylic paint, floral wire ( any thin gauge wire will do), panty hose, scissors, wire snips, paint brushes and a glass case. I got most of my materials from the dollar store which made them very cheap. I got the beard from Ollie's and cut it to the length I needed (any fur will do). I got my glass case from a thrift shop for $3.00, for that sort of thing you just have to be on the lookout. This application could be used without a terrarium to make a cheap bat look cooler you would just need to maybe leave the suction cups on its wings when cutting.

Step 2: Minor Adjustments-changing Shape

The bat was flattened out and didn't have much volume. It was hollow so I just stuffed a tissue down it's throat to puff it out. Next at the tail section I cut it deeper and gave it more a point so the fur would be more dramatic when placed. Last I took a piece of Styrofoam and glued it to his butt to give him a more shapely booty.

Step 3: Gettin' Your Hair Did

I cut sections of fur from the beard without giving myself harsh edges and keeping a nice point at the back. To cut the fur I would part it where I wanted the edge to be and the just snip and glue in place with hot glue. I did add fur to the top of his head, for that took little chunks that I had already cut and timed them very short. the last picture in the section is a close up of his top claw. I didn't really like the shape of his claw so I cut them down. I also cut off his suction cups because I didn't need them.

Step 4: Wings, Wings Such Wonderful Things

I wanted more life out of my wings so I followed the bone structure that was sculpted into the bat and cut channels for my panty hose. Next I glued my floral wire to the wing in the shape of the bones. I did use a lot of glue to keep it attached and let it cool before trying to bend or anything. I extended the wire past the bottom of the rubber so it would poke through the hose giving a toe like effect. When gluing I cut a piece of hose a little bigger than what I needed and glued it to the inside back of the wing first. I then wrapped it around the wing catching the ends of wire and pulling them through. When I got to the outside front of the of the wing I cut a hole for the claw gave it a good stretch and glued down to the inside back. To glue to the side of the body I pulled it tight and glued under the edge of the fur. I covered the ends of the wire that were sticking out in globs of hot glue so them wouldn't poke anyone and to give a toe-like appearance.

Step 5: Feet to Hang, Dangle, or Clutch

I wanted to bend the feet around a branch or piece of wood for my terrarium so I made a small wire loop glued it in place and then covered the feet in panty hose to secure the wire and because I didn't really like the look of them to start.

Step 6: Painting and Primping

I was going for the look of an aged brown bat so added a lot of reds and brown and very little black. I started by adding color to the face I painted the eyes red but then went in and added black leaving a small ring of red around the eyes. next I built up color in the face. going from dark to light I added browns, reds and tans until I got a mix I liked. for the fur I dry brushed brown and red into the fur and then rubbed it in with my fingers to get a light dusting of color. Last I painted the wings, for those I used a wet brush with browns and reds then went in with a bit of black to give it a stylized look.

Step 7: Finishing Touches

For the Terrarium I made a branch out of vine and wreath materials then added some leaves, a flower, a web and a spider. The covering on the bottom is white rice that I shook in a container with black and brown paint and pieces of torn and shredded burlap. I hope you like the tutorial, Happy Creating!