Coffee Filter Bats
Learn how to make a cute little bat craft for Halloween using a coffee filter and a clothespin! Kids will love this idea.
Servings 2 bats
Cost $1
Equipment
- Hair dryer optional
Ingredients
- 2 Coffee filters
- 2 Clothespins
- Washable markers black, blues, purples, and maybe a dark green for fun
- Acrylic paint black
- Craft glue
- Googly eye(s)
- Craft foam or felt black
- 5 Pom poms 4 small black, 1 mini purple per bat
- Small spray bottle of water
- Wax paper optional
Instructions
- You're going to start with cutting the wings, so you'll need a coffee filter and pair of scissors.
- Fold the coffee filter in half, then fold in half again.
- Use the scissors to scallop the outside edge of the folded coffee filter. You don't want to cut on any folds. You'll cut scallops into the edge, starting at the bottom.
- Unfold the wings on your work surface.
- Choose 4-5 colors that you would like to use for your bat wings. Picking a variety of colors that are different shades (light and dark) makes for the best results. Start with a black or similar dark shade of marker. Draw lines on the coffee filter. Then fill in areas with various colors.
- Place the coffee filter down on a washable work surface. You can use a craft mat, silicone mat, or wax paper. Mist the paper with 4 – 5 sprays of water and you will start to see the markers bleed. This is what you want.
- If the markers didn’t bleed enough, add additional sprays of water. Don’t add too much water. You want to barely saturate the filter, otherwise all the water will drip off the filter and take the color with it.
- Leave the coffee filter on your work surface to dry. Additionally, you can take a hairdryer and dry the filter, or place in the oven for a few minutes at the lowest heat (watching the entire time).
- Place the coffee filter to the side for the moment and paint a clothespin with black acrylic paint. Paint the entire clothespin with a few coats for coverage and let dry.
- Cut small bat ears out of black foam (you can also use felt). Glue the googly eyes, foam ears, and pom poms to the front of the clothespin. Let dry.
- Clip the coffee filter into the clothespin, pinching in the middle and creating the bat wings. Adjust as necessary and your coffee filter bat is complete. Make another one if desired.
