Knockoff DIY Bat Wreath
I am slowly (and finally) coming to the realization that I am not really a DIY person. I’m more of your casual DIYer. Projects need to be simple and must have the possibility of easily reaching completion within an hour or two. I used to love the idea of lofty home projects, furniture hacks etc. etc. etc., but that’s just not me, I don’t enjoy it. Recently, I decided to stop fighting against myself and just accept that I don’t like DIY projects AND that I don’t have to do them. There was about 50 pounds of weight that instantly lifted from my shoulders. Now, when I restore vintage leather bags that I sell in my shop, I do enjoy that process, despite the fact that they take a solid week to complete. I was doing some online browsing recently and I came across the Bats Iron Wreath from Terrain. I thought it was adorable, but I didn’t think the $58 price tag was adorable, not to mention it’s sold out now. I looked at the wreath for a bit and I thought “I can definitely make that, it’ll be easy” and it was. This knockoff DIY bat wreath is super quick, super easy and can be completed in 1 to 2 hours.
I personally spent about $2 on this project because I had most of the supplies and I had a coupon for the craft store. Before you go out to the store, check and see what you have, that might work in place of what I have listed. If you have chalk paint you can use that in place of the craft paint. If you don’t have silver paint, you can use white. etc. If you like to make crafts, you probably do have most of the supplies listed or some version of the supply listed. The two things I would really recommend not budging on is: use soft wire that is thick enough to hold the bats up and make sure the paper you start with is black (unless you’re wanting the bats to be a different color altogether {I could actually see the bats working well with kraft paper and then you could use a paper bag from the grocery store}). Anyways, don’t feel like this has to be made just the way I instruct; I can imagine that there are many different ways this could turn out looking snazzy.
Bat template
16″ metal wreath form
18 gauge wire, I used a soft aluminum wire that is really easy to work with.
12″ x 12″ black scrapbook paper. I used linen paper because that was all the craft store had, but a cardstock might work even better.
Craft glue
White gel pen or something you can see on black paper.
Wire cutters
Pliers
Optional:
Black and silver multi surface paint
- First print the bats out, cut them out and use them as a template. Trace them onto black scrapbook paper using a white gel pen. The two bats are slightly different sizes, but in all honesty there wasn’t a big enough size difference for it to matter. Just choose one.
- When you print the bats, print them on 8.5″ x 11″ printer paper at 100%.
- Try to fit 16 to 20 bats on your scrapbook paper. Save the scraps of paper, we will use them in a minute.
- Cut 5″ lengths of wire, enough for the number of bats you cut out.
- Put craft glue on 1/2″ of the wire and place it on the center of the bottom of the bat cutout.
- Take a piece of the scrap paper, add glue to the paper and cover the wire. You’re adding the paper to help reinforce the wire on the bat cutout and to cover the messiness of the glue and such.
- My wreath form and wire weren’t black, so I painted them with multi surface craft paint. You may not need or want to do this, it depends on the look that you’re going for.
- I thought the bats were a little too flat, so I lightly sponged silver paint over the bats and then sponged with the black paint. Again, this is more of a personal choice so you might not want to do this step.
- Once everything is dry, space out the bats at 12, 3, 6 and 10 and then fill in the “times” in between and continue on until you’ve added all of the bats. Tightly wrap the wire around the wreath form 3 to 4 times. Use the pliers, tuck the end piece of wire snugly against the wreath form.
- I used more black paint to cover mistakes on the back, overlap from the white gel pen and to paint over the glue that oozed out from the paper wire cover.
That’s it! The longest part of making this wreath is waiting for the glue and paint to dry. Arrange the bats how you like, add a fall-ish or Halloween ribbon and hang anywhere as long as it’s indoors. Now I am going to grab my bin of fall decor and start decorating…even though it’s a million degrees outside and it feels like a warm wet blanket. Prefer video instructions? Head over to our Instagram for a reel, showing the steps to make this wreath.
