DIY party vampire bat garland | free printable template

My youngest turned 6 this past weekend, and when she told me she wanted to take her friends to see Hotel Transylvania 2 for her party I was a little giddy imagining in my head all the fun things I could create with the new DIY Party supplies I received from my very generous friends at We R Memory Keepers.

My daughter really loves when the vampires in the series turn into bats, so I knew I wanted to do something along those lines. I decided on a black, purple, and red color scheme, and then I pulled out some honeycomb paper, tissue paper, my Fringe and Score Board, and my Honeycomb Stencils. Here’s what I came up with!

While I used this garland as Hotel Transylvania 2 party decor, this would be perfect for a Halloween party as well. It’s easy to make, and I’ll show you how.

I started by making my bats. Mine are 10″ x 3″ and are made to fit a 2″ honeycomb paper semi-sphere. I used a template that I created which you can download for free HERE.

You could also use a manual or electronic die cutting tool to create yours. Just keep in mind that the smallest size sphere on the Honeycomb Stencil is 2″.

Once I cut out my bats from some black American Crafts cardstock, I traced and cut out some 2″ spheres from black Honeycomb paper. I placed the stencil so that the printed vertical line aligned with the glued edge of the honeycomb paper. Then I placed a strip of double sided tape on each side of the cut out honeycomb semi-circles. I adhered one side of the honeycomb paper to the right half of the bat’s belly, and then pulled the other side open to form a semi-sphere, pressing it down to adhere it to the left side of the bat’s belly. You’ll want to use a strong, permanent tape so the honeycomb doesn’t detach from the bat. American Crafts Sticky Thumb double sided red tape is my favorite for projects like this.

My sweet daughter really wanted red glowing eyes on the bats, so I punched some holes in the bat template with my Crop-A-Dile and used it with my Heatwave tool to make red foil eyes on each bat. I punched a hole in the top of each wing to hang the bats.

To add a little interest to my bat garland, I decided to include some tissue paper tassels. I pulled out my Fringe and Score Board, and some red and purple We R Memory Keepers DIY Party 6 X 12 Inch Tissue Paper. I folded the tissue paper in half ending up with a 6×6 piece, and then placed it in the Fringe and Score Board with the left edge lined up along the 1/2″ line on the board, and the folded edge along the top. Follow the board instructions to cut fringe into the tissue paper, and the open it up. Roll the paper horizontally, and then twist it in the center.

Fold the twisted section over to form a loop, and then secure it with some matching washi tape. Then thread twine through the hole to hang.

Once I finished my red and purple tissue tassels, I threaded them on a length of black baker’s twine, alternating bats and tassels of different colors. Then I hung the garland up with the rest of the party decorations.

This was a super fun project, and using my crafting tools to brighten someone else’s day is the best reason to use them. Be sure to come back next week when I share more photos and details about the rest of the party decor!

Shop supplies for this project: